Try creating an on-stage “obstacle course” for camera operators to zoom in and out of, grab focus, pan, tilt, all while following the directors’ instructions.
by Will Chapman 04.01.24 8:00 AM
I enjoy our tribe of church technical artists so much because we are a creative and intelligent bunch. We artistically design and implement audio networks with protocols to meet the needs of our churches and ministries. We do amazing things with lighting designs on small and large scales to inspire our congregations to consider the majesty of our Lord. We use video clips, pictures, social media posts, bumpers, stingers, logo reveals, short documentaries, etc., to inspire, teach, and lead others closer to Jesus Christ. But there is an area in church technical ministries where I often see a lack of creativity… volunteer training. Being creative with our volunteer training does not come naturally for many of us in this technical skill set. We’re focused on getting a job done and doing it with excellence to the glory of God. But to recruit and train volunteers to serve in our ministry, we must use a set of skills that isn’t our forte… people skills. Don’t fret! Here’s the good news. You can learn people skills and even get good at relating to others. That, in turn, will not only help you recruit and keep volunteers but also help you train them to be highly skilled at what they do.
There is an area in church technical ministries where I often see a lack of creativity … volunteer training.
One of the easiest ways to begin creating a vibrant, cohesive, supportive, and highly competent team of media volunteers is to incorporate fun and fellowship into training. Consider video camera operators for our live streams. For many churches, this is an area where improvement is needed. You can create a simple training ministry for these media volunteers that will develop relationships and set up discipleship mentoring to occur naturally. You set up and organize a fun way to train your camera volunteers by using fellowship, games, empowerment, and appreciation.
The first thing to do in setting up a fun and vibrant camera training program is to build in fellowship time. When I was a technical director, I learned from guys much smarter and wiser than me the power of making band rehearsals a time of fellowship for our camera operators. While other members of my staff (it could also be high-performing volunteers) were taking care of the needs of the band and singers while they were rehearsing, I was hanging out with our camera ops. We’d hang out. We’d talk tech news. We’d talk about funny things. The key is we had time to get to know each other better and build friendships. This purposeful time laid a foundation for our entire training program because training and skill-building happened in the context of authentic relationships, which is something God created us all to need.
The second layer of a fun and vibrant camera training program is games. I don’t mean gaming like video games. I mean games with the CAMERAS! The first part of camera training is getting to know all the parts of the camera, its stand, and all the terminology of video broadcasting. But then what? I’ve learned to incorporate this into all the hands-on skills a camera operator needs by creating a timed camera training “obstacle course” with a set of rules. I have some media minister friends who set up their course on stage with pictures of celebrities with their faces blown up to life-size attached to music stands. Other friends use 6-foot-tall movie posters all over their stage. I personally learned a long time ago about using used mannequins from clothing stores or cheap mannequins purchased online that you can clothe and set up all over the stage. Why? To create a course for camera ops to zoom into and out of, grab focus, pan, tilt, follow directors’ instructions, etc. Volunteers are passionate about setting personal and even church records on the courses. We’ve even had some of our pastoral staff come in and see what their times were compared to the volunteers. (We all had a good laugh at their times, and the pastors had an amazing appreciation for the skill involved in moving the camera.) We all cheer and get excited for our version of “The Camera Games.”
Challenge your better camera operators with different levels of training that they can achieve and even lead training and mentorship.
Next on the list to create a fun camera training program is empowerment. When you begin your camera training part of your ministry, some volunteers will rise to the top of the list. Don’t just put them on your “A-Team” of camera operators. Challenge them with different levels of training that they can achieve and even lead training and mentorship for incoming or less experienced camera operators. Empower these leaders to take a leadership role in your media ministry. Allow them to incorporate fun aspects of training, gaming, and fellowship into your camera team. When this begins to happen, it frees you up as the media director to build up and train other areas of your team without having to spend all your time with one group. This is God’s plan for you as a leader anyway… “to train up the saints for the work of the ministry.” (See Ephesians 4:12.)
The final part of a fun and vibrant training program is incorporating appreciation. Appreciating someone for their offering of service to the Lord is something that is highly advisable to do. The power of the words “thank you” cannot be underestimated. I have two media minister friends from whom I have learned a lot regarding this, and I am indebted to Dr. Wes Hartley and Bryan Bailey for their friendship and inspiration. I’ll be honest. I am striving to improve this part of being a media ministry leader, but these two guys really know how to appreciate volunteers. They’ve incorporated not only a culture of constant verbal appreciation but also awards and leadership positions that people wear on their media ministry lanyards, certificates of appreciation and certification, and wall-of-fame portraits of media ministry volunteers in the hallways of the control room. These men have used media ministry banquets to honor and appreciate volunteers, new and established, laugh at funny moments over the last 6 months, and pray prayers of thanksgiving to the Lord for how He has used their team recently to reach people for Christ. This is an important part of creating a fun and vibrant training program, which we forget to do as we should.
This purposeful time together laid a foundation for our entire training program because training and skill-building happened in the context of authentic relationships, which is something God created us all to need.
My prayer is that you’ve been inspired to put creative energy into building a fun and vibrant camera training program for your camera volunteers. But don’t stop with just your camera ops. Use these same principles with your audio engineers, lighting operators, graphics, stagehands, etc. Create avenues unique to your church and ministry for fellowship, learning, and fun. The relationships you build will amaze you and open opportunities for ministry within your team.
Will Chapman is the Online Minister at Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, TX, and has served in technical ministry for over 30 years. Read more by Will Chapman
04.01.24 8:00 AMWell, I did AV production for so many years, and knowing all about production and cameras makes a job easier for a volunteer but when your creativity is on hold by a head producer because they might have such a way of doing things and then your creativity is out the window. Oscar Salguero 129 days ago
Man, thanks so much for the shout-out! The work you do and the way you are gifted to inspire others is a true gift to all of us. I hope that everyone who reads this will be challenged to up their game at pouring into volunteers! Bryan Bailey 135 days ago
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