DukeDeJong

The other morning I was driving, reflecting on the year that has been and the year that is to come.  2011 for me is truly the start of something new as my family has moved to a new region and I start a new role with a new company so I’ve been finding myself frequently remembering the past 10 years and how I’ve gotten here, and of course about what lies ahead.  This particular morning I was listening to the song “Where You Go I Go” by Jesus Culture and decided to turn it up as I drove.  As I got to the bridge, the lyrics jumped out at me as if someone was literally in front of me yelling them out to God.

“Though the world sees and soon forgets
We will not forget who You are and what You’ve done for us
What You’ve done for us”

Many of us know the story of the Israelites and how often they did in fact forget about who God is and what He had done for them.  Rescue us from the Egyptians, check.  Part the sea, check.  Provide food from heaven, check.  Yet over time they forgot these very miracles that they lived out, what God did for them and proof of who He was (and still is).  God promised deliverance, and He delivered big time.  God promised a land flowing with milk and honey, and it seems that before could deliver on that promise the people forgot who He was and what He had done for them.  As you read the accounts in Exodus there were periods of unbelief and even turning their backs on God in order to worship gold idols.

We live in a time where things move faster than ever and for most of us that means we have less patience and more distractions in our lives.  As this new year starts, God is challenging me to frequently stop and remember exactly who He is and what He has done for me.  I can’t help but think that as we begin 2011, those of us who lead ministries and teams of people need to do this with our teams as well.  When was the last time you sat down with your team to remember together and thank God for all that He is and what He has done for you and through you?  When was the last time that as a team you’ve thought back to and remembered the promises that God has yet to deliver?

My hope and prayer for you as you start 2011 is that you and I will be people who never forget who He is and what He has done for us, and that we will share it with everyone we come in contact with.

Over the past week I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking back over 2010.  My family has grown a lot, we’ve learned much and believe that as good as God has been to us so far, the best is yet to come.  As we approach 2011 our excitement is growing for what God has next for us and as we make preparations for us to move to our new home next week, it’s time to share where we are going and the new role that God has provided for me.

When my wife and I felt it was time to leave Victory and thought that God might be calling us to serve the church as opposed to serving within one, we began having conversations with a number of different people.  We discussed potential options with a few different companies, still talked with one or two churches, and above all really looked for the opportunity with the team that most matched my heart as well as provided a position that really matched the skills and passion that God had been stirring up inside me.  Over the past few weeks, with every opportunity laid out in front of us, it became very clear that God created such a perfect role that the decision had already been made for us.

When I joined Victory Worship Center in Tucson last year, their worship center had only been open about 6 months and the technology that was designed and installed in there impressed me greatly.  The sound system was easily one of the best systems I’d ever used and the video and lighting systems were impressive as well.  Not only were the systems impressive, but every time I needed help the company that did the design and installation of these systems was quick to offer it, and in fact even came to our church to help me get up to speed and tweak the systems the way I wanted them a few different times.  In my years doing this I have worked with designers/integrators that had am incredible passion for the church and I’ve worked with people who are incredibly good at what they do, but rarely have I worked with people who are great at both.   Their passion to help us as a church be great and use our systems to their fullest is what impressed me the most and has won me over as a fan.  This company is CCI Solutions (www.ccisolutions.com) out of Olympia, WA, and in January I will join their staff as the Church Relations Director.

So a company this great needs me for what?  That’s exactly what I wondered, but as I started discussing the possibilities with CCI there were two truths that became apparent.  First, they have a clear desire to see churches win and be successful.  It’s not about buying the highest price gear or what would be cool, but they are committed to building highly functional, flexible and reliable systems that will help churches increase their impact in their communities and beyond.  It’s not about the gear or a brand name and they get that.  It’s about helping churches succeed in the vision that God has given them and they’re willing to do whatever they can to help the church get there.  Second, they know that it’s about people and are committed to not simply being a vendor or hired hand, but a ministry partner.  CCI Solutions knows that in order for churches and ministry leaders to be successful they need to have someone who’s behind them, routing for them, and supporting them with ideas and resources that they need in order to be effective.  This starts with a relationship, something CCI believes whole-hearted in.

