The ChurchGear Podcast

How can church production directors communicate and work best with their pastor's?  In week one of our Pastor & Production Series, we interview Darren Whitehead and Sarah Bible from Church of the City in Franklin. We discuss the pressures of production keeping up with vision and what each role wishes the other knew about their daily struggles. In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Who w...

What was it like doing church production at Elevation in the early days? Andy Bentley joins us to discuss his church tech times at Elevation, pacing production stress, and creating a creative process that works. In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Inside baseball: ChurchGear Leadership Quarterly  5:00 Andy Bentley joins us! (Elevation & Skylark)  11:50 Staying up 60 hours straight for prod...

How do you weigh the decision to stay or leave church tech ministry? Yoshi Haddad has transitioned out from his post as the Director of Production at Houston's First Baptist Church to become a Sales Engineer at LD Systems. He joins us this week to discuss his thoughts on the transition and we have some laughs along the way with a disaster story, tech takeaway and an ATM moment you can't...

You've been hired to be the youth minister and now you're told you're doing church production. What? Kyle Bowman is the Production Director at Journey Church and he joins us to discuss transitions, volunteer recruitment and more!  In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 Toby and Blake have been responsible for the youths of America  5:45 Kyle Bowman joins us!  15:00 What is productio...

What's it like mixing for Red Rocks services and concerts? Jesse O'Brien is the Broadcast and FOH engineer at Red Rocks Church and he joins us to discuss all things Red Rocks production.  In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 We have our first podcast sponsor!  4:45 Andy Bentley joins us!  7:30 Five Truths and a Lie: “And they asked can we bring our guns in?” 17:00 Production at Red Ro...

How do you recruit and train church production volunteers? Bobby Falconnier is the broadcast manager at First Baptist Orlando church and he joins us for a volunteer deep dive.   In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Impersonations 4:30 Bobby Falconnier joins us!  12:45 How do you find church production volunteers?  30:00 Working for a manufacturer vs a church  35:00 Disaster story  37:35 Tech Ta...

How do you transition from being an individual AVL lead to becoming the leader for the entire church production team?  Tim Wagoner joins us from Long Hollow church to talk about his recent promotion, their decision to buy EAW line arrays and more!   In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Best Beaches in America  5:30 Tim Wagoner joins us!  18:00 How did Tim become a church tech professional?  22:...

What were the early days of mixing for Hillsong like? James Hurley is a mix engineer who has worked with Hillsong, Kari & Cody, Mosaic and more. He joins us to discuss his early days with Hillson, live production albums and more this week on the ChurchGear Podcast In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 The Guys Get Gue in their ears for InEars  5:45 James Hurley joins! [5 Truths & a Lie] ...

How do we balance our work life well? Conor Hale is a church tech at The Summit Church and he joins us to discuss work life balance. In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Disrespecting Consoles, Studios and Pappy Van Winkle  5:30 Conor Hale joins us!  13:00 Conor’s journey to being a Summit Church Tech  16:00 Summit Church’s system setup  22:00 Finding a healthy rhythm of work  27:15 Production...

How does one of the biggest churches in the country approach lighting design?  Caleb is the Senior Lighting Designer for Life Church. He tells us about Life Church's approach to lighting, some disaster stories and more on our final live FILO episode. In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Toby and Blake go to a baseball game before FILO 6:30 Caleb Darago joins us live at FILO!  14:00 How to...

What production upgrades should you recommend to your church leadership? Matt Kotthoff joins us live at FILO 2024! We discuss gear stewardship,  community building and wrap with a disaster story that has us all wondering if there is ever a right time to allow software updates to go through.  In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 “Toby! Unhand that woman!”  6:19 Matt Kotthoff joins us at FILO Liv...

We took over the Amplio Podcast studio after day one of FILO to recap the conference and bring the party to you! In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 FILO Amplio After Party Pod!  4:00 What happened at FILO 2024 Day 1?  7:00 Toby’s horrific Gene Kim introduction  11:00 FILO pre party activities  15:00 Amplio’s podcast has launched!  20:00 Game: Classic Rock pop quiz! 26:00 Game: Name that song...

