FILO: Empowering Technical Artists in Your Church with Todd Elliott

Thanks for tuning in to the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re talking with Todd Elliott, a writer, speaker and audio engineer serving the local church. He’s also the founder of FILO: First In, Last Out, which is built around supporting technical artists who serve the local church.

Do you ever feel like there is a disconnect between the senior leadership of your church and the production team? Do you wonder how to foster better communication between the teaching or worship pastors and the technical artists? Tune in as Todd offers help in technical skill development, community, inspiration and more.

* Foster reconnection. // Technical artists can often feel alone in their roles behind the scenes at churches. A key component of the work FILO does is to help production team members become more effective, not just as tech people, but as followers of Christ. It’s important to remind tech people that they are more than what they do, and their relationship with Jesus matters more than their relationship to the gear they work with.

* Give direction for tech. // We live in a technology-based society. Much of what our churches do revolves around it—from social media or streaming services online to lighting during worship services. Church leaders need technology, but we don’t necessarily know how much we want to use it or allow it to influence our decisions. Todd encourages senior leaders to give direction and cast vision in this area, even if they don’t fully understand it. Without their leadership, tech people can make the focus or use of technology bigger than it needs to be.

* Foster good communication. // A tech person’s job is to be invisible in their work. One of the challenges is that people notice when things go wrong, but not when everything goes smoothly. This focus on the negative causes production team members not to feel trusted. There can also be a language barrier between church leadership and technical artists in regard to what it takes to achieve what’s being asked. It’s important that senior leaders and creative staff work together and share the responsibility to figure out what it will take to accomplish the ideas being discussed.

* Recognize the good. // Don’t only talk about the things that didn’t work. Identify the excellent work the production team is doing and discuss that too. Don’t just tell technical leaders that they did a “great job”, but communicate that you recognize the time that went into their work and the high quality of it. Noticing the good work and calling it out does a lot to build trust.

* Define reality. // The range of spending on tech can be vast because you’re making decisions on what you want your church to be about technology-wise. It’s the senior leader’s job to define reality for what the church is about and what is the best way to accomplish the vision, even on the technology side. Todd advises senior leaders to ask to see or hear the differences between equipment options when trying to make purchase decisions rather than simply taking someone’s word for what to buy.

* Resources for your team. // FILO offers a number of resources for church tech people to become more well-rounded and effective as human beings, which then helps the church become more effective. Todd’s book, “I Love Jesus, But I Hate Christmas: Tackling the Challenges of Being a Church Technical Artist”, provides chapters that foster discussion on a variety of topics from collaboration and community to the difference between perfection and excellence. The FILO Conference this spring provides an opportunity for professional and spiritual development with breakout sessions, worship and more.