We have completed our first day of load in and it did not disappoint.  Walking into the venue for teh first time, we started with a blank slate and by the end of the day, had accomplished a herculean task.

At a certain point, our team decided it was time for lunch and while we were eating, we could hear the band rehearsing the songs for each session, preparing for the 7000+ people attending later this week.  The band and vocals are made up of 6 band members and 6 vocalists; they are the face of the conference.  The thing that struck me was that there were about 100 technical artists working to facilitate the efforts of the 12 people in the room next door.

I have never been so taken aback by the number of technical artists relative to creative artists on stage.  It is close to a 10:1 ratio…10 “support” people for every person on stage.  It was a visiual reminder that it takes a ton of all different kinds people to make an event happen, even more than were represented by the ones I could see yesterday.  This idea alone feels like a future blog entry.

The beautiful part about this production, is that we are all doing it for the sake of a compelling vision…helping the leaders of Germany’s church lead more effectively.  Most of the technical artists in this room work in many different environments, at very high levels, yet they choose to use their gifts for something much greater.  Not only that, but they have been jumping in to help with whatever needs to be done.  Run cables?  Got it.  Set up risers?  Done.  Cover unused chairs with duvo?  I’d love to.

The picture of a common goal and a servant’s attitude inspires me every time.

Our team from the US has begun the journey to Stuttgart, Germany.  On the ride to the airport, the 5 of us riding on a Willow shuttle, courtesy of Dan Selop, we’re commenting on how few of us there were.  It seemed like last time we were a lot more of us…like the bus was packed with luggage to the ceiling and people sitting on to of each other.

Thinking further back, the first time I went on a serving trip with the Willow Production Team to Germany the team was huge.  Back then, we were a group of technical artists, traveling to another country to help carry the Willow production values to an event that we just happened to be pulling off somewhere other than our church.  It was tons of work and lots of fun, and the goal was simply getting the event up and running and executing the content for 2 1/2 days of the conference.

After a certain point, mixing one more event in one more venue isn’t enough…at least not for me.  I am really hoping that this trip is another opportunity to release a little more so that the German church can be served Germans.  And looking at our crew list, I am amazed at the talented technical artists I get to serve with, most of whom speak German as their first language, but all of whom speak technical arts as their second.

In my last post, I talked about an event to celebrate our amazing volunteer production teams at Willow.  One of my key learnings was that we needed to put stuff on the calendar for it to happen.  As production people, we are so used to others determining our schedule of events, and it is important to take control of our calendars enough to make sure celebrating volunteers, whatever other important thing you need to be about, shows up.

Now it is one thing to put an event on the calendar.  It is another thing entirely to make it worth coming to.  As promised, here is another thing I learned getting ready for our volunteer event:

Spend the time to make it meaningful.  I already mentioned that I am worried about something failing as a reason not to do it in the first place.  Just having an event in someone’s calendar isn’t enough, if it isn’t worth coming to.  How will you use the time?  What is the point of our getting together?  What do we want people to feel when they leave?

Our staff team has a super fun Christmas party each year, and every year I know I have to wrap up the evening and say something meaningful in 5 minutes.  I spent hours trying to come up with the right thing to say.  I have been to enough events where it felt like the people in charge we just winging it, and that feels dishonoring.

Take the time to make something memorable and significant.  Don’t waste the gathering by not casting some vision or encouraging your team.  What they do is significant, and someone needs to pour into them with words.  If you don’t seize this opportunity, don’t waste your time scheduling the event in the first place.

As a leader, invest the time to make each event you plan worth coming to.

 photo credit: droob

We had a volunteer celebration for the entire Willow production team the other night.  It included production teams from all the ministries at our South Barrington campus as well as all of our regional campuses.  It was amazing to see such a wide age range of like-minded people together in one place.  From the minute I walked into the room, I was so proud of the team I lead and get to be a part of.

While the party was going on, I kept thinking, “We should do this more often.”  The sad thing is that we hadn’t done an event like that in 6 years!  The only reason I know this, is that we gave out production ministry t-shirts with a big ’06 on the back, that I still have.

Reflecting back on this and other big gatherings of our team that fall outside of the every day, getting the job done type of tasks, I was reminded of a few things that I will share over the next few blog posts.  The first thing is:

Just put something on the calendar.

I am not a huge fan of planning large events where I am the one responsible for people having a meaningful time.  What if it fails?  So instead of taking the chance, I tend to never put them on the calendar.  I have noticed that when the word is out, and there is no turning back, there is now a deadline to make something happen.  Retreats, staff meetings, celebrations…you name it.

There are so many things that are good for us to be about, but will never happen unless we plan for them.  The other thing that will happen if you don’t put it on the calendar, is that your calendar will fill up with a bunch of stuff that doesn’t matter as much.

