“Everybody who does this job only lasts about two years. Then you’ll snap and move on to do something more worthwhile.”

This is how I was introduced to my new job as my church’s Technical Director (TD). I was 20 years old, and didn’t know DMX from XLR. The person speaking had been the TD at a nearby church. He’d been there two years.

I went to our lunch meeting that day ready to get some tips from someone who had been working in the tech ministry for a while, so these weren’t exactly the words I was hoping to hear. He went on to paint a picture of his constant humiliation and frustration from worship leaders and pastors during his two year tenure. He told me about being working seven days a week, being humiliated by kids in the youth group, and about screaming matches with him and the people he worked with.

The lesson I learned that day wasn’t what I had hoped to learn, but it was clear: technical ministries is hard. And it’s not the technical part of the equation that’s hard... it’s the ministry part. My friend never mentioned technical problems as a source of his frustration, only relational problems. From that day forward it was clear that to be successful in tech ministry, relationships and attitude have to be a number one priority.

Churches everywhere do the same thing: they need help with their “sound and stuff,” so they recruit the geekiest person in the congregation (that’s me too). We are excited to help and we get to play with cool toys. This stuff comes natural to us. If we get stuck or just want improve our skills, there are thousands of resources to learn how to mix audio, create cool graphics in Photoshop, or how to light a stage. But when it comes to the ministry part of technical ministries, the resources are more sparse (besides our Bibles of course).

So, with that in mind, WorshipTechie.com is born. I hope it becomes a valuable resource that encourages those who are involved in tech and media towards God-honoring ministry. Consider that our mission statement.