Building a Technology Portfolio for Worship

Historically-speaking, the struggle between orthodoxy and cultural sensitivity in the church is nothing new, but the accelerating pace of technological advancement in the Information Age has clearly exacerbated the problem. Though the technology itself is morally neutral, the manner in which we use it can result in both positive and negative outcomes. This post describes a framework that can help church leaders make positive, God-honoring decisions as they seek to define their church's particular digital personality in worship.

Despite being deeply rooted in history and tradition, the church has embraced digital technology at a surprisingly fast pace. This is especially true in the context of public worship, where digital elements have entrenched themselves in even the smallest of congregations. Many churches now find themselves in a period of "digital adolescence", struggling to define their unique digital personality in worship.

They're learning that technology can either enhance or degrade the quality of worship depending on implementation strategy. At the center of this conundrum is an obsessive focus on the technology itself that often results in one of two extreme approaches: a technophobic strategy that seeks to “protect” the church from technology or a technocratic strategy that assumes it is a panacea for maintaining cultural relevance and increasing weekly attendance. Both the shoddy/minimalist and the excessively theatrical implementations resulting from these extreme approaches can distract church-goers from God-centered worship.

Worship "Production"

The modern shift toward more use of technology in worship has given birth to an industry called "worship production". If you scoff at this term as yet another encroachment of entertainment culture on the church, you should consider that the influence travels in both directions. Admittedly, worship production relies heavily on expertise developed by the entertainment industry, with which it shares many of the same standard roles and equipment. The unique technology requirements of worship, however, have blazed new trails that now feed expertise back in the other direction, especially for smaller-scale musical productions whose requirements are often similar to a typical church. Even many of the vendors who have historically only served the entertainment industry now offer product portfolios that focus specifically on houses of worship.

Following are the major categories of worship production technology, each of which consist of both hardware and software:

• Audio - Sound mixers/consoles, speakers, amplifiers, mics, cabling, sound processing software, acoustic structures, stage equipment, etc.

• Video - Cameras, video switchers/controllers, cabling, video processing software, live-streaming platforms, and supporting equipment.

• Lighting - Stage and house lights, fog machines, backdrops, lighting control consoles/software, and supporting equipment.

• Display/Projection - Projectors, screens, presentation software, and supporting equipment.

Your challenge as a technology leader for your church is to build a customized portfolio of these products that enhances worship without becoming the center of focus. At this point, you could load up your cart by rifling through a favorite supplier's web site or by just buying whatever the "other church" has, only to end up with an unnecessarily complex, disjointed, and non-resilient portfolio. Like the wise man in Matthew 7, however, we should first lay a firm foundation by considering some guiding principles. Collectively, these will act as a compass to direct us through a more practical and detailed consideration of factors for building and using a portfolio.

Guiding Principles - The Big Picture

Many tech leaders don't grasp the importance of guiding principles until their Sundays become a chaotic mess of technical problems, complaining congregants, frustrated musicians, and tense pastoral staff. Your technology portfolio is one of your church's most expensive and impactful assets. A thorough understanding of the following principles will help you to make effective and timely decisions as you build and maintain a technology portfolio for your church:

• Godward Focus. Your evaluation of technology in worship starts with a foundational question: Does it enhance our ability to focus on God? Though seemingly obvious, tech leaders quickly lose sight of this consideration in a fog of either technological pessimism or optimism. You can expect digital technology to have a positive impact on modern worship as long as you direct it to consistently and specifically serve the goal of Godward focus.
  

• Zero Distraction. At minimum, technology should not distract worshippers from focusing on God. Most of us have witnessed the cringeworthy results of both inadequate and, conversely, stunning-but-inappropriate implementations of technology in worship. A noticeable absence of technology can be equally as distracting as an over-abundance of the same. Like the printing press in the 16th century ("print technology", if you will), digital technology is a gift to the church from God that it must not squander. But whatever the technology portfolio, excellence in technical implementation lessens a congregation's temptation to focus - with either amazement or disdain - on the technology itself.
  

