Brentwood Baptist Church, an 8-campus congregation in the greater Nashville community, has experienced significant growth since it began in 1969. Every campus shares a common mission and vision while contextualizing ministries to the area in which it’s located.

Adam Dye, Brentwood’s media director, oversees the church services’ live production and serves as a resource to tech directors at all other campuses. In this role, he’s learned the importance of empowering and equipping Brentwood’s tech volunteers, especially when it comes to church presentation software.

“In a way, the media team plays a role as worship leaders. They are directing the lyrics and visual experience and have the power to leave a congregation distracted or shape a service positively.”

While there is no exact science to equipping your volunteers with everything they need for Sunday, Adam and the Brentwood Baptist team have a few tips and tricks that have served their volunteers well.

TRAINING TALKS


A few times a year, Brentwood Baptist brings in a subject matter expert to host a workshop or lecture for anyone on the volunteer team who is interested. From directors to cameramen, these thought leaders impart wisdom from their field for the team. 


BRENTWOOD BAPTIST’S 1-ON-1 TRAINING STEPS

1. When the volunteer first begins, the team sits down for a talk about the person’s experience, abilities and passions.
2. Next, the volunteer is able to come in on a weekday evening and get a feel for the equipment. This gives a good sense of whether they are ready for the next step.
3. Shadowing a seasoned team member during a service is the perfect way for the volunteer to ask questions. This normally takes place at a lower profile event like a rehearsal to allow ample time and space for questions.
4. The volunteer continues to shadow until they feel confident enough to be the main person behind the equipment. They are then paired with a seasoned volunteer during a main service who shadows them during their first go.
5. Once the volunteer feels confident with the equipment and the Brentwood Baptist team feels confident with their training, it’s time to go solo!

While this may seem like quite a process to train volunteers, Adam and the Brentwood Baptist team have found that dedicating this time upfront has actually saved them time and headache in the long run.

“We put a lot of our time into our training. We love to do that. Volunteers are reminded that they can take it at their own pace so they feel confident and ready.”

Adam also noted how important it is to involve team members in equipment changes.

“We’ll often run changes in tech past our volunteers—whether we are adding a monitor system or microphones. Not only does it give our team a buy-in and feeling of worth, but as the ones who use the equipment every Sunday, they always have great insights for potential problems.”

Using shadowing training steps, small workshops throughout the year, constantly informing their team, and encouragement on how their work shapes the church’s experience—Brentwood Baptist empowers their tech volunteers to serve well.

Do you use any of these steps to train new church volunteers? Are there any tips that you would add? Share in the comments below!

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