One of the most challenging things about church sound is recruiting volunteers.
We like to blame it on the overwhelming complexity. But most times, we are shooting ourselves in the foot by running people off without even realizing it.
One of the big things is to be inviting. I feel like in tech circles (and I'm guilty of this, for sure), it's easy to create your own little niche or club that is like, "if you don't talk the right language, you're not part of our club".
So it can be a very exclusive and exclusionary type of atmosphere if we're not careful. I think it's important to really open up and understand how we can relate to people that are brand new and create opportunities for them to serve.
Ask for help. I mean, guys like us that have been doing this for years probably don't feel like we need that much help. In fact, you're probably thinking people just get in the way like, "You're not going to wrap that cable the right way, so it's just better if I do it myself."
Well that creates a very closed structure. It's not open, it's not inviting, and there's no space for anybody else to serve in that type of environment.
So if we can step away from our ego and be more thoughtful and deliberate about opening up and inviting people in, it will solve a lot of the recruiting and the volunteer staffing problems that we experience on tech teams.
I mean, kids from the youth group are amazing to be able to work into the sound team. Musicians are also great to recruit because they understand more of the artistic side of sound. You just have to train them a little bit on some of the tech stuff.
They can be great allies, even if they play on the worship team two or three Sundays a month and mix sound once every five or six weeks. So open up the sphere of what you think might be a good sound team member and be open to that diversity that you can have.
Next Step: Train New Church Sound Volunteers (without running them off)
This is an excerpt from the Collaborate Worship podcast. Watch or listen to the full episode here:
Ep 18: The Enemy of Great Church Sound ft. James Wasem
Connect with James Wasem at greatchurchsound.com
