All,
One of the two services that I lead has outgrown its worship space. We have support to move it into the main worship space that houses the largest of our six services, and our leadership group is in the process of putting together a plan to do so.
The trick is, we will now for the first time be doing a set up in between the large existing service and our service. From those of you that are doing a weekly set up, I would love to hear about the top three things that have tripped you up, or the top three things you have learned about this kind of set up, so we can hopefully learn from you and plan for these kind of issues.
Thanks for any thoughts you might share!
Peace...
Dave
2 comments:
Dave,
This is a good problem to have, but I also know it is challenging.
I've not done exactly what you're talking about-- but I have done General Conference worship, so I think I have some ideas that may help as you think about this.
1) Do a comprehensive plan of the "tear down" and "re-set up" that you will need to do. Then, practice that plan with no one around-- several times. That is-- start with the setup as it will be when you arrive there-- then work your plan step by step to the new setup-- then reset the old way and do it again-- and again.
After doing this at least two times, THAT'S when you can start seeing what works and what doesn't. Make your corrections on the third run-through. Then, if you're not seeing any other hitches (sound, lighting, seating, tech/computers/projection, instruments) practice the same process at least one more time. The idea is to get your crew "service-ready" before they have to do this live. You want to get this into their "bones" so they're not even having to think much about what they're doing-- they just do it.
2) Always, always, at least for the first several months, do a rehearsal (including full tech) of significant transitions in the service before you do it. This isn't necessarily a full run-through-- it's more like blocking and cuing and making sure the transitions from point A to point B work. The longer you're in this space for your service, the less time you'll need to devote to this assuming the basic pattern of what you do and who's doing it doesn't change much. But anytime you introduce something really new, or someone different with a significant role, do always rehearse those transitions, make sure they work, and if not, be ready to do something else. This means you do need to be prepared to make time for this-- which is why you need to get your "setup" crew as fully prepped as possible to function as efficiently as possible so you can do the rehearsal you need to do before worship begins.
(I'm assuming in the above that you may be using a good bit of tech equipment-- amplifiers, microphones, soundboard, computers, projectors, electronic instruments, etc).
3) This really could be #1-- get a really solid and dedicated setup/teardown crew, and treat them like royalty. This is rapid, but often precision gruntwork-- and they need to be able to do it fast and accurately every time. Find ways to thank them and to reward them, personally and publically-- they make your capacity to worship in this place possible.
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
3)
Taylor hit the nail on the head. As somebody who has done this for years here are my quick tips...
1. RECRUIT...the right people to do the transition. There are a lot of folks who don't want stage time but make great transition people to make it happen. If you can find one amazing team leader you are golden!
2. PLAN...make contingencies while in rehearsal. What happens if the other service goes LONG? What happens if it all shuts down?
3. STANDARDIZE...while I affirm the uniqueness of each emerging worship service, the more tech/set up wise you can keep the same week after week the more you are able to adjust when things go wrong.
Peace to yours and happy planning!
Marty
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