Church Production Magazine - Production Matters 3

Production Matters III - Risk Taking and Communication

by C. Andrew Dunning

Part 3of 3 - Originally published in the January/February 2007 issue of Church Production Magazine.

Click HERE for Part 1 (Mindset Transformation) or HERE for Part 2 (Immersion and Unity).

Welcome back (or, welcome for the first time) to our on-going dialog about the quest for excellence in production arts in the church. We've reflected on overcoming certain attitudes. We've talked about getting beyond being hung up on particular equipment. We've discussed "Unity of Design" and making services more immersive experiences.

The things we've been discussing are all good as theories - but in order for them to be put into practice and to make a difference, we need to be willing to take risks in implementing them. Also, as we do so, we need to remember that the individual production arts and the people practicing them do not exist in independent vacuums. They have got to be communicating. These are the two areas where we'll be living for this final challenge in transformation.

Risk Taking

A few months ago, the senior pastor at my home church asked what impressed me about some of the other churches with which I'd been working. One of the first things that came to mind - and, one of my biggest critiques of some churches - was a willingness to take risks.

Before we go on, know that I am NOT talking about taking risks when it comes to safety - or about going against things like fire codes. As we are so often reminded, some rules are in place for our protection.

What I AM talking about is a willingness to approach things differently - to try new/different things - and an openness to make mistakes. I've been in more than one creative meeting where, following a little brain-storming, one person has turned another and said: "See, I told you we could do that!" I've wanted to stop those meetings and say, "Well, why didn't you?" Though the "whys" can sometimes be complicated, often they are the result of an unwillingness to take risks - imposed by the culture of the particular team or church.

In his Leadership Promises For Every Day John Maxwell says "Risk seems dangerous to many people because they are more comfortable with the old problems versus what it takes to come up with new solutions. The difference is attitude." He also references Raymond Smith of the Bell Atlantic Corporation: "Taking the safe road, doing your job, and not making any waves may not get you fired (right away, at least), but it sure won't do much for your career or your company over the long haul…" (p. 292)

Though Maxwell and Smith may have had their minds on the corporate world when they said those things, their words are also true for those in the production arts. (In fact, replace Smith's word 'company' with 'church'.) We must be willing to take creative risks when it comes to our ability to communicate the Gospel in a fresh and relevant way.

The risk in trying new approaches is that they may not work. A piece of equipment might simply not work for a given application or a method of presentation might fall totally flat. Too many creative teams let fears of such things prevent the discovery of truly great ideas. If you learn from them, these so-called "mistakes" are not necessarily bad things. If you try something and it doesn't work, admit it, appreciate what you've just learned, and move on to trying other things. We've all heard Thomas Edison's line regarding his many attempts at inventing a light bulb: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." With this attitude and with time, you'll be able to draw from your experiences - to have a better idea of what works and what doesn't in given situations. Then, if you don't lose your "let's try something different" attitude, you'll simply bring all that you've learned to each new challenge.

If you are in a leadership role, your opportunity is to create an environment in which it is OK to take risks - it is OK to try new things. Obviously, you, as the leader, will have to have discernment and give direction to insure that creative risk taking isn't harmful to your church's message - but imagine leading a group of people who aren't afraid to try anything for the purpose of reaching their world for Christ.

Thinking "outside the box" doesn't necessarily mean pulling out all the new "production toys." I experienced this, and the reward of working with such a "freed" team a few weeks ago at my home church. We have a service once every quarter that includes reports from different ministries, followed by communion. These services have tended to be pretty "inside the box" with a fairly predictable structure. A few people on our worship planning team began asking how the service could be approached in a different way - to make it a more meaningful time of worship. We ended up doing the service somewhat in-the-round. Candles were suspended from the ceiling over the Elements. A single, dim, lighting look was created - with only subtle changes made for the spoken portions of the evening. The service order was re-structured so that Communion was in the middle, surrounded by music and testimonies. A single, still, image was used on the video screens. By the time the night was over, we had experienced an absolutely incredible night of connecting with our Creator in a way that was pretty different for our church - and with better attendance than we'd seen in a long time at one of those services. Some of the most positive feedback came from people I thought would have chimed in with the often-heard "This isn't the way we do things here…" complaints. We found that thinking differently did not necessarily mean offending the more traditional thinkers.

