What is The Production Pastor?

The mission of The Production Pastor is simple: helping you (and your team) grow as Technical Artists and Disciples of Jesus.

The need for a production pastor

Church production is a unique type of ministry. Most ministries engage directly with the church and their work is easily seen. Family ministry equips parents to disciple their families, women’s and men’s ministry shepherd the various men and women in the church, worship ministry equips people to lead the church in worship, preachers preach the Word and shepherd the congregation. Tech arts is a support ministry. Our work is not so obviously seen and we’re the only ministry area that exists to support other ministries.

We’re a different kind of ministry, but a ministry nonetheless. We have physical demands to make sure events and services go well, but we also have a call to grow spiritually and disciple others.

We’re a different kind of ministry, but a ministry nonetheless.

Production ministry also has some unique challenges. You can’t ask just anyone off the street to come run lighting or mix audio the same way you can ask someone to help stack chairs. Working behind the scenes in a regular capacity is also physically, mentally and relationally draining, which can’t be fully appreciated or understood without directly experiencing it over a long period of time.

In just the past few months, I’ve seen the following quotes:

• “Feeling immensely alone…”
• “An alarming number of church techs struggle with burnout each year”
• “My worship leader doesn’t get me, my pastor doesn’t get me…”
• “Many of us may feel like we are nothing more than a cog in a machine, showing up each week to fix gear and run services with little or no control over our direction or destiny.”
• “it’s easy to feel overlooked or taken for granted.”
  

We need to shape how the church views those who serve in production, to acknowledge there’s a huge gap between the technical and spiritual aspects of production.

There aren’t enough resources centered around church production, yet every church is using technology on a regular basis. There are plenty resources about gear and how to use it, but not nearly enough focused on ministry, leadership and discipleship. There are occasional posts talking about a short devotional thought in the Christmas and Easter seasons, but overall these are few and far between and don’t actually help a technician grow as a person or as a disciple.

I know many churches who are looking for leaders to serve in church production. They’re looking for high caliber leaders who can build and lead teams that produce excellent worship services, but can also shepherd them spiritually. Churches are actively looking for tech leaders, but just can’t find them.

We need leaders in the tech arts. We need leaders who can help shape what production ministry can and should look like. Leaders who can raise up other technical leaders and equip them to become not just technicians and doers, but leaders and ministers who transform the way we use technology.

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FAQ

What is Production?

Production goes by many names: technical production, event production, live production, tech arts, AV (audio/visual), AVL (audio, video, lighting), church production, worship production, and many other names.

Here on The Production Pastor, we define production (or any of the terms listed above) as the art of producing worship and enhancing the worship experience.

Who is the site for?

1. Technical Directors who want to excel in leading production teams in not just technical abilities, but in ministry and spiritual growth.
2. Those who serve on tech teams who want to grow as techs, creatives and disciples.
3. Church leaders who want to learn how to engage with the technical arts in their church.
   

The production pastor exists to

1. Cast vision for what tech ministry should look like
   
   • Lead the conversation in how we use technology in worship.
   • Look at how we can use production technology to create an atmosphere of worship that aligns with the mission and values of our local churches.
   • Show church leadership and non-production roles the value of technology in worship and those who operate it.
     
     
2. Equip production teams for leadership and ministry
   
   • Raise a generation of church technical leaders and equip them to become not just technicians and doers, but leaders and ministers who transform the way we use technology.
   • Challenge leaders to not only oversee producing services, but shape how we as followers of Jesus use technology in a broken, digital culture.
   • Produce teams who can lead their churches in worship from a technical position.
   • Model what healthy service looks like in production ministry.
     
     
3. Create resources to equip production teams as they transform the worship experience
   
   • Provide spiritual development resources aimed at tech arts staff.
   • Provide training for tech arts teams from a worship-centered background.
     

Who is the Production Pastor?

Alex Sawyer is the Production Pastor

Alex has been working in church production since he was a kid. He is a worship leader, creative artist and audio engineer who wants to change how the church approaches production ministry. He currently serves as the technical director at Third Church in Richmond, VA.