AUMC AV Blog

Here is a random idea (thanks to Church Media Design):

When you want to advertise a special event, or even a normal event, use business cards! Business cards are cheap to buy ($17 for 500), and are a great handout for people.

(I am sure that I really want to say more about this, but my brain just officially shut down...)

Matthew

Fine, I will post!

There, I did it.

But, really... I think that the reason that it is hard to post here is because no one reads it. OK, two people read it, and one already knows most of what I will say, so it just seams easier to call the other person than to post here for no one. Hopefully, though, soon it won't be no one. In fact, I have great ideas for this blog. For example, it will one day be the weekly reminder as to who is working on Sunday, and if one person cannot make it, they just reply to the post.

But anywho, this blog isn't about me... OK, it really is (at least if it hasn't been, I will make it now). I am pleased to announce my new title at Argyle UMC: Director of Media Ministries! (actually, it is currently "Director of Media Ministry," and I am seeking clarification if it is "y" or "ies"... what do you think?)

But before I talk more about that, it is STORY TIME again! As I have hinted at before, the tech team at AUMC has never had a leader. It has always been a group of volunteers that stepped in when something was needed. For the small church, this was OK. But for the new church, this simply won't work. Each service will need several volunteers to help man the stations, and we need someone in charge of training and scheduling these volunteers (as well as be in charge of the well-being of the equipment).

Long story short (trust me, I could go on and on about this): Argyle UMC decided to hire me as the lead AV guy. That was about a month ago, but it was not all well. The problem is, many people in the church (volunteer and staff) are used to working without a lead AV guy. So even though I had the title, I felt that the position was not defined. I needed to sit down with someone and write out a job description, then send it to everyone so that when something needs getting done, they now know who to report to.

Therefore: I had a meeting this week with Joe, our "Associate Pastor/Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts" (I am glad I don't have THAT as my title). (he is in charge of the entire "worship experience", and because "media" falls under that category, I report to him) We outlined the job description of the "Director of Media Ministries", as well as a discussion on where the position would be in the future. The meeting was great, and it helped me see both the great possibilities of this title, and the limitations of it.

I would love to talk about what is defined on the "job description," but it is still under review. I am sure that it still needs clarification and re-wording. Hopefully, once it gets done, I can post it here so that it will be a public declaration of what I do, so there won't be any more confusion.

Moving on...

Have you ever been interested in worship media? Have you ever been a part (volunteer or paid) of a church's media team? Have you ever been any king of leader in a church? If you answered "Yes!" to any of these questions, then you need Creative Synergy. No, this isn't a pill. It is a podcast directed to all of the leaders in churches. It is mainly about technology, but it is not only for "geeks". They try hard to make it interesting to both geeks and pastors.

For example, they had an episode devoted to copyright and copyright law. This may sound boring to some people, but it was an interesting discussion with (real) lawyers about the rights and wrongs of church using someone else's media. They talk about important issues for small churches (websites, for example) and important issues for large churches (how to go multi-campus). They even gave me the above idea to use a blog as your communication point with your volunteer team. It is an amazing listen for everyone, and I highly recommend it to everyone! (Creative Synergy homepage, iTunes link)

Well, that is about it for now. I am sure that there is more to say, but this is a big enough post as it is... after fasting for a while, you don't go eat a whole turkey, you have to eat small meals so that your body can get used to it again. Well, this is my "small meal", in hopes that I will start blogging here again.

Ta ta for now!

Matthew