Communication

Another area where a lot of church production teams could use some transformation is in communication. As I've mentioned before, at some churches there is excellence in the individual arts, but there is little unity between them and/or there is confusion between departments. Though for some it is a matter of not thinking of such things as "Unity of Design," for others it is that they are simply not connecting with each-other.

Though there are many keys to effective communication, I will be considering two as they apply to the production arts.

The first is Vision. I know that this word is probably over-used but the truth is that everything else is pretty-much irrelevant without it. Knowing who you are as a church and what your purpose is are incredibly important. The same is true for those in the production arts - knowing your purpose in the church as-a-whole - and the effect that each of your arts have on another people's worship experiences.

The other key is what one of my clients calls "checking your ego at the door" - as an individual and as a representative of a given art. You have got to let go of the need to always be the one with the right answers. You need to realize that your particular service element is not the most important thing in the room. It is also important to be open to the reality that someone from another department might have great idea for yours. Have the humility to support someone else having a better idea and running with it.

Clear vision, checked egos, and open communication…

…affect team morale and unity. They help you simply to get along with each other. They also help you confirm that you all are headed in the same direction and that you're making a "big-picture" difference. Part of this is the fostering of environments in which team members are looking out for each other for the betterment of the whole. Reduced frustration is another part. For example, how many times has someone in your lighting department gotten mad at someone in your sound department for ringing out the PA in the middle of a focus session when there had been no discussion about how the given room was to be used at a certain time?

…affect the quality and the freshness of the different arts. If there is a free sharing of ideas between people and between departments, the overall quality of the presentation goes up. For some of the different disciplines, though natural connections are hard to find, the different perspectives and experiences that each bring to the table is invaluable. For others, the connections are not only natural, but they are even more necessary. The relationship between scenic and lighting designers and between video and lighting departments are great examples of this. On a recent church project that employed technology in which video equipment was controlled by a lighting console we kind of egged each other on. From both departments there was an eager exchange of information - along the lines of "Okay guys, here's an idea I've got, can you do this?" and "What can you do with this?" Never did the conversations drop into dictated "You shall do this." It was, "How can WE create something out of it."

…affect the unity of the presentation. In my last article I talked about the importance of having the different service elements complement each other to create stronger presentations. This is extremely difficult if the creators of those elements are not exchanging ideas.

…affect the ability for your team(s) to plan effectively. This, in-turn, affects the speed with which you can accomplish your projects and the safety with which ideas can be implemented. A great example of this is one church that does a large annual event. Though the event was fairly intricate, with large, moving scenic elements, multiple drops, and flown singers/actors they had never created a drawing showing what needed to go where and when. Because departments were not talking, elements took longer to get into place and collisions were only discovered AFTER something had been hung/moved.

Conclusion

Thank you for sticking with me on our journey. Though we haven't been face-to-face, it has been a joy sharing some ideas with you.

Is some of what we've discussed familiar to you? Are you on a quest for excellence in the production arts in your church? Are you working to overcome the "we can't do that" attitude that I mentioned in my first article of this series? Are you seeing beyond specific equipment and finding ideas you can apply in your church - with the resources you have on-hand and/or with tools not traditionally used in churches? Are you seeking unity in your presentation - in order to help to make your services more immersive/engaging experiences? Are you and your team free to take creative risks and are you communicating effectively?

If "yes" to any of these, it's great to have you along for the fun!

If not - or if all of this has been alien to you - my prqayer is that the things we've discussed along the way will, in some way, spark the beginnings of transformation in your approach to your ministry.