How do we customize our lighting design to draw people to God? Griffin McCravy joins the podcast to tell us how Church of the Highlands is adjusting their lighting design to create a more welcoming environment for potential believers. In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Blake’s first time in the tech booth  6:00 Griffin McCravy joins us!  12:00 What is Griffin teaching about at FILO this year?...

How do you speak your pastor's language? Will Chapman is the Online Pastor for Cottonwood Creek Church and he drops by the ChurchGear podcast to discuss  communication methods, advancing in your role and how to transition a church's production style over time. In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 The Church Tech Mecas in Texas  6:00 Will Chapman joins us!  16:45 How do you get into ch...

Chad Olech has been Fall Out Boy's  front-of-house mix engineer for the past 11 years and he joined us on the ChurchGear Podcast this week! He told us how he mixes Fall Out Boy's shows, the stories that have come with that and more! Don't miss this week's episode!   In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Recording studios and celebrity crushes  5:30 Fall Out Boy’s FOH Engineer...

What's it like doing production for the Harvest Crusades? Chris Eguizabal is the Production Manager at Harvest Riverside Church and he joins us to discuss production for The Harvest Crusades, lighting design approaches and he wraps our episode with a mic mix up story that you can't miss! In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Toby isn’t fancy enough for a benefit dinner 6:45 Chris Eguiz...

How do you create & steward a church production budget well? How do you communicate your budget needs to leadership?  Chris is the Production Director at Northside Christian Church, and he joins us to talk about how to make a budget that fulfills your church's vision. In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Taxes & Budget Complaints  6:15 Chris McDonald joins us! Chuck Norris & Pa...

How do you define the goal of your Sunday service? What can we aim for beyond "well I saw this one church do it this way"?  Todd Elliott joins us to discuss what a successful Sunday looks like, the overall pulse on the production community and what he is jazzed about for FILO 2024! In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Alligator alley & Toby on a Panel?! 5:00 Mr. FILO joins us! Tod...

How do you have multiple departments collaborate, communicate and coordinate well? Brad Bramer is the Worship and Creative arts Executive Producer at Southeast Christian Church and he joins us to discuss how multiple church departments can work in concert to achieve an overarching vision. In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 What is Toby reading right now?  5:00 Toby’s literary confession  6:40...

How do we create environments to allow church lighting directors to grow? Before touring  as Scotty McCreery's LD, Alexander was the LD at Connection Point Christian Church. He joins us this week to talk about keeping younger LDs engaged, lighting for the moment, and more! In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Nightmares we’re having  5:45 Alexander Lehman joins us! ER Road cases & Real...

How do you build an AVL system for your church that meets today's needs and the demands of the future? How do you make sure it works for everyone on staff and the volunteer team as a whole? Luke Hester works with churches to design systems at Houseright and he joins the ChurchGear podcast to discuss how you can make a system that works for the whole rather than just one person. In this episod...

How do you grow the production team and gear at multiple locations at a sustainable pace? Shaun Miller is the Central Production Director at Rolling Hills Church and he drops by the pod to discuss baptism, pacing gear growth and more.  In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 How do Baptisms impact church production?  5:30 Shaun Miller joins us!  11:00 More wireless gear than Garth Brooks  13:45 &q...

Your LED screen has fallen, you're in water up to your ankles and thousands of students are about to show up for a night of worship. Jeff Sandstrom joins us this week to discuss the AVL challenges of the Super Bowl and the most difficult event he has ever been a part of.  In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Toby isn’t with us this week!  3:20 Jeff Sandstrom joins us!  4:00 Rattlesnakes an...

How do you build a strong production team that furthers the Gospel? Brandon Conn is the Audio Director at Gateway Church and he joins us this week to discuss all the practical principles Gateway church utilizes to build strong production teams. In this episode you'll hear:  1:00 Toby visits Chauvet Lighting in Florida!  6:00 Brandon Conn joins us for “5 Truths & A Lie”  16:30 How did Bran...

 What production tips do you pick up from a lifetime of touring? Gene Kim had a spare moment where he wasn't mixing for Phil Wickham, so he dropped by the podcast studio to discuss mixing in bad rooms, AVL trends and coffee. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 Stage Shenanigans and Forbidden Rocks  6:50 What shows has Gene been working on recently?  11:45 The pressure of subbing in your te...