This is where I come in.  As good as I think CCI already is, they are committed to being an even better partner to the church and its leaders.  If you know me or have followed me you know my passions are to help equip ministry leaders and to help mentor, encourage and raise up the next generation of ministry leaders.  In my role as Church Relations Director, I will be spending much of my time investing in people, encouraging and equipping ministry leaders however CCI and I can, as well as helping CCI focus its efforts on helping churches to win.  I hope to also continue working with the Church Technical Director Round Table (CTDRT, www.ctdrt.org) and those on the Church Technical Arts Network (CTAN, www.ctanonline.com) in encouraging, praying for and equipping my friends and colleagues there however I can.  I believe that our arts leaders (Worship, Technical, Drama, etc) carry a great burden and responsibility for ministry in the church today and technical directors are frequently the hardest working, most misunderstood leaders out there.  This is a group that I love dearly, pray for every day, and hope to serve for years to come.

This is a very exciting time and change for my family, but as you can imagine it comes with a great deal of change, stress and stretching.  We would greatly appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this journey.  If you are an arts leader in one of this nation’s great churches, I can not wait to serve you!  If you need anything, even simply someone to bounce ideas off of or someone to pray with, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

As many of you know, this summer my wife and I made the decision to leave the role of Technical Coordinator for Victory Worship Center in Tucson, AZ.  We left in faith knowing that God was shifting my calling from serving in the church to serving the church as a whole.  This was a vague calling to us and we knew it would take a little time for God to show us what the next step was and navigate all of the things that come with transition.  As we approach the new year we are excited that God is really locking in our next steps for us and we are so very excited for the opportunity that is coming up next.  I’ll post more about that role in the next few days but I felt like before I could really look ahead, I needed to look back on what opportunities that God has provided over the past 4 months since we made this leap.

Shortly after leaving Victory I worked with some churches on my own and also joined my friends at Church Solutions Group in order to help manage some projects through a very busy period of time for them.  In the past 4 months I’ve had the privilege of working with 9 different churches doing everything from designing systems, leading installations and doing training.  Each ministry I had the opportunity to work with blessed me in different ways and I’m so thankful to have worked with each one.  I’ve also been incredibly blessed to work with friends at Church Solutions Group who share my passion and desire to help churches succeed in impacting their communities.  I’m so grateful for the opportunity to serve the church and it’s leaders alongside of these men and women and will be forever thankful for their kindness, support and friendship.

As I look back over this year,  I can see clearly how God has been setting me up for a new role.  I can see how He’s been showing me how my passions and gifting have been shifting some and how He has been revealing to me the next phase of the plan He has for me.  I can also see how I’ve been learning these things throughout the year and how I’ve responded and adapted to that teaching, taking baby steps in the new direction.  While I certainly have not always stepped in the right direction, I believe that because I’ve been as honorable as I can in following His lead, next month I will step into a role that He has created just for passion and talent that He has placed within me.  The path this year has been crazy and at times stressful, but He has always been faithful to provide for my family and he has blessed me beyond measure with the people, friends both new and old, to share this journey with.  The time to discuss the future will come very soon, but for now with a thankful heart I look back and think of each of you that I have had the pleasure to serve, serve with, and call friend, and I simply want to say thank you.

This weekend I had the privilege to train a great team of guys at Alive Church in Tucson, AZ.   We crammed what for me is typically closer to 10 hours worth of material into 4-5 hours, but there was one portion that I made sure we discussed.  When doing formal training on any tech discipline (audio, lighting, video or stage design) I try to set aside some time to discuss the people side of tech.  We had a great discussion today about expectations, what the church and leadership should be able to expect from volunteers and what volunteers should be able to expect from the church and it’s leadership.  I’ll talk about the second part in another post, so for this post let’s focus on the first part.

