Summary: Ever feel like your service to Him in the tech support ministry isn't being appreciated by the church staff or even the worship team? If so, you're about to be blessed by reading the outpouring of support that this person received from many members of the ChurchSoundcheck Discussion Group.
From: Blake A. Engel (Chicago, IL)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Hello everyone,
I've got a friend who is a GREAT mixer at church. She's
very talented,
and loves what she does. She always wants the very best, and will
do
almost anything to get there. She's been a little unhappy lately
with
the fact that no one seems to care about all the work she puts
in to
things.
This morning she told me that she's considering leaving
her position.
The church has no one else that can fill her position--no one
that's
nearly as talented as she is. She's so fed up with not being
appreciated, not being thanked...
People, I've read all the little things to do to show people
they are
appreciated, I've been to the seminars, I know how important this
is.
Everyone seems to agree that it's important. But how do we convince
them to ACT on it???
I've just joined this church, so I'm coming in from the
outside...I've
met with the pastoral staff in the past and have encouraged them
to
support their volunteers and all--and they've all agreed on the
importance of this. BUT they have not carried it out.
Can anyone offer some advice to help smooth this situation?
Right now,
prayer is about all I have. Not to say that prayer isn't enough....but
isn't there something else?
I've been down this road myself...and all I wanted was
for people to
honestly aknowledge the work I had been doing, and thank me. Yes,
we
should work for an "audience of one" (God), but we're
human, we need the
support of other humans, too. I think this case has gone too far
for
simple appreciation to help.
HELP!!!
Blake A. Engel (A.K.A. "Sound Guy")
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From: Don Clayton (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Blake,
I share your concerns. I feel the same way as your friend.
At my
Bible study last night I shared with my group that I am considering
leaving this area because of too many expectations combined with
too
little support.
My suggestion: ask your Pastor to preach a sermon on "building
up and
encouraging the Body of Christ for works of service". I find
that one
kind sentence will last me a month. Unfortunately I get a kind
sentence
about twice a year.
Don
The trouble with doing it right the first time is no one
appreciates how
difficult it was.
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From: Blake A. Engel (Chicago, IL)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Don,
I'm sorry to hear you're in the same boat. You know what?
We all go to
different churches, different denominations--and yet we ALL share
the
same problems--not just technical problems, but 'emotional' problems.
We all have similar needs that must be met. It's comforting to
know we
don't walk the path alone, and that others are walking the same
road
right with us.
Brother, you're in my prayers!
-Blake
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From: Rich Marcolini (Ann Arbor, MI)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Hi,
From personal experience, I have found that even someone
coming up
to me and saying that they really appreciated how well sound went
for the
event is an encouragement. It is especially encouraging when they
understand the fact that I must have put a lot of time and effort
into
getting everything taken care of. Knowing that all my hard work
really did
make a difference for the Kingdom of God and for the local body
of believers
is always an incredible encouragement. Knowing how our hard work
and
understanding of technical things made a personal difference in
people's
lives (as a group and individually) is often what many of us "techies"
miss
out on.
So, some possible suggestions are:
1. Heartfelt thanks for their hard work.
2. Remind them of what an incredible ministry they have
and what a great job
that they have been doing.
3. Talk to other church friends about what an awesome privilege
it is to be
an encourager and mention certain people/ministries that you have
found to
be an incredible ministry to you.
4. Another possiblility is to start (formally or informally)
an
encouragement team.
Just as an additional note, I really appreciate all the
time and effort that
so many of you have made to helping answer all these questions.
This email
group is an incredible ministry and it has been a great encouragement
to me
knowing that we can unite together, serving the Lord, and glorifying
Him
through sound and technical service. God bless you all!
In Him,
Rich
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From: Doug Benson (Fairview, OR)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Blake,
My volunteers and I are in a similar situation as your
female friend. I
am interested to hear how other churches are dealing with this.
The best
I've done so far is to get the volunteers into the mindset that
"sound" is a
transparent function if done well. If you are doing everything
the way it
is supposed to be done, the audience shouldn't notice the sound
person. So,
when my guys are ignored, they take it as a compliment.
I realize that this doesn't solve the lack of appreciation issue
but the
volunteers begin to feel good about themselves. As the leadership
in the
tech ministry, I continually give my guys verbal strokes even
when they
screw up bad. Such as, "Wow, this was a tremendous learning
experience for
you! The way you dealt with a bad situation was admirable."
