When it comes to technology in church ministry, here are five important principles I’ve learned:
A person is always a better investment than a technology.
My first huge ministry job when I was green as moss on the shady side of a redwood tree, placed me in a megachurch with a brand-new, state-of-the-art worship center. I was the guy who got to break in this beautiful room. The 150-plus light fixtures on the five catwalks at this point had no gels in them and were opened as wide as possible, washing the front church platform in blinding light. The joy of developing a team to aim the lights and design looks for our services was one of the first tech accomplishments. The other was realizing that the back of the stage looked ugly. Two large doors to storage areas were there with bare walls. The staff leaders and I decided that adding curtains would enhance the room, adding appropriate contrast so our pastor and worship leaders would appear less pasty.
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Our vendor was terrific with explaining all of our options. But, one awkward moment with my boss and me was memorable. “Why do you want to automate this curtain? Don’t you have volunteers who can easily open and close the curtain?” You see, we could save money. But, money was not our issue. We looked at each other and almost gasped. Of course, our thinking about technology in church ministry was all about making things “efficient,” and perhaps we were putting this value above what we thought a church should be all about. Factories need progressing efficiency, but families need loving relationships. People feel loved when they belong, and what better way to extend a relationship than to invite a person to serve and pull the curtains open and closed?
Reject the addiction to perfection and efficiency.
As one example, if we build a church music ministry around using multitrack loops to make our less talented musicians sound better, we might miss the opportunity of giving them lessons. It is efficient for a larger church with multiple teams to have the security that their track will compensate for lack of skill when it needs to. It is inefficient to teach music. It is efficient to use a loop. Now, using a loop to sweeten the sound is sometimes a very good idea. But, what if you could have dozens of more musicians who are competent covering all of the parts? What if you began with that 13-year-old in the youth band instead of pushing for perfect execution? In time, what seems inefficient might build something more lasting than a flawlessly executed song set. What if the goal, even in how you do ministry, is to invest in people—both skill and heart?
When the volunteer who opens and closes the curtain misses his or her cue on one of your largest services of the year, it is almost guaranteed that the gravity of choosing automated curtains is the after-service conversation. For those of us who work in the production and tech areas, are we charged with deepening people or simply efficiency and excellence? Gear addiction may describe anyone in any role these days. For instance, I love our electric guitar players and how a new pedal might be bragged about equally as cyclists geek out over new composite forks. When we are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars with our church tech upgrades, it is important to check our excitement for the tool at the door. Might we endeavor to show the same amount of excitement for our team?
