The ChurchGear Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Production is Creative [Willow Creek's Rebekah Wiedenfeld] Jul 10, 2023

Show notes

How do you go from cold calling Willow Creek about their cool production setup to becoming their Creative Director?
Rebekah Weidenfeld joins us this week to talk to us about creative direction, working between production and worship and much more!
In this episode you'll hear:

1:00 Organizing Services
4:55 Rebekah Weidenfeld joins us!
6:30 Biking across America and flying upside down
14:00 How Rebekah became Willow Creek’s Creative Director
17:35 Scott Ragsdale vs Todd Elliott show down
19:00 Advancing into a new church tech role
23:00 Keeping production and worship as a single team
25:30 Working Genius discussion
36:30 Hardest job in church production
39:30 Disaster Story: Can a bus fire be small?
43:00 Handling conflict between teams
45:30 Game: Name that Song Taylor Swift Version
50:00 Tech Takeaway on taking in all the ideas

Plugs: Reach out to her on Instagram.
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

Take our survey here and you'll get the full report emailed to you December 4th!

Check out HouseRight here for all the reasons we love them.

Get more money back in your budget and more space in your closet by selling us your used gear here.

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

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

Connect with us:

Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here!
Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here.
Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here!
Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!

Thomas Rhett’s LD & Pernelli Winner [Alec Takahashi] Jul 03, 2023

Show notes

How do you become Thomas Rhett's lighting designer and win the Pernelli award for lighting designer of the year by age 28?
Alec Takahashi joins us on the podcast this week to tell us. He also touches on the importance of mentorship, his approach to lighting and gives the infamous disaster story that resulted in the destruction of many of Bayside's lights.
In this episode you'll hear:

1:00 Eating cockroaches, celebrity sightings, and Thomas Rhett Tacos
7:40 Alec Takahashi joins us!
15:30 From Bayside to lighting Thomas Rhett
23:00 His first “pinched myself” show
26:45 Staying excited for Sunday’s Services
29:30 Designing Lighting for Sunday
34:00 Moving people to worship through lighting
39:00 Alec won a Parnelli award!
43:40 Best Lighting Alec’s seen [Passion]
46:00 Disaster Story: Destroying all the lights
49:15 Tech Takeaway: Seek Mentorship

Plugs:
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

Take our survey here and you'll get the full report emailed to you December 4th!

Check out HouseRight here for all the reasons we love them.

Get more money back in your budget and more space in your closet by selling us your used gear here.

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

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

Connect with us:

Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here!
Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here.
Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here!
Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!

Church of the Highland’s Justin Firesheets on Leadership & Growth Jun 26, 2023

Show notes

How do you handle your church's tech needs when you go from 3 campuses to 24 campuses?
Justin Firesheets has grown a great deal in his years at Church of the Highlands. He joins us this week to discuss his top tech leadership traits, communication style and ways to improve.
In this episode you'll hear:

1:00 Toby’s disrespectful children
4:55 Justin Firesheets joins us
18:00 Going from 3 campuses to 24 as the tech leader
23:50 Justin’s advice for advancing in your church
30:00 Improving your communication style
36:30 Justin’s favorite resources for professional development
44:10 Disaster story: Worst time for the projector to go down
49:45 Hodges Trivia
53:35 Tech Takeaway on accountability and relationships

Plugs: N/A this week
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

Take our survey here and you'll get the full report emailed to you December 4th!

Check out HouseRight here for all the reasons we love them.

Get more money back in your budget and more space in your closet by selling us your used gear here.

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

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

Connect with us:

Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here!
Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here.
Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here!
Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!

Pioneering and Perfecting Mixing at North Point [Freelancer David Stagl] Jun 19, 2023

Show notes

How do you constantly improve your mixing skills in a cutting edge environment like North Point Church?
David Stagl mixed at North Point for years before striking off on his own now as a freelance mix engineer for live and studio settings.
In this episode you'll hear:

1:00 Electrocution, Shaq’s crew costs and near robbery
7:15 David Stagl joins us!
15:40 Northpoint disaster story
22:00 Pioneering at Northpoint
27:50 Studio vs Live sound
30:15 Improving your skills in live and studio
34:10 Preparing for a freelance gig
35:50 Going live and live streaming simultaneously
40:00 David’s approach to mixing in a live setting
44:00 Mixing in surround for live stream?
47:45 Disaster story on “cutting yourself off at the knees”
51:30 Tech Takeaway on expectations

Plugs: Connect with him on Instagram, his site, and go to 11 with him!

Take our survey here and you'll get the full report emailed to you December 4th!

Check out HouseRight here for all the reasons we love them.

Get more money back in your budget and more space in your closet by selling us your used gear here.

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

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

Connect with us:

Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here!
Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here.
Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here!
Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!

Vision First, Gear Second [Nick Kofahl of Summit Integration] Jun 12, 2023

Show notes

How do you outfit your church with the best system to spread The Gospel?
Nick Kofahl is the co-owner of Summit Integrated Systems and his team outfits churches with customized gear solutions.
In this episode you'll hear:

1:00 Toby’s hairy body
4:30 Nick Kofahl joins us
7:00 Nick’s love of HiFi
20:40 How Nick landed at Summit Integrated Systems
26:00 What sets Summit apart
29:20 How Summit approaches projects
32:20 Communicating to all the decision makers
38:00 The work Summit turns away
42:00 Fixing other failed integrations
49:30 The conversations you need to fulfill a project
53:00 Nick’s blunt truth to production folks for projects
58:50 Tech Takeaway on shepherding your community well

Plugs: Reach out to Nick Kofahl on Instagram.
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

Take our survey here and you'll get the full report emailed to you December 4th!