I mostly try
to feed them positives during the services. "I like what
you're doing with
the snare drum." "The vocal blend is very good tonight,
show me how you
accomplished that."
As far as being taken for granted, our worship team members are
the
worst offenders of that. Even I, can't help feeling like we aren't
a team.
But rather, I feel like the sound guys are the team water boys.
I'd love to
hear how the rest of you deal with that. I'd really rather hear
that the
rest of you don't HAVE to deal with that.
Doug Benson
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From: Blake A. Engel (Chicago, IL)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Rich,
GREAT ideas! I especially like the one to start and encouragment
team-wow!
And I second your appreciation of this listserve--it has
helped me a
lot, and given me a lot to think about and learn.
God bless you all!
Blake
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From: Blake A. Engel (Chicago, IL)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Doug,
Praise God we're all in the same boat! ;-) yeah, well,
ok--at least we
all know where we're coming from. I believe in the same thing--that
our
goal is NOT to be noticed--and if we are, we didn't do our job
as well
as we should have. It's hard to be encouraged by not hearing anything
from anyone...but it does create a positive mindset. Thank YOU
for your
ideas and your participation in this discussion!
Blake A. Engel (A.K.A. "Sound Guy")
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From: Doug Benson (Fairview, OR)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Blake,
Addendum to my last message: Would your friend like to
be appreciated in
Oregon? We'd love to have a talented female "sound guy"
for our women's
ministries.
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From: Curt Taipale (Taipale Media Systems, Inc.)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Blake,
Sounds like it's time for a wakeup call. It may not be
much help this far
into the situation, but you might try handing a copy of my article
"Seven
Steps to Great Sound" to the pastoral staff. You can get
a copy off our
website. It was written specifically to pastors and I think itwill
minister
to everyone involved in this situation.
Handing someone an article won't solve much, but it can
be a start. You're in
a unique position as a new person at the church - with the experience
to back
up what you're saying - to shed some light on this problem. Use
the article
as a basis and then build on it through relationship. Unfortunately,
relationship building takes time, and it sounds like you don't
have much of
that available.
As hard as it is to face a situation like this, it's entirely
possible that
leaving a spot like that can turn into a time of ministry and
growing for both
this person and the pastoral staff. In the end, with God's direction,
both
sides would be immeasurably blessed. I'm not saying that's what
needs to
happen or should happen, only that if everyone keeps looking to
Him, it'll be
okay. It's like going through a tunnel - there's light at the
other side, but
it can be scary and frustrating while you're in the middle.
The problem has probably developed from a lack of understanding
on the part of
the pastors. I doubt if it's intentional. Somebody needs to wake
them up.
And I don't want to put you on the spot, but as I mentioned above
- you're the
one with the experience to offer in this situation. And since
you're new
there, you haven't (yet) been dragged down by that environment.
Use those
facts to your advantage. And go with God!
Curt
curt@churchsoundcheck.com
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From: Russel O'Toole (Romeoville, IL)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Blake:
I hear where you are coming from, been there done that,
as the saying
goes. Curt's admonition to use his "Seven Steps" article
from his
website is a very very good one.
We have created a binder with all of the articles from
Curt's old Sound
Check publication and regularly send copies to churches we meet
with
"all of the time."
Wish you the best, and may God provide patience!
Russel L. O'Toole
AUDIO ELECTRONICS, Inc.
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From: Robert Martin (Warner Robins, GA)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Blake,
I think all of us that work in the technical area feel
the
lack of appreciation from time to time. I know that after
the Christmas production has always been the worst time for
me. What you are dealing with is nothing less than burn-out.
I would recommend that any person in this position take some
time off. Although the sound will suffer while she is gone,
her absence wil accomplish several things: 1. it will show
the staff how important it is to have a talented person in
this position 2. the results of not having that talent in
place and 3. give your talent time.
Time is an important factor in burn-out. When you feel
like
you have to be there because no one else can do what you do,
it is only a matter of time before burn-out. I'm truly
blessed right now. God has provided a talented team of 11
people of which we require 7 for an average Sunday morning
(Sound + TV). I try to make sure that every member of the
team has one Sunday a month that they can sit in the
congregation and listen to the message. Which brings up
my last point. It is difficult to receive anything from
a service that you are working in. Our Sunday morning sound
person misses Sunday School and most of the Worship service.
