House Lights Podcast

Twenty years ago, a nine-year-old sat down next to a friend at an analog audio console and never really got up. This episode traces that whole line — worship leader, Bible college, four years mixing for a touring choir, a residency that redirected everything, and two unscripted answers to two hard questions that ended up defining a calling.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re actually called to ministry, or you’re already in it and quietly questioning that — this one’s for you.

Comment your why: what’s your story of how you came into ministry — production or otherwise?

Closing our summer series through Todd Elliott's I Love Jesus But I Hate Christmas (FILO.org) — Part Four, on production leadership.

Get your copy of the book here!Amazon Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/4wn3rDV Or Order directly from FILO: https://filo.org/book/

This episode: why clear mission, vision, and values are the foundation of leading a team; why celebrating specific wins out loud matters as much as catching mistakes; why complaining about decisions from leadership above you erodes trust downstream, even when you disagree; and why leading yourself — your boundaries, your family, your spiritual and physical health — has to come before you can lead anyone else well. Thanks for reflecting through this whole series with me. What was your biggest takeaway? Email me at [email protected].

Continuing our series through Todd Elliott's I Love Jesus But I Hate Christmas (FILO.org) — Part Three, on collaboration.

Get your copy of the book here!Amazon Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/4wn3rDV Or Order directly from FILO: https://filo.org/book/

This episode: why trust with your creative and worship teams isn't accidental, and has to be built on purpose; why saying "I don't know, give me a minute" builds more trust than a hasty yes or no; why shooting down every idea in a brainstorm because of logistics kills your seat at the table before collaboration can even start; and why translating your technical language into terms pastors and creatives actually understand is your job, not theirs. What's your biggest takeaway?

Email me at [email protected].

A shorter, single-idea episode this week — inspired by a recent audio training on how production leaders partner with contracted pro audio engineers. You don't need to out-technical the expert on your team. You need to know how to name what you're experiencing and trust them to find the fix. One idea, one takeaway, in about 15 minutes.

Have a question or topic you are curious about? Reach out to me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you!

Continuing our series through Todd Elliott's I Love Jesus But I Hate Christmas (FILO.org/book/) —

Part Two of the book, on production values. This episode: why a clean, organized stage builds trust and makes troubleshooting faster; the 80/20 rule for live production (nail everything you can know, and stay ready to bob and weave with the 20% you can't); why waiting five minutes before you let yourself panic changes how your whole team responds to a crisis; and why enjoying the work — even though it's genuinely hard — is what keeps you in this long enough to matter.

Got a discussion question answer of your own? Email me at [email protected].

Kicking off a summer series where I'm working through Todd Elliott's I Love Jesus But I Hate Christmas (FILO.org) as a discussion partner, not a lecturer — sharing my honest take on his ideas and discussion questions so you can reflect alongside me before getting your own copy.

Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/4wn3rDV

This episode: my own origin story in church production, why Todd's definition of "artist" — a skilled, creative person — includes production people whether we've claimed that title or not, and why the unglamorous basics (signal flow, prepped mics, dialed-in fundamentals) are actually the foundation that earns you a seat at the creative table.

Got your own "how I got started" story? Email me at [email protected].

Nehemiah didn’t gather his people, read them a list of wall sections, and send them off. He cast a vision. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.”

Does your pre-service huddle do that?

In this episode, Gabe breaks down one of the most underleveraged moments in church production — the pre-service huddle, talk-down, production meeting, whatever you call it in your context. It happens every weekend, but most of us treat it like a logistics dump instead of the leadership moment it actually is.

This is the last time you have everyone in the room before it counts. The worship team has learned their songs. The pastor knows his sermon. The lighting op knows his cues. But nobody has seen how it all weaves together into one cohesive experience — until this moment. That’s your job.

Gabe walks through four areas to evaluate and improve: preparation, delivery, people, and heart. Each one comes with specific, practical things to start doing — and stop doing — this weekend.

Topics include:

* Why your huddle should communicate decisions, not make them

* How to handle transitions in the run sheet so nobody’s guessing

* The three-pass recording method that will make you a better public speaker

* Why celebrating volunteers by name changes the culture of the room

* The one thing you can’t let your huddle forget — and how easy it is to drift from it

* A practical next step you can take before your next service

Our service starts before the service starts.

