How many Tech volunteers do we need…really?

I get asked this question every single time we do major renovations to an A/V system at a church. I think we get asked this for two main reasons. 

The first reason is, many churches learned during the pandemic to have 1 person who knows how to do everything. Now that person has a very stressful job in this doing everything, but they can (mostly) get it done. However, the church has learned this system is no good for a few reasons. First, that one person just makes little mistakes every week. Of course they do, they’re doing the jobs of multiple people! Second, if that one person stays home because they are sick, or they go on vacation…no one else in church knows how to do their very complicated job. In fact, this is often why churches call Capital Hope Media in the first place. 

Second, churches have never run an A/V system and a live stream well. Most of my clients have done these things, and they’ve…figured it out. They’ve made do for years. During the pandemic, they ran to Best Buy or Guitar Center, and bought equipment to get the basics of online worship accomplished. Now, a few years on, they see the limitations of that approach. But they don’t have a great baseline for expectations going forward. 

Your church is unhappy with the status quo. Part of the status quo is asking too few people to do too many things. This must change.

Recruiting Volunteers

The core anxiety churches feel when discussing this is: they can’t imagine a world where it’s easy to recruit tech volunteers.

Let me start by addressing that: it will be much easier to recruit tech volunteers when your system is easy to run. We have a lot to say on that elsewhere, but that’s a core problem. Let’s name it, so we can face it!

The Five Volunteers

Generally, churches with very simple worship should aspire to five volunteers each week in the tech booth. 

1. Slideshow Operator

2. Live stream video operator

3. Audio Mixer Operator for in-person worship

4. Audio mixer for live-streamed worship

5. A Tech Director, overseeing the whole process

That seems like a lot, doesn’t it? First, let me explain these roles, then we’ll see where compromise is possible, and where compromise becomes unrealistic. 

1. Slideshow Operator: This is easy. They operate the PC/Mac that has your slideshow. Your powerpoint/ProPresenter/Proclaim presentation.

2. Live stream Video Operator: this person selects cameras, basically. If you have motorized cameras, they will also control that. (Note: this is already mixing two jobs into one! Don’t ask more of this person.)

3. Audio Mixer for In-Person worship: the person who adjusts audio for your in-person worship. 

4. Audio Mixer for Live-Streamed Worship: You want a second person watching your live-stream, adjusting the audio mix. They will control your digital audio mixer remotely, via iPad, for the benefit of your online congregation.

5. Tech Director: Have you ever noticed that, inevitably, someone misses a transition in worship? They forget to turn on the microphone, or the slideshow is behind…something goes wrong! That isn’t just because the person operating the tech isn’t paying attention (Ok, that might be part of it, too)...it’s inevitably going to happen, because everyone is human. A Tech Director helps mitigate this. They are the supervisor in the tech team, reminding people of upcoming cues, and the like. If your team has a tech director, your entire worship service will be much smoother. 

Where To Compromise

Ok. Now, five volunteers on a Sunday means you need a team much larger than that, so people can rotate through, only volunteering a couple times a month. So truthfully, your church would like eight or ten tech volunteers!

Geez, that’s a lot. 

So…on this list of five…where can you compromise?

Generally, the least damaging two roles to compromise on are the Tech Director and the live-stream audio mixer. It’s easy to see how you can live without a Tech Director.

Living without a live-stream audio engineer is more of a compromise, because…your live-stream audio needs someone to pay attention even more than your in-person worship! However, the other roles are almost impossible to compromise on. So you’ll need to compromise on the live-stream worship, and allow your in-person audio engineer to do their best here. That means you’ll have to accept some degree of live-stream viewers not hearing an ideal audio mix. We have a few tips and tricks to help minimize this tension.

Seriously?

So…that still leaves three volunteers. Do you really need three volunteers on a Sunday morning? Really? I mean, your worship service is so simple. You can’t possibly need three people…right?

Church after church has insisted this when I work with them. And church after church has seen, after a week or two with their new A/V system, that yes, they really do need three volunteers. At a minimum. 

If you try to make two volunteers do the job of five people, you’re just asking too much of your volunteers. I believe it’s inappropriate for a church to ask a volunteer to do something when they are set up to fail, and tolerate unreasonable stress. Now, some people will tolerate that. There is always someone in church who will. But I see almost weekly churches who do that. And isn’t this the situation you’re trying to solve, anyway?

But the biggest problem is that you’re undermining your recruitment efforts. It will be much harder to recruit volunteers when they can see the job is overwhelming. Plan for three, and let that be your minimum.

Volunteer tech recruitment has been hard in your church, but it will be easier with a well-designed A/V system. We care a lot about this stuff at Capital Hope Media, because we know it’s crucial for your church’s success. Reach out to us, and let’s talk about how to help your church succeed!