“Life change happens best in the context of community.”

This was a value statement from a church that I worked at many years ago.  I think it is true.  As production people, we spend so much effort and pour lots of resources into making the large group experience happen at our churches, in many ways facilitating the life of the church.  When we are the last ones out the door after a long night, it can feel like we are functioning just on the outer fringe of the community instead of being fully functioning members of it.

15 years ago, I started reaching out to any other church technical artists to try and feel like I was a part of a community that understood me and could walk along side me and encourage me along the way.  Nothing really existed at the time to facilitate this kind of community, so I just went after it myself, for myself.

Today is a much different landscape for church technical people.  Most churches need technology to even function, which means there is a tech person involved.  I love the fact that there are communities of tech people out there for us to tap into and feel encouraged by.

GURUS OF TECH

The production team at Willow Creek is gearing up to host our 2nd annual “Gurus of Tech” event, in an effort to provide the opportunity for church technical artists to be a part of a community.  To know you aren’t alone; that there are people all over the world with the same struggles as you, or that have faced a problem and come up with a brilliant solution.  To sit in a room full of people who have a similar passion for using the technical arts to advance the cause of the Gospel around the world.

Gurus of Tech is my favorite thing all year:  to feel connected, to feel like I am not alone, to feel like I am apart of something much bigger, to be inspired to keep going.  We’d love to have you join us.

CTL

Churchtechleaders.org is another amazing way to feel connected to other technical artists in your region or even around the world.  It is not only an online community but it is a vehicle for organizing face to face gatherings by region.  The leadership of CTL will be involved at Gurus of Tech to help further the connect that begins at the event.  Sign up.  Check out there website for more info.