They not only need appreciation, they need spiritual feeding.
Pray for an alternate sound person that will work a Sunday
month and take care of some of the other services. For example,
a trained monkey could probably run our Wednesday night service.
Robert K. Martin
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From: Bob Enlow (Norwalk, OH)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
To borrow from Curt Taipale...Hi Ya'all,
...I have been in the same boat, and left a church after
a long (and amicable)
talk with the pastor, with no positive results. I was not being
fed, and
was cooped up in a poorly located room trying to perform miracles
every
service. I asked for help and all I got was promises.
It's discouraging, because as Christians, one of our main
missions is to
minister to others. We tend to forget that the ministers also
need ministering!
You are in my prayers.
Bob Enlow
RESOUND Co.
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From: Curt Taipale (Taipale Media Systems, Inc.)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Robert,
Very well said! Burnout is an unfortunate reality in far
too many tech
support ministries. It's probably a reality in many other ministries
as well,
but this is the one we're close enough to experience.
Feeling alone is part of the struggle we each face. It
IS by default an
unseen ministry, so you get no notice unless something is wrong,
and yet
you've worked just as hard (and sometimes harder) than those on
the platform
who receive all the attention of the congregation.
Part of the key is what you said - making sure that your
crew is large enough
to not have to be in the hot seat every moment the church door
is open. If
the church thinks that they must have the same person at the house
mix
position every Sunday at any cost, then maybe it's time they hired
that person
full time. I can hear the laughter coming from the financial committee,
but
I'm quite serious.
I'd hate to think how many marriages have been put on the
rocks by the
seemingly genuine passion of the sound team to make sure everything's
right,
every week. (And how many TEAMS OF ONE are there subscribing to
this list?)
Remember that your ministry is way down the list of God's priorities
for your
life.
Even being on full time paid staff doesn't necessarily
free one from burnout.
I was just thinking of some friends of mine who have each worked
on staff at
large churches for several years. One lasted six years, another
lasted about
fifteen years and the other person just two. I lasted eight (in
two separate
stretches), and I had two full time assistants working under me,
plus twelve
to fifteen volunteers. But the pastor demanded that only I run
the house
desk. The only breaks I got were weddings, funerals, and an occasional
vacation. Burnout wasn't far behind. It's interesting to note
that not one
of the four of us works in full time ministry anymore.
Not to start a pity party but, from the sounds of it, Blake's
friend is in
good company on this list. So lets all remember to keep our eyes
on Him.
It's okay to walk away from the sound ministry, just don't walk
away from God.
I was so burnt when I left that church the first time that it
was more than
six months before I stepped into another church to attend a worship
service.
And then I wasn't about to tell them what I did for a living.
I never stopped
loving God, but I was really hurt through my experiences at that
church, and
since I didn't learn my lesson the first time, I was hurt even
more deeply the
second time around. To paraphrase, burned out once - shame on
them, burned
out twice - shame on me.
I once heard T.L. Osborn say in a sermon that it's our
option whether or not
to feel hurt when someone wrongs us. And not being appreciated
for our
diligence and hard work is kind of a sideways road to getting
hurt, because no
one intentionally did anything to wrong us. There's little any
of us can say
to comfort her. But since no one else has said it yet, I will
- God knows.
Now, when you're hurting, that and a dollar will get you a cup
of coffee, but
He knows. He knows your diligence. He knows your heart. He knows
your hurt.
He knows.
What a blessing it is to call each of you our friends.
Blessings in Christ!
Curt
curt@churchsoundcheck.com
P.S. Anyone for joining the parking lot ministry?
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From: Blake A. Engel (Chicago, IL)
Subject: Re: appreciation
Curt Taipale wrote:
"<Absolutely - this is a powerful thread, and it will
definitely find its way to the website! I hope you'll let your
friend read all of these messages. I
pray that the words of her peers would minister to her.">
Thanks, Curt--and yes, I am passing them on to her--I was
so glad to be
able to had her 5 responses last night!!! Praise God for this
list and
for the faithful ones that are part of it!
