3 Things Media Professionals Wish They Could Tell Their Pastors
Photo by HIVAN ARVIZU @soyhivan on Unsplash
Production teams need their pastors, and pastors need their production teams. But, much too often, they resort to speaking at each other in the gift of tongues with no interpretors in the house! Let's temporarily set aside the passionate opinions about fonts, microphones, stage lighting and smoke machines, and consider what the media and tech professionals in your congregation wish they could say to their pastors, heart to heart.
#1: “You're the boss, but we have the expertise.”
Translation: “Just like you have been trained to preach and counsel, we are trained and paid to:
do graphic design/interior design/photography/videography
run audio/tech/lights
write advertisements and social media posts
manage and design customer experiences
“If we offer a suggestion, it's because we care about our church and we actually have a solution to make your life easier. We do not wish to challenge your spiritual authority!”
#2: “We may be already burnt out from our day jobs.”
Translation: “If we avoid volunteering our professional skills, it’s because our industries already treat us as disposable commodities. We’re regularly expected to work overtime, nights and weekends. We’re exhausted from persevering to live counter-culture to these environmental forces, with our identities rooted in Christ and not in our work.
“We would just like to know that serving in God's house will involve less toxic conditions than what we typically experience working for our bosses, clients, and other overlords [insert robot emoji].”
#3: “We really want to serve our home church!!!”
Translation: “We really, really love our home church!!!!!! And we love our pastors!!! And, the thought of serving in ways that we are uniquely gifted and trained in makes our hearts sing!!!!!!! We were made for this!!!!
“We just want you to see how we might be a little traumatized from the past experiences we've had serving at other churches, not here, of course.”
While it’s true that creatives and other media professionals may be considered a little high maintenance or emotionally delicate at times, they, too, love God and bear the image of our Creator!
As St. John says, perfect love drive out fear (1 John 4:18). What better evidence of God's Kingdom arriving on earth than the media professionals in the Church joyfully pursuing restoration and creative healing with their pastors! Let the cameras roll!