The ChurchGear Podcast

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What are Christmas services like in Portland, Oregon?


Peter Zatsepin is a Production Technician at Mannahouse Church and he joins us this week to discuss preparing for Christmas.


In this episode you'll hear: 

• 1:00 How much does the weather impact your mood? 
• 4:30 Peter Zatsepin joins us from Mannahouse Church!
• 14:00 How did you get into church production?
• 18:30 What's it like doing church in Portland Oregon?
• 21:50 What is it like prepping Christmas services for Mannahouse church? 
• 24:15 How do you maintain your health during the Christmas Service Season? 
• 27:00 How do you communicate the upcoming church rush well to your spouse?
• 30:00 How do you handle conflict during a Sunday Service? 
• 39:00 Church Production Disaster story: "Then they turned the microwave on" 
• 43:45 Tech Takeaway: Your work and effort matters to your church 
• 48:00 Church Tech Confessional: Trust fall 

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

• Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. 
• Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can shop our gear store here.

 
 Connect with us: 

• Follow us on Facebook
• Hang out with us on Instagram
• See all the ways we can serve your church on our Website
• Get our best gear sent to your inbox each Monday before it goes public via the Early Service

Send us a text

Your church needs you as their church tech to be their integrator. Now what?


Eric Mooney is the Audio Director at Dream City Church and he joins us to tell us his journey of going from youth pastor, to audio director, to integration work for his church. 


In this episode you'll hear: 

• 1:00 Toby meeting Blake for the first time
• 3:45 Eric Mooney joins us! 
• 17:00 Eric’s church production background 
• 23:30 Becoming a system integrator on the fly 
• 35:00 Learning to lead in church production 
• 38:00 Learning to become a church tech quickly 
• 43:15 Church Tech Disaster Story 
• 46:20 Tech Takeaway: Production Directors are leading worship 
• 51:15 Church Tech Confessional 

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

• Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. 
• Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can get Certified Church Owned gear here.

 
 Connect with us: 

• Follow us on Facebook
• Hang out with us on Instagram
• See all the ways we can serve your church on our Website
• Get our best gear sent to your inbox each Monday before it goes public via the Early Service

Send us a text

What happens when you pit two audio experts against one another in a mixing Battle Royale conversation? 

Drew Hester and Jeff Sandstrom are too polite to fully fight it out in a Battle Royale, but they both join us for our first "fight it out" episode in the church production space. Join us for takes on what matters most in audio, the best consoles for the best situations and the best audio disaster stories. 


In this episode you'll hear: 

• 1:00 People telling Toby to turn it down 
• 4:00 How to know when it’s too loud
• 15:00 What’s more important? FOH or monitors? 
• 20:40 What piece of gear would you use in a fight to the death? 
• 26:00 What console would you not want at a festival? 
• 28:30 What console do you want with 30 seconds to start mixing? 
• 32:00 What console would you recommend if electricity was going to be spotty?
• 33:15 Worst Mixing story (Drew Hester) 
• 37:00 Worst Mixing story (Jeff Sandstrom) 
• 41:50 Disaster story: Don’t trip on the fader 
• 42:50 Disaster story (Jeff Sandstrom) 
• 45:30 Disaster story Drew: Chris Tomlin show 
• 49:00 Disaster story: Head set mic in an arena 

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

• Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. 
• Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can get Certified Church Owned gear here.

 
 Connect with us: 

• Follow us on Facebook
• Hang out with us on Instagram
• See all the ways we can serve your church on our Website
• Get our best gear sent to your inbox each Monday before it goes public via the Early Service

Send us a text

How do you respond when you are given 3 months to live?


Armando Fullwood joins us this week to tell us what his health journey taught him about faith, life and mixing.


In this episode you'll hear:

• 1:00 Mixing behind glass windows 
• 4:45 Armando Fullwood joins us!
• 11:00 How did you get into live production?
• 15:00 What is happening in live production outside of church?
• 19:30 How can you prevent burnout? 
• 22:20 What a health crisis taught Armando about Mixing and Life 
• 27:30 How to stay healthy as you mix 
• 38:00 Disaster story: The console just blew up 
• 41:30 Tech Takeaway: Don’t take it so serious 
• 46:00 Church Tech Confessional: "There was fire" 

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

• Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. 
• Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can get Certified Church Owned gear here.

 
 Connect with us: 

• Follow us on Facebook
• Hang out with us on Instagram
• See all the ways we can serve your church on our Website
• Get our best gear sent to your inbox each Monday before it goes public via the Early Service

Send us a text

What's it like running audio for a Vegas residency?


Todd joins the pod to tell us about running sound for Miranda Lambert in Vegas, a disaster story and we wrap with a church tech confessional.


In this episode you'll hear:

• 1:00 Touring Willow Creek Church
• 5:00 Todd Wines joins us 
• 16:00 How did Todd get into church production? 
• 22:00 Running FOH for Miranda Lambert in Vegas 
• 29:30 Handling a bad source 
• 36:00 Giving advice to your younger self 
• 40:00 Disaster story 
• 46:40 Tech Takeaway 
• 49:40 Church Tech Confessional 

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

• Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. 
• Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can get Certified Church Owned gear here.

 
 Connect with us: 

• Follow us on Facebook
• Hang out with us on Instagram
• See all the ways we can serve your church on our Website
• Get our best gear sent to your inbox each Monday before it goes public via the Early Service

Send us a text

How do you end up mixing for legendary artists like Jay Z and Marilyn Manson?