As someone serving in the technical ministry of your church, you should be reasonably be expected to:

- Be On Time – Don’t make the worship team, Pastors or other techs wait for you, just as you don’t want to have to wait for them.  Be respectful of each other’s time.

- Be Reliable – If people are counting on you to accomplish certain tasks, make sure you get it done or get someone else to cover you when you can’t.

- Be Knowledgeable – Part of getting your job done is making sure that you know how to get the job done.  If you don’t know, pursue training/teaching until you do.

- Respect Your Tools – You must take care of the equipment that you have been given to use.  It’s critical not only to your success but also to the success of the next person who has to use it.

- Communicate – If you need something to do your job (replacement parts/gear, information, etc), be proactive to make sure that the right people know so they can take care of it.  In a church environment especially, things often slip through the cracks without good communication.

- Positive, Team Oriented Attitude – 99% of the time everyone who is serving in a church is doing it to positively impact their community.  Remember that we’re all after the same goal and need each other to be effective.  This also means we need to try and cultivate relationships with those we serve with, both in the tech and music areas.

- Respect/Support Your Authority – It’s critical that we both respect and support those who oversee our area as well as our Senior Pastors, even when it is hard or we disagree with them.  We must remember that God has given them accountability for that area, not us.  Plus, if your leader knows that without a doubt you have their back, they will generally be more interested in your ideas and feedback.

These are the topics that came up in our discussion.  Did we miss any?  Do you have any other thoughts about what is listed above?  Join the discussion by commenting below.

This post originally appears on my Church Production Magazine Blog.  You can visit the blogs of various Technical Arts Leaders at: http://churchproduction.com/go.php/blogs_index

The life of a church tech is crazy. You’re the first to arrive and last to leave, get few days off and for less money than your secular counterparts. Despite that, I believe tech ministry is one of the most amazing ministries you can serve in. I’ve recently been asked for advice on starting a career as a church tech. Those who’ve asked have had varying skills, personalities, specialties and areas needing improvement, but all of them got the same advice from me.

First, church techs must become proficient in multiple, if not all of the tech disciplines of audio, video and lighting. Every tech has specialties and some are blessed with multiple specialties. Most churches however only have the budget to hire one tech and that person has to lead them all. Even in churches that can afford multiple, more specialized techs, being well versed in all disciplines makes you more effective, more valuable and better equipped to handle possible issues that could come your team’s way.

Second, be open to learning from those more experienced or knowledgeable. Many young artists struggle with being teachable. There are some seasoned artists who struggle with this too. Often we get a little bit of knowledge and we think we know it all. I’ve certainly had prideful moments, but when I’ve taken the opportunity to learn from those who know more than me, I benefit greatly and so does everyone around me. The best techs I’ve met have this trait. The other day I spoke with a well respected and seasoned sound guy who was experimenting with a new technique he learned from someone else. There is always something more or new to learn in the tech field, the trick is to stay open to learning it.

Last, create boundaries that will guard the hearts of you and your family. This may ruffle feathers, but it’s easy for ministry to overtake your life, mess with your family and kill your zeal for serving. One of the hardest things for me to learn was that I had to create boundaries to protect myself and family. For every church that has amazing leaders who are protective of their people, there are more that are just trying to get by and ask too much of their staff. Churches don’t burn people out on purpose, but ultimately it’s not the church’s responsibility to protect you and your family. A church’s top priority must be the whole ministry before each person. Your priority must first be you and your family and then your ministry.

Learn every discipline you can, take advantage of opportunities to learn more, and have healthy boundaries. For nearly 15 years now I’ve loved both serving in and leading Technical Arts ministries.  I believe it’s a very noble calling, one that is increasingly critical in the church today.  If you’ve been called to a ministry in Technical Arts, I believe and have experienced how these three things will help you be happy and successful as you serve your church and community.