CHURCH PRODUCTION CHECKLIST
For pastors, worship leaders, and tech directors, there’s a lot to do before Sunday morning arrives. Sometimes it’s easy to let things slip through the cracks or just simply overlook a task on the church production schedule.
Here at MediaShout, we have a staff consisting of pastors, media team members, and worship leaders that are very familiar with the ins and outs of church service production and worship software. We understand that in order to focus on the most important parts of the weekend like worshipping God and ministering to the church, we must make sure to check off the many tasks it takes to prepare for the weekend (especially in media ministry). When we are prepared, we can focus less on those tasks and focus more on worship and ministry when Sunday morning finally comes.
So, to help out your church production team, we’ve put together an easy-to-follow Sunday morning service checklist. Check it out below then download the printable PDF to save it to your church production computer.
EARLY WEEK PREP
Getting a head start on things will set your media team up for success for the weekend ahead. You can search for helpful apps for worship leaders, get ideas from church production books or support groups on social media platforms and make sure everything is downloaded and ready to go on your church production computer before the weekend arrives. This is the time to try out new church motion graphics and backgrounds inside of your church presentation software or experiment with church stage design ideas. Use the church production checklist below to make sure you do all your prep work the week ahead!
- Make sure your video card drivers are up to date. For detailed instructions, see the MediaShout Knowledge Base article called “How to Update My Video Card Driver.”
- Double-check that all staff and volunteer positions are covered.
- For access to live, Sunday morning tech support, make sure you have an active MediaShout Plus Membership.
- Make sure all MediaShout and Windows updates are done and Windows update hours are NOT set to Sunday morning.
- Communicate with leadership to get their vision for the service and plan for all media elements.
- Obtain all the media content you need (backgrounds, videos, etc.) from the MediaShout Media Store.
- Start building your MediaShout scripts.
BEFORE THE WEEKEND
Now that you’ve done your early week prep, it’s time to move on to the “before the weekend” portion of the checklist. You’ve taken the time to make any creative decisions and now is the time to put on the finishing touches. It’s important not to take any of these seemingly mundane tasks for granted. When serving in the same environment every week, it can be all too easy to develop a routine and assume things will work just like they did last week. But with that mindset, unwanted surprises with church production technology are sure to be encountered sooner or later. So, stay diligent in your routine of checking off these tasks. Once they’re completed, celebrate by heading out to take some time off before Sunday morning comes!
- Double-check that all audio, video, and network connections are working properly.
- Add the finishing touches to your MediaShout scripts. Then make a backup of your script files to a flash drive that can be taken to any computer.
- Run through every cue of your MediaShout script. Let every video or other media file play all the way through.
- Prepare a backup PC if one is available, with MediaShout and scripts for your service loaded.
- Visually test all your screens to make sure they are displaying correctly.
- Be sure SongSelect is connected and Bibles are installed so you can add songs or scripture on the fly as needed.
- Assign a point person to be an alternate team leader in case you are sick or have an emergency on Sunday morning.
SUNDAY MORNING
It’s finally time to put all that hard work to the test! It’s Sunday morning, and now you get to see everything that you thought about during your church service production planning come together. If you’ve followed the church production schedule and done all the prep work then you will be more than ready to accomplish all the tasks ahead. You’ll be able to quickly address any hiccups in the plan if they appear. And this is the exciting part– you’ll be coming together with your media team members to accomplish all that you’ve planned for during the week. After all, it’s a group effort to be sure all of these items are carried out leading up to and during your worship services. These are important things to build into your routine to ensure everyone is on the same page. In the heat of the moment as people church members are showing up, things are being plugged in, and last-minute changes are being made in real-time, be sure to remain flexible but stick with doing these every single week. Check off the list below so you don’t miss anything!
- Have a dry run-through (tech rehearsal) with only the tech team to check all audio/video/lighting cues of your well equipped church.
- Go through the lyric slides while the worship team rehearses. Do a full run-through (dress rehearsal) with them if possible.
- Double-check that there are no last-minute changes to the pastor’s message or other parts of the service.
- Have a pre-service meeting with the entire tech team, worship team, and all speakers.
- Pray, give everything over to God, and get ready to worship and proclaim Jesus to all who will attend!
As you can see, there are many tasks to accomplish during and in the days leading up to the weekend services at your church. But a tool as simple as this church production checklist can help take the weight off of your shoulders as you plan, delegate, and execute your responsibilities for Sunday morning.
We hope this Sunday morning service checklist helps your church production team, pastors, and worship leaders prepare each week. Be sure to download and print out your copy of the checklist so that you can use it every week!
If excellent worship media for your services is something you’re working towards, you’ve come to the right place. MediaShout 7 software provides you the power you need to display lyrics, scripture, announcements, and any other media to your screens in the easiest, fastest, and most professional way possible. Download a free trial to see firsthand how you can build, organize, and present your worship media with MediaShout 7 today.