• Creative License. Made in the image of God, humans are equipped to invent. You can learn a lot about technology from other churches and worship "production" experts, but you should also feel free to invent new ways of using it in worship. In the recent past, someone had the thought of displaying song lyrics in a place where everyone in the congregation could lift their heads and look in the same direction as they sang. Similarly impactful innovations await those who dare to invent.
  

• Contextual Flexibility. To state what should be the obvious, one-size-does-not-fit-all when it comes to worship technology portfolios. Proper fit depends to a large extent on where the worship style of a church falls along a spectrum between two governing principles. On one end of the spectrum, the regulative principle states that a worship service should only include those elements specifically sanctioned by scripture. At the opposite end, the normative principle states that a worship service may include any elements not specifically prohibited by scripture. But regardless of a particular church's proximity to either end of the spectrum, the fundamental guidelines for technology implementation remain the same. The task of matching technology implementations with a particular church’s worship style is largely a question of context.
  

• Technique Over Technology. Technology portfolios are constantly threatened with issues of obsolescence and church leaders must accept the inevitability and wisdom of regular updates. However, proper technique can make a seemingly mediocre technology portfolio look really good in production. In the hands of a skilled operator, for example, a camera that costs hundreds instead of thousands of dollars may not produce a dramatically different experience for the typical viewer. Don't make the mistake of thinking that more spending equals a higher quality worship experience.

What To Focus On When Building A Portfolio

With guiding principles as your ongoing compass, you can then consider more specific decision-making factors during your portfolio development:

• Worship Style. The worship styles of most churches fit into the rough categories of contemporary, traditional, liturgical, and blended. Large screens, fog machines, moving lights, and powerful subwoofers pair better with a contemporary style. Likewise, traditional and liturgical congregations will appreciate smaller screens, simpler graphics, subtle lighting, and sound systems configured for classical music. Keep in mind, however, that these divergent styles do not imply more vs. less technology, but rather different technical implementations. For example, the broader range of instruments and tones typical of classical music often require equally complex and expensive sound systems.
  

• Physical Environment. The ambiance of a worship space should complement the style of worship. Built with flexibility in mind, many modern worship spaces are adjustable to different styles. Traditional church buildings, however, are having a tough time keeping up with the general shift toward contemporary worship styles. Many church leaders are wreaking havoc on beautifully historic sanctuaries with projector screens hanging over stained glass, gaudy lighting trusses, and huge speakers that sound as inappropriate as they look. Most worshippers are distracted by such aesthetically insensitive decor and would not dream of allowing such incongruity in their own home. While it may seem frivolous to some, the services of a professional interior decorator will go a long way toward reducing visual distraction in a worship space.
  

• Budget. It's easy for tech directors in small churches to get discouraged after watching a few YouTube videos of production experts recommending very expensive equipment as the "budget" options. Most churches can produce high quality work with much less expensive portfolios. However, budget camcorders and analog sound consoles will not meet the minimum quality expectations of today's typical congregants and viewers. Download the Worship Ministry Toolkit from churchfront.com to find starter configurations for any size budget.
  

• Technical Compatibility. The degree of compatibility between the various products in a technology portfolio directly corresponds to its overall effectiveness. When you purchase a new product, consider how well it integrates with your existing, as well as future portfolio. For example, consider how well a new camera will integrate with your video switcher, or a sound console with an existing digital audio network. Oftentimes it's best to stay within a product family for the sake of compatibility even if the new product is not best in class.
  