Blake A. Engel (A.K.A. "Sound Guy")
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From: Blake A. Engel (Chicago, IL)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Curt Taipale wrote:
<"I once heard T.L. Osborn say in a sermon that it's our
option whether or
not to feel hurt when someone wrongs us. And not being appreciated
for our
diligence and hard work is kind of a sideways road to getting
hurt, because no
one intentionally did anything to wrong us. There's little any
of us can say
to comfort her. But since no one else has said it yet, I will
- God knows.
Now, when you're hurting, that and a dollar will get you a cup
of coffee, but
He knows. He knows your diligence. He knows your heart. He knows
your hurt.
He knows.">
Curt,
Thank you SO much for those lines--I know she'll appreciate
the words
you've spoken--it's great to have friends across the 'world' that
support each other. Thank you.
<"P.S. Anyone for joining the parking lot ministry?">
haha! I was actually asked that this week!!! :-)
Blake A. Engel (A.K.A. "Sound Guy")
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From: Blake A. Engel (Chicago, IL)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation....
To everyone that responded with advice and help,
T H A N K Y O U ! ! !
I had a meeting with our senior pastors this afternoon
(about other
things, mind you), and at the end I brought up the concerns I
had about
people not feeling appreciated/etc. They were surprised, and concerned.
Very glad to hear it, and they want to do something about it.
I passed
on Curts article--they thought that was good, too. (thanks Curt).
So, thank you one and all! I spoke with my friend this
afternoon--shes
feeling a bit better. I had printed the responses I got yesterday
and
gave them to her--she was impressed and wowed by the fact that
she
wasn't alone in this. I passed on the other responses to her today,
too--I think everythings gonna be OK now. (phew!) She's positive
about
everything now...
Thank you.
Blake A. Engel (A.K.A. "Sound Guy")
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From: Doug Benson (Fairview, OR)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
One more note on the lack of appreciation issue. I originally
took a
negative posture on the issue for which I apologize. I would like
to report
on the positive steps our church is taking to correct some of
the problems
of the past.
There are eight sound guys at our church and they have
been working as
teams and individuals to cover weekends and Wenesdays. One guy
does the
first weekend of the month, another does the second, etc. We do
the same
for Wednesdays.
There are also five different worship leaders with different
styles,
backgrounds, and technical expectations. Training the sound guys
about the
different worship leader's priorities was not very productive.
As they
would experience working with one worship leader and then another,
they
would experience the leader's inconsistencies and realize that
although you
were in the same place doing the same thing, the rules have been
changed.
We have since gone to a sound guy schedule that is directly
connected to
the worhip leader schedule. For instance, worship leader Jeff
has two sound
guys, Phil and Vern. Worship leader Darrell works with Doug and
Nicole.
(myself and a trainee) John works with David and Katie. I assume
by now
you get the picture.
I have associated tech and worship leadership this way
and challenged
the worship leaders to build relationships with the techs. I told
them that
by building relationships, they will be building up tech crews
that know
exactly what they want without having to be told.
Since our building is going to be a construction zone for
nearly a year,
tech crews contain two and three people. This way, they can deal
with
having to reset the stage and what the construction crews did
to our stage,
as a team. The senior tech guy for each service has been given
the
challenge of training, and more importanly, pastoring the techs
under his
supervision. By putting him in a leadership role over other people,
it
takes the emphasis off of how the worship team is treating him
as an
individual. The tech leader becomes more concerned with "his"
people and
takes necessary steps to build them up.
I realize that not all of your churches have so many people
to deal with
but the core issue is still a good one. Build relationship.
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From: Curt Taipale (Taipale Media Systems, Inc.)
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Doug,
Your tech crew restructuring demonstrates pure, seasoned,
Godly wisdom and
leadership.
Curt
curt@churchsoundcheck.com
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From: Keith Kotch (Winter Springs, FL)
Subject: Re: Lack of appreciation
Hi guys,
Been reading with interest the responses to the original
posting about
the lack of appreciation shown to people and the results that
can occur.
Several of the respones correctly mentioned that we are,
first and
foremost, to be of service to and in the employ of God to do His
works
and His ministry. But, we are human and suffer from human frailties,
one of which is pride. With some it's not too much of a problem.
We go
about our business and don't need, at least very often, to be
"stroked".