Similar to “If you build it they will come” from the movie “Field of Dreams”, if you put something on the calendar, you will be prodded to make something happen and your volunteers will come.

Plan something.  Put it on the calendar.  Trying and failing is better than not doing anything.  Your team needs you to take a chance.

So now it’s on the calendar…now what?  Check out my next post.

[Disclaimer] – I didn’t actually put this particular event on the calendar, my team did…while I was on vacation.  They just told me we were doing it. :)

 photo credit: Rosa Say

I have written about this before, so I’ll try not to sound like a broken record.

Going into any big event, as a production person, I would like to nail down every detail and then execute those details exactly.  Having been at this for a while, I have come to appreciate the reality:  we can only know so much about what is really going to happen and there will always be a certain percentage of unknowns.

I personally translate this to mean that I can probably only know 80% of what is going to happen…at best.  The other 20% just up for grabs and I need to let it stay up for grabs.  Now that I understand that this is how things go, I want to plan like crazy for the 80% I can know.  In my situation, this looks like:  Who’s in the band?  What instruments are they playing?  What songs are we doing?  What is the form of each song?  What is the stage layout?  If I can know it, I want to.

When I am fully prepared for the 80%, I am ready to handle the 20% that I can’t plan for.  How many of you get to service time and and then things happen that nobody planned on?  Stuff just happens sometimes, and I would rather be ready to handle it.

So often, we do a bad job of being fully ready for the 80% and so can spend extra energy during rehearsal on that stuff, instead of working on it when there isn’t as much pressure.  This looks like:  inaccurate cue sheets, extra band instruments at the last minute, people not knowing all their words, disregard for deadlines, etc.  When I am spending all my time during rehearsal trying to play catch-up, I don’t really have anything left for the changes that happen in the moment, and to me, those are the ones that matter.  So many of our most moving moments are last minute and unplanned.

I can only speculate on what is behind all this.  I have a sense that all this preparedness is difficult for people who want things to remain organic, in the moment and not feeling over-produced.  I also know that creativity and inspiration can hold out until the last minute.  Unfortunately for the production side of things, we can’t really get our stuff rehearsed without there being a plan.

I realize that this has turned into a rant.  What can I do about this?  What will help me feel prepared for the 80%?  Keeping after it.  Not giving up.  Continuing to push for being prepared as possible.

Helping to create a great service is the goal, doing it while not restricting the creative arts at every turn feels important…doing it while not dishonoring the needs of the production team feels just as important.

We all need each other.  If you are a worship pastor, understand that your production team wants to create amazing services with you, but have certain needs that feel like handcuffs to you.  They aren’t trying to paint your worship set into a corner, they just want it to be incredible, and can only do so much if everything is last minute or not fully prepared.  If you are a technical artist, understand that asking for 100% accuracy in a production meeting isn’t possible.  Figure out what can be figured out, then relax.

How the creative arts and the technical arts work better together in 2012?

 photo credit: Mary-Kay G

What is it about January 1st that gets people reevaluating their lives?  I’m doing it.  Why?  It is just one more day on the calendar, but there is something about the beginning of something that makes me want to take a hard look at my life and figure out how to make it better.

Without stopping, or just slowing down, and examining 2011 how can I hope to improve on the areas that need improvement?

Usually around this time of year, I think about the illustration of how to fit a few big rocks and a tons a pebbles into a bucket.  If you put the small pebbles in first, the big ones will never all fit.  If you make space for the larger rocks first, there will be plenty of space for the smaller rocks.

I know that my life is full of small pebbles.  They seem to be everywhere.  I am pretty good at just making space for those things  simply because I haven’t taken the time to figure out what really matters to me.

Being a production person, I spend a lot of time reacting to other people’s plans…small pebbles.  As technical artists in the local church, much of what we do is responding to the needs of the moment…small pebbles.  This part of my existence is inescapable.  But what can tend to happen for me is that it becomes my entire reality.  As a leader of a ministry, I can’t afford…my team can’t afford for me to get wrapped up in only responding.  If you are leading a team, they need you to spend time on bigger issues.  Improving a process…large rock.  Planning retreat…large rock.  Recruiting more volunteers…large rock.

One of my ideas for my own life, involves a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“Guard well your spare moments.  They are like uncut diamonds.  Discard them and their value will never be known.  Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.”

I can’t tell you how much time I can waste, simply because I don’t have a plan for how to use my spare moments.  I don’t want to waste them this year.  This doesn’t mean I can’t relax or take it easy, but it does mean that those moments will be strategic instead of just happening because I haven’t thought it through.