**Connect:**

Substack: houselightspod.substack.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HouseLightsPodcast

**Feedback:**

Have a topic you’d like me to cover? A story to share? Send me a message at [email protected]

I’ve had Sundays where I showed up with plenty of time—calm, prepared, ready to lead. And I’ve had Sundays where I was rushing in at the last minute, stressed before the day even began.

The difference wasn’t talent or experience. It was margin. And margin starts with showing up early.

In this episode, I tell the story of the morning I forgot to print the run sheets—dead laptop, no power cable, an entire team waiting on me—and what it taught me about preparation, leadership, and ministry.

Why showing up early matters:

* It gives you time for preparation—the things that can’t be done until day-of

* It sets the tone for the day. If you’re frantic, your team feels it. If you’re calm, they feel that too.

* It’s pastoral work—time to pray over the room, prepare your heart, and be available when volunteers need you

* The first person in the building sets the temperature for the day

What it communicates:

* To your team: you care about them, you respect their time, you’re reliable

* To leadership: you’re professional, you’re bought in, you bring unique value

* To yourself: you’re a leader, not just a technician

Common objections (and why they don’t hold up):

* “I’m not a morning person” — it’s discipline, not preference

* “I don’t have time” — try saying “I haven’t made the time” instead and see how that feels

* “No one notices” — they may not notice when you show up early, but they’ll notice when you don’t

Rushed Sundays are way worse than early wake-ups. And showing up early isn’t about clocking hours—it’s about creating space to lead well.

No one may thank you. No one may see it. Except someone does. God sees the hidden work, the early mornings, the preparation no one else witnesses. We’re working for an audience of one.

The ministry of showing up early: nobody sees it, but everybody benefits from it.

Trust doesn’t just happen. It’s built — deliberately, consistently, and often in the small moments nobody’s watching.

In this episode, Gabe gets practical about one of the most important — and most overlooked — leadership skills in church production: building trust across every team you work with. Not just hoping it develops over time, but actively cultivating it.

This one covers four relationships that production leaders navigate constantly: worship teams, volunteers, pastors and church leadership, and — the one most of us skip entirely — yourself.

Whether you’re walking into a room where trust has been broken, or you just want to be more intentional about strengthening the relationships you already have, this episode gives you specific, actionable ways to start.

Topics include:

* Why trust is something you can extend before it’s earned — and why that changes everything

* How the way you talk about people (and to people) either builds or erodes trust faster than anything else

* The habit that worship teams notice more than you think: believing them when they hear or feel something is wrong

* What volunteers are most afraid of — and the culture shift that puts them at ease

* How to earn trust with pastors and church leadership through stewardship, clarity, and preparation

* Why self-trust is the foundation everything else is built on

Trust is the cornerstone of every healthy team. This is how you start building it on purpose.

The tension between the stage and the booth is one of the most common — and least talked about — dynamics in church production. In this episode, Gabe sits down with Landon Boggs, Experience Director at New Point Community Church (six campuses across eastern Ohio), for an honest, behind-the-scenes conversation about what it actually takes to lead both sides of the room well.

Landon brings a rare perspective: decades of experience as a working musician and worship leader, now in an executive leadership role overseeing worship, production, video, and communications across a multi-site church. He’s lived on both sides of the tension — and he has a lot to say about it.

This one covers a lot of ground: why production people are so often misunderstood by the leaders above them, what it looks like to lead people who are technically smarter than you, how to build a culture where volunteers become reproducers, and why trust — not title — is the real currency between the stage and the booth.

Landon also tells the story of a young intern who had no idea what he was doing but was too good to let go — and what happened when a leader chose to invest instead of automate.

Topics include:

* The unique burden of leading highly capable, ministry-minded technicians

* Why production people generate almost none of their own workload

* Automation and AI: where to draw the line with volunteer positions

* Building a pipeline from volunteer to staff (a real story, not a framework)

* What worship leaders wish their production teams understood — and vice versa

* Why you don’t need a microphone to lead worship