But, some do need to be constantly and consistantly encouraged
and
recognized. Deep down, all have that need to be loved and appreciated,
it's just the degree to which is the problem. My spiritual gift
is most
definately Service and when something needs doing, I'm usually
there
volunteering. I try not to have the atttitude that someone had
better
recognize just what I've done, and, for the most part I don't
need or
desire that. However, when I've gone far and above what's needed
or
have to spend a large amount of time on some project, it's nice
to have
someone come up and say, "I noticed what you did and I appreciate
it."
It doesn't have to be public recognition and I don't desire that
but if
someone would just appreciate and convey that appreciation, well.......
It's been said here that if we're doing our job right,
no one should
notice and that should be our recognition. I'm not sure I completely
agree with that as the bottom line. God created in us the need
and
desire to be loved. He also provided for that need and desire
by
equiping certain ones in His body with gifts of exhortation and
mercy,
to name two. All this to say, help make sure those in your church
are
aware of their personal Spiritual Gift and are learning to function
within that gift! Then, those with gifts such as exhortation and
mercy
can be alert to the emotional well being of others and ready to
encourage and comfort.
While we, sound guys and gals, should cause nothing to
happen that
causes us to be noticed by the congregation, I think that everything
we
do should be noticed (good and bad) by the rest of the production
team,
ie Worship leader, singers, Pastor, etc. THEY should know when
we do a
good job and recognize that fact verbally to the team. After all,
how
often do you, sound guy and gal, verbally express to a soloist
or praise
team member how good a job they did on a particular song? Or to
the
band or orchestra, as one of my church members said to us, what
a
"kick-butt" service they just gave us!
A suggestion, to pass along something our Pastor is doing
in our church.
Regularly hold Spiritual Gifts seminars to help each other discover
what
their Manifestational and Motivational Spiritual Gift is and what
their
Ministry Gift is, and also hold Personality Inventory classes.
It helps
to know what personality type you and others around you are and
it helps
you to understand how you inter-relate to different personality
types.
Remember to "reap what you sow" by sowing compassion
and kind words
around the stage.
In His Service,
Keith
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From: Blake A. Engel (Chicago, IL)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Curt,
Thank you--I always knew it existed, but no one ever really
brought it
up, you know? I think it's a great place to start; to make EVERYONE
aware that they are not alone.
Yes, I've contacted everyone that's had something to say
(didn't want to
leave anyone out, you know).
Thanks, and I'll let you know what happens--there's a lot
of
information, and I don't know how it should be presented yet.
Blake
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From: Bob Enlow (Norwalk, OH)
Subject: Re: lack of appreciation
Hello, Friends,
I think we have all seen the example of God's people coming
together to
provide encouragement for one another that we don't get in our
own churches.
I thank Curt for allowing this deviation from the purely technical
side of
the "business".
In many ways, we are all we have (here on earth). First
of all in our
hearts and thoughts should be the Lord Jesus Christ. But...as
Blair said,
while we don't work for human thanks, it sure is nice to know
you are
appreciated once in a while and not taken for granted as so many
of us are.
Let's continue to take advantage of this forum to help
one another and
encourage each other when the going gets tough. Think of it as
Sound
Operators Anonymous!
God Bless Us, each and every one!
Bob Enlow
RESOUND Co.
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From: Blake A. Engel (Chicago, IL)
Subject: lack of appreciation
Hi list! Remember back several months when we had a conversation
regarding burnout and such? I had asked those of you who had submitted
thoughts if I could use them in an article for our newsletter.
We did
that, and have gotten a LOT of support and thanks--so I pass that
on to
all of you. Couldn't have done it without you.
(Look for "Burnt to a Crisp" under "educational Articles" at this link: http://www.allchurchsound.com/ACS/Articles/EdA.html)
In fact, one of the guys at my church was so impressed,
he asked if he
could re-print it in the new church newsletter.
And as an update to the situation, my friend was really
lifted by all of
your comments and support. Unfortunately, the staff was a bit
late on
responding to the need, and did so in a one-time meeting, and
then it
was dropped like "the problem is solved now". She has
left the sound
ministry, and has decided to move. She likes the church, but is
unhappy
with a lot of things that have happened. Yet another case where
burn-out got the best of someone. My prayer is that she would
stick with
God and find a new church that will fill her needs.
Thanks again and God bless,
Blake A. Engel (A.K.A. "Sound Guy")