Coming up with a plan is one thing.  Sticking to it is an entirely different matter.  Here is the kicker for me:  the power that God used to raise Christ from the dead is available to me.  This past weekend, Blaine Hogan, one of Willow’s creative directors quoted 2 Peter 1:3 in the service:

³ “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

Spending time coming up with the resolutions necessary for a full life is one huge hurtle.  Sticking with them is an entirely different the challenge.  When I am faced with the choice of following through with a resolution or disregarding it, I have been trying to remind myself of the power at my disposal to choose what I have resolved to do.

Have you set aside time to identify what the most important things in your life are?  

When you do, remember that God has given you everything you need for a godly life.

 photo credit: DaveLevy

I love what I do.  I could be at it 24/7.  As a result, I probably spend more time at it than I should.  If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know that my wife is always saying “come home early”, which helps quite a bit in the pursuit of avoiding continual work.

Talking to many technical artists in the local church, I notice that I am not alone in my love for what I do.  Most of us love a challenge.  Many of us will not stop until something is complete.  We are passionate about using the technical arts to advance the Kingdom of God through the local church.  However, many times this is to the detriment of our health and our non-work life.

After a few days of not thinking about work, I have realized how refreshed I feel and how I am starting to come back to life.  My last blog entry was about being empty.  I have noticed my tank refilling.

This idea of loving what I do so much that I don’t take very good breaks, reminded me of a couple Winston Churchill quotes (shocking!) from a small book he wrote in 1922 called “Painting as a Pastime”.

“It may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their mind.”

and

“A man can wear out a particular part of his mind by continually using and tiring it, just in the same way he can wear out the elbows of his coat.”

This break from work, for whatever reason, has been good for me to remember the importance of these two quotes in my own life.  Here are a couple things that I have done over the past couple of weeks to combat the weariness that comes from going full steam ahead at a job I love:

Develop other interests.  This has been key for me.  Running.  Watercolor painting.  Cemetery photography (weird, I know).  My 5th grade son’s basketball games.  Trips into the city.  When I am at home, these have all helped get my mind off of work.  And when I am at work, they give me reason to leave work behind and engage my brain in new ways.  They also have nothing to do with what I do every day, so I am not wearing myself down even further by having interests that are just like my work.  Instead, they renew me, and as a result, I am ready for another day of the things I love to do.

Create space.  This requires discipline, which I am pretty bad at.  There is always something pressing that requires immediate attention and seems more important than space.  Plan that vacation, otherwise it won’t happen.  Create a routine to get you out running on a regular basis.  Look for cemeteries you haven’t been to and figure out ways to get there with your camera (yes, I know… weird.  Check out the new photo blog I created).  Discipline yourself to make space.

This past week, I was given time off.  Our whole staff takes the week between Christmas and New Years off, so it was space created for me.  I have really enjoyed it, and wonder why I don’t use all my vacation days and do this more often.

These are 2 things I am committed to this next year.  I have other interests already, but I am going to create the space for them to happen.

What are some interests that you could develop this coming year that would rejuvenate you?

Take advantage of the impulse to create New Years resolutions.  Look at your weeks, months and the year ahead and create some space for you to recover from the work you love.

 photo credit: Art Inspector

I have been thinking about the need to post something new.  It turns out, thinking and doing are two different things.  While I have been starring at the blank page in front of me,it occurred to me, why I haven’t been able to come up with any new thoughts…I’m empty.  I have nothing to say.  I just want to star at the ceiling.  I am almost completely useless.

My initial reaction to this obvious realization is to wonder why December has to be such a blitz, and is there a better way to make it to the finish line next year?  I go through the process in my mind and wonder what could have been different so that I would feel less empty.  If I had made certain decisions differently, would I feel more full right now?

These are all great questions, and there are some probably really good answers, and I’m sure that we will spend some time talking about it in January.  However, in this moment, none of this really matters to me.  It struck me that Christ came to this earth, with the intent to empty himself for my behalf.  When he was born in that manger, the moment we are all working our butts off to celebrate, he knew that the ultimate goals was to leave this world emptied.

Our first Christmas Eve Service was this past Sunday night and it was packed.  The people in our church with the gift of evangelism got together and invited thousands of their friends to our service, many of whom had never been to church before.  At our 2nd service, that same night, the High Road Riders, Willow’s biker gang :), invited their friends and then invited veterans to be honored with a dinner and brought to our service, again, many of them not have attended church regularly.

When I think about all those people, whom God wants to reach out to, who are hearing the gospel message clearly, maybe for the first time, I realize that the emptiness I feel is a good one.  For many of us technical artists, serving in the local church at this time of year, we have emptied ourselves out for something worthwhile; creating opportunities for God to use our services to proclaim his redemptive plan, for untold numbers of lives to be changed for eternity.