• Degree of Mobility. The frustrating issues of volunteer burnout, high equipment failure rates, and technical issues resulting from the constant cycle of setup and breakdown can be discouraging to a nomadic church. Three strategies can help minimize these issues. First, purchase new, high-quality equipment. Sub-standard and second-hand equipment will fail at an alarming rate in a mobile situation and end up being more costly in the long run. Second, purchase lightweight equipment that is designed for mobility. Given a choice between a 32 channel sound board with 2 banks of 16 faders or a smaller one with 4 banks of 8 faders, take the latter. Third, purchase rolling racks in which you can pre-configure as many connections as possible.
  

• Ease of Use. When faced with a decision to purchase an easy-to-use product that delivers good enough results or a complicated product that delivers superior results, the former is almost always a better choice. Highly-sophisticated technology in the hands of amateur technicians (the reality in most churches) results in lower overall production quality than when they operate with simpler products.
  

• Obsolescence. Technologists often speak of a “sweet spot” of optimal reliability, useful life, and price in a product’s life cycle. Purchasing the latest and greatest technology typically requires suffering through some growing pains as the products mature. Conversely, purchasing new products that are based on aging technology can result in excessive (and expensive) “churn” in your portfolio as product usefulness and even vendor support expires too quickly. Finding the sweet spot can be tricky business, but for most products it follows the break-in period when early adopters expose and drive resolution of the initial wave of issues with new product releases.

Putting Your Portfolio To Work

With apologies for overuse of idiomatic expressions, you need to ensure that your bright shiny object does not become lipstick on a pig. A high quality technology portfolio does not guarantee high quality worship production. Proper methodology and technique can actually mask a mediocre product portfolio, whereas the opposite is never true. Below are the critical steps for implementing high quality production. Note that these steps are primarily focused on small to medium-sized churches with modest production requirements, but most of them can scale up to a church of any size:

1. Find an appropriately skilled leader for the ministry. The ideal candidate should have a combination of technical, creative, and leadership skills. Many churches default to people with only technical skills, which often results in excessive tension between the musicians and the production team. On the other hand, when people with only creative skill lead the ministry, the reliability and stability of the portfolio usually suffers. If possible, make it a paid position to increase the likelihood of attracting the best possible candidates.
   

2. View recruitment as an ongoing process. Participation on the production team comes with a steep learning curve. Even people with previous experience in other churches will require significant time to learn a new technical configuration and process. Having trainees on the roster on an ongoing basis will ensure that the production quality stay relatively consistent. See this post for more information about building and running a team.
   

3. Get the audio right first. Worshippers (whether live or online) will forgive almost any technical issue except poor sound quality. Not every church needs to have the expertise of a Bethel or Elevation to produce a "good enough" mix. They just need to recognize its importance and make it a priority. See this post for additional detail.
   

4. Modify the technical configuration to fit the “tone” of the service(s). For example, brighter lights and louder volume fit better with a high-energy service, whereas the opposite is true of services that have a more “solemn” tone. For projected media, vibrant colors and fast motion are more energetic while muted colors and slower motion encourage quiet contemplation.
   

5. Pay attention to flow. Nothing distracts worshippers more than technical glitches that interrupt the flow of a service. All members of the production team should understand the service order ahead of time and remain alert to transitions between elements in the order. For example, a worship leader should not have to remind the production team to unmute a mic, advance to a new slide, or start a video.
   

6. Manage the visual aesthetics. Approaches to visual aesthetics will vary, but too many churches unwittingly cross a line that ends up causing distractions for a majority of worshippers. The most common error occurs when the technical team members assume responsibility for aesthetics by default. However, an equally common problem is assuming that all visual artists are skilled in general visual aesthetics. The best people to design visual display elements (e.g. slide templates, backgrounds, logos, frames, etc.) are usually those who are skilled in graphic design, especially from an online marketing perspective. A good general principle is to start with simple graphics and display as little text as possible. Orchestrating a tasteful and non-distracting display of complex graphics requires in most cases, professional expertise.

Quality worship production will not occur as an afterthought. With technology now in almost every church worship service, it will either be a detriment or benefit to your church's worship experience. Invest in the right people, products, and process to make sure it is the latter.