Doug Kimball got into the mixing game early via editorials and he stops by the podcast this week to give us the lessons he learned along the way. We wrap with some wild disaster stories and a church tech confessional that'll have you laughing and cringing. 


In this episode you'll hear:

• 1:00 Meeting celebrities 
• 4:45 Doug Kimball joins us!
• 11:15 How did Doug get into production? 
• 13:15 Mixing for Jay Z 
• 16:00 How did Doug become the mixer for A level artists? 
• 18:15 Doug’s top tip to work well with the musical artists 
• 21:00 Doug’s preferred gear 
• 22:45 What gets you fired on a tour quickly 
• 24:30 What were Doug’s most challenging mixes in his time? 
• 27:10 Mixing for Marilyn Manson
• 30:00 How do you think bigger for mixing your church? 
• 34:30 Disaster story: “He went to prison for that” 
• 38:30 Disaster story: “She pulled power the wrong directcion” 
• 39:45 Favorite FOH Rack Gear 
• 50:00 Church Tech Confessional: “I was trying to impress this girl.” 

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

• Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. 
• Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can get Certified Church Owned gear here.

 
 Connect with us: 

• Follow us on Facebook
• Hang out with us on Instagram
• See all the ways we can serve your church on our Website
• Get our best gear sent to your inbox each Monday before it goes public via the Early Service

Send us a text

How do you build a volunteer team when your main service is Saturday night?


Blair drops by to discuss their unusual service times, recruiting volunteers and wraps with multiple disaster stories.


In this episode you'll hear:

• 1:00 What do you do when your production gear gets stolen? 
• 4:50 Blair Drake joins us! 
• 13:00 How did Blair get started in church production? 
• 16:15 How do they pull off their weekly services with their volunteers? 
• 19:30 Where are you recruiting volunteers? 
• 26:00 What big events do you do? 
• 30:30 Disaster stories
• 40:45 Church Tech Confessional 

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

• Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. 
• Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can get Certified Church Owned gear here.

 
 Connect with us: 

• Follow us on Facebook
• Hang out with us on Instagram
• See all the ways we can serve your church on our Website
• Get our best gear sent to your inbox each Monday before it goes public via the Early Service

Send us a text

What do you learn touring in production for over two decades?  


John's been running FOH for Newsboys for over two decades and he joins us this week to discuss his time with them, being out on the road, and how to handle volume complaints intellectually or hilariously. 


In this episode you'll hear:

• 1:00 Accents, Blake’s tech fail, and Charles Manson 
• 5:30 John O' Neal joins us! 
• 12:00 Near Death production story 
• 18:30 How do you get into church production? 
• 26:45 What gets you kicked off a tour bus? 
• 31:00 What gear is John running for Newsboys 
• 31:30 What trends does he see coming in production turn 
• 35:30 What does Doug say when people complain about the volume? 
• 49:00 Disaster story: “I just deleted your whole show file.” 
• 55:15 Tech Takeaway: prioritize vocals in worship 
• 60:25 Church Tech Confessionals: Fader Disaster 

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

• Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. 
• Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can get Certified Church Owned gear here.

 
 Connect with us: 

• Follow us on Facebook
• Hang out with us on Instagram
• See all the ways we can serve your church on our Website
• Get our best gear sent to your inbox each Monday before it goes public via the Early Service

Send us a text

How do you take an interested, inexperienced volunteer and turn them into a tech genius?


Willow Hodge is the Video Director at Hope Fellowship Church and she joins to give us a masterclass on training new volunteers. 


In this episode you'll hear: 

• 1:00 ChurchGear Fantasy League is here! 
• 3:50 Willow Hodge joins us! 
• 10:20 How did you get your start in church production? 
• 15:20 How do you recruit and develop church production volunteers? 
• 22:40 Volunteers feeling growing pains
• 26:45 Should church production people have pastor in their title? 
• 31:10 What’s it like being a woman in production? 
• 37:25 Church Production Disaster story
• 43:45 Tech Takeaway: Jesus isn’t shaking his head at tech mistakes 

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

• Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. 
• Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can get Certified Church Owned gear here.

 
 Connect with us: 

• Follow us on Facebook
• Hang out with us on Instagram
• See all the ways we can serve your church on our Website
• Get our best gear sent to your inbox each Monday before it goes public via the Early Service

Send us a text

How do you keep production from disrupting your priority list? 


Dan is a Monitor Engineer and RF Coordinating expert. He joins us to discuss balancing production with your life, vetting production jobs and some RF deep dive discussions!


In this episode you'll hear: 

• 1:00 Our new and first sponsor stops by: 64 Audio!
• 5:45 Kids are great! 
• 10:00 Dan McLaughlin joins us! 
• 19:45 How do you recover from a PreShow emergency? 
• 24:00 How did Dan get into production?
• 29:45 How do you keep your marriage strong while you’re on the road? 
• 35:15 How do you vet a church production job? 
• 42:00 RF talk 
• 52:15 Disaster story: "It costs us but it was fine." 
• 55:15 Tech Takeaway: Don’t over stress it
• 1:00:30 Church Tech Confessional: Missing pack 

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

• Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. 
• Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can get Certified Church Owned gear here.

 
 Connect with us: 

• Follow us on Facebook
• Hang out with us on Instagram
• See all the ways we can serve your church on our Website
• Get our best gear sent to your inbox each Monday before it goes public via the Early Service