On December 26th, as you stare glassy eyed at your Christmas tree, hear the Creator’s words to you:

“Well done, empty person.  Come share your master’s happiness!”

 photo credit: jypsygen

Each year at the Elliott house, the Christmas season doesn’t officially start until we blast the Bing Crosby Classic “Mele Kalikimaka” through the house.  My kids get completely embarrassed by this, but I have to believe that they will carry on the tradition nonetheless.

For whatever reason, this year, I have been putting off kicking off the Christmas season.  Maybe once it starts, it means that my life is full tilt until the end of the year.  If I don’t listen to Bing, then the crazy won’t start.

All of us involved in church production are bracing ourselves for the busiest time of our year.  At Willow we throw around the idea of this is our Super Bowl.  This is the event that has the greatest outreach potential and we want to help create a memorable experience for first time visitors and long time members.

I am guessing that at most of our churches, people will come and have a warm and fuzzy Christmas experience, remembering God coming down to dwell among us in the form of a baby.  I would also guess that if people came to talk to the average technical artist at the average church, they would receive more of a cold and prickly, fried and crispy experience.  Many of us push ourselves past our limits and become numb to what Christmas is all about.  How could this year be different?

Put events in your calendar that say things like “STAY HOME” and “TAKE KIDS TO SCHOOL” or “HAVE A BREAKFAST DATE WITH MY WIFE”.  Do it now while you are still thinking clearly.  I tend to be really bad about thinking ahead on things like this and then when I am in the middle of the mess, I completely miss these opportunities.  I have noticed that when I am super intentional about the times I am home, we tend to have some of our best times together.  I know you are tired, but if you can be strategic with the time you are home, you will be glad you made the effort.

Make time to read through the Christmas story, or read through the prophesies about the Messiah in Isaiah.  Put yourself in the frame of mind for the Christmas season.  Remember why you are even doing production in the local church.  This is why.  For me, I love classical music and therefore I put Handel’s Messiah on repeat on my iPod and listen to all the amazing scripture concerning Christ and his coming.

I don’t know how many of you are having a service on Christmas morning, but this year, my wife had this great idea that our whole family should serve together.  I haven’t told my kids yet, but they are going to be running camera, helping with the stage team, I might even have someone help me with the FOH mix..I’m going to need all the help I can get, it’s been a while :)  The end result will be a family memory that involves everyone, instead of the family memory that involves Dad missing Christmas because he had to go to work.

What can you do this year to fight against burning yourself out this Christmas?  Yes we have a huge task ahead of us.  What do you have control over to make this a Christmas season to remember, for good reasons instead of the normal ones?

I can definitely tell that I am starting to wear down.  I am a big time morning person, not only because I do my best work in the morning, but the life of a dad with 3 kids who need to get to school, requires that I wake up early.  I told someone the other night that we should move all our rehearsal to 5 am, because then you’d see me at my best.  These late nights are starting to catch up to me.

Once we are all in neck deep in Christmas prep, our families can start to get the short end of the stick.  Not only am I not around in the evening, but it is really easy to spend most of the  time I am at home just trying to recover from working such long days.  I was talking to a co-worker about how we each handle time at home during this season, and I was reminded of a couple things I have learned over the years that help make the Christmas run more doable.

Make the most of every moment.  Many times my family is already in bed when I get home from a late night rehearsal, so the reality is that if I want to see them, I need to get up when they start getting ready for school.  As a result, no matter how late I get home, I make myself get out of bed so that I can interact with my kids.  It may not seem like much, all I’m doing is making breakfast and helping them get out the door, but every chance I have to interact with them helps us make it through Christmas.  My wife and I have had some of our best conversations during Christmas, because we know that even though we are both tired, sitting on the kitchen floor for 20 minutes and looking at each other will help carry us to the finish line.  For me, when everyone goes off to school/work, that’s when I crawl back into bed.

Don’t use Christmas as an excuse.  Your family is not having the easiest time with you gone all the time, so when you are there, pick up the slack, push through your tiredness.  Do the dishes.  Take apart the trampoline.  Help decorate the house for Christmas.   Your family is working harder than normal to function without you being around as much, so you need to step in when you don’t feel like it to make things happen.

I have an amazing wife.  I don’t know how I was lucky enough to marry such an amazing person, but my wife has made me being a technical artist in the local church possible.  She does a great job of calling the best out of me and reminding me that our family needs a vision for Christmas as much as my production team needs vision.  I’d be lying if I didn’t give a huge amount of credit to our family’s survival at Christmas time to her.

I can sometimes make Christmas my excuse for being lame, but his is a perfect opportunity for you and me to build our character and be better people.  You have every right to complain about how much you are working.  You’d be amazed how your Christmas experience can change if you rise above how you feel and choose to make the most of this season.

photo credit by fmgbain