What do you mean you “stumbled” into church production?
Let me take you on a journey…
It’s 2017. I’m an IT guy who works for a small IT firm that consults for small to medium-sized businesses. I loved my work! Every day, there was a new challenge, a new thing to learn, and a new adventure to conquer. I worked with a lot of great companies doing cool things! Despite that, I felt I was being called to something new. I grew discontent with my work and started feeling distant from it.
Here comes the stumbling part…
That same year, one of my best friends took a job as a Lead Pastor at a multisite church in Oregon. After he arrived, his Production Director decided to further his career elsewhere, and for some reason, my friend thought I’d be a great fit to take that job, knowing nothing about church production. I always felt like I was supposed to work at a church, but I wasn’t sure what I’d do. So, my wife and I prayed about it, and God made it clear that’s where he wanted us. So we made the completely (il)logical decision and said yes. My wife and I sold our house in Phoenix, packed the family up, and moved to Oregon, only to find I did indeed know absolutely NOTHING about live production.
Did I mention that I was the only Production staff member managing production at three campuses, and we had a budget appropriate for one campus?
As you’d expect, I had to get up to speed quickly. I made a ton of mistakes.
Like A LOT!
At that time, there weren’t many resources that had content for my situation. Even when it came to learning the equipment, the information on our equipment was limited. Sure, some YouTube channels and companies had some great content, but they were just starting up. It was a crazy two and a half years of putting my head down, reading, experimenting, and much trial and error.
We left Oregon in 2020 and are now back in Phoenix. I’m the Production Director at Central Christian Church in Arizona. We have five campuses, and I get to lead an incredible team! Since returning to Phoenix and taking this job, my learning and application of that learning have amplified significantly! We get to do some fun and challenging things, be creative in our problem-solving, and work towards creating a great guest experience!
This site exists to…
share what I’ve learned with others. There are so many ways to approach this work. I’ve found that there are generally multiple solutions to the same problem, and I want to share my approach. I hope you find value in this site and that it helps you on your own journey!
Disclaimer: This website is an expression of my opinions and don’t necessarily reflect the views of my employer.