Check out HouseRight here for all the reasons we love them.

Get more money back in your budget and more space in your closet by selling us your used gear here.

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

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

Connect with us:

Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here!
Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here.
Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here!
Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!

Shrimp Prank, Soundscape and Waves Plugin Hot Take [Daniel Ellis] Jun 05, 2023

Show notes

How do you become a world class mix engineer?
Daniel Ellis has been mixing for over two decades, so he dropped by the podcast studio to bring his wisdom our way!
In this episode you'll hear:

1:00 A recruiter asks Blake to be the head of audio at a church?!
4:55 Daniel Ellis joins us!
12:15 Kicking Chris Tomlin out of FOH
18:25 Sneaking into Universal Theme park with Crowder
24:25 How Daniell got into mixing
26:22 What helped Daniell become a world class mixer?
31:50 Daniel’s mixing philosophy and plug in preferences
38:30 Immersive audio trends Daniel sees coming
41:10 Disaster Story on the problem being yourself
45:30 Tech Takeaway on sound volume battles

Plugs: Reach out to Daniel on Instagram.
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

Take our survey here and you'll get the full report emailed to you December 4th!

Check out HouseRight here for all the reasons we love them.

Get more money back in your budget and more space in your closet by selling us your used gear here.

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

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

Connect with us:

Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here!
Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here.
Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here!
Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!

Improving your Lighting via Relationships [Cherry Hill’s Chris Thomas] May 29, 2023

Show notes

What lessons do you learn when you've lit some of the biggest churches in America like Willow Creek, Bayside and Cherry Hills?
Chris Thomas has worked at all three and he drops by the podcast to give us his wisdom on how he has improved his lighting by improving the key relationships that he has with other roles in the church.
In this episode you'll hear:

2:00 Ross’s favorite Early Service videos so far
11:45 Chris Thomas joins us!
18:30 Blowing up a 400 amp
25:00 From Willow Creek to Bayside to Cherry Hills
27:00 How are churches unknowingly causing church tech burnout?
30:50 Lighting and Video need to be in sync
32:40 Theories over Rules of Thumb for lighting
33:20 Lighting for the room or for video
35:25 How Chris got into church
38:45 Disaster story on shutting down rehearsal
41:45 Tech Takeaway on communicating with senior leadership well

Plugs: None this week!
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

Take our survey here and you'll get the full report emailed to you December 4th!

Check out HouseRight here for all the reasons we love them.

Get more money back in your budget and more space in your closet by selling us your used gear here.

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

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

Connect with us:

Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here!
Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here.
Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here!
Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!

Picking an LED Wall for your church [Davis Kornegay at FILO] May 22, 2023

Show notes

Should your church buy an LED Wall?
How do we know the right wall, price and application? Davis Kornegay joins us live from the FILO conference to give us his wisdom on how to decide if your church needs an LED wall and how to pick one out.
In this episode you'll hear:

1:00 Toby’s kids like Ross more
7:05 Davis Kornegay joins us!
15:00 Planning the Passion Conference
18:00 A morning at Passion City Church
23:45 How to pick an LED setup for your church
28:25 How LED walls are being used right now
30:30 Should your church get an LED wall?
33:45 Should the display show the band or just the lyrics?
39:30 Disaster Story on upside down towers
42:50 Tech Takeaway on not going through the motions

Plugs: Hangout with Davis on Instagram.
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

Take our survey here and you'll get the full report emailed to you December 4th!

Check out HouseRight here for all the reasons we love them.

Get more money back in your budget and more space in your closet by selling us your used gear here.

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

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

Connect with us:

Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here!
Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here.
Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here!
Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!

FILO Recap: Toby Stories, Blake Failures and A Big Betrayal May 15, 2023

Show notes

Did you go to FILO's conference this year?
Join the crew as we recap the best moments from the trip. Toby and Dave have some stories and then we list all the ways Blake failed. Join us for the FILO Afterparty on this week's podcast!
In this week's episode you'll hear:

1:00 Birthday disasters and Toby’s Betrayal of Blake
3:40 Dave Roediger joins us!
9:30 Five Truths and a Lie of Blake’s FILO Failings
19:00 The Journey to FILO
28:20 Dave and Blake abandoned on Chicago’s streets
42:40 Blake’s FILO Failures
56:20 Dave’s FILO Moments
1:03:30 Tech Takeaway on community

Plugs: Want some more FILO fun? Check out Todd Elliott's episode with us "Hard Conversations with your Spouse" and then check out his original episode with us.

Take our survey here and you'll get the full report emailed to you December 4th!

Check out HouseRight here for all the reasons we love them.

Get more money back in your budget and more space in your closet by selling us your used gear here.

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

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

Connect with us:

Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here!
Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here.
Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here!
Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!

Hard Conversations with Yourself [Stephen Brewster] May 08, 2023

Show notes

How do we check in on ourselves to ensure our ego, identity and mental health are in a healthy spot?
Stephen Brewster helps worship teams turn their original music into worship albums. He drops by the podcast studio to drop some wisdom on how we can take care of ourselves well. This episode will help you ponder some new questions and will minister to your soul.
In this episode you'll hear:

1:00 Toby’s crisis of calling
6:16 Stephen Brewster joins us!
8:15 Five internal fights and a fake
20:15 How do we check in on ourselves well?
23:00 Red flags for our mental health
27:30 How to know when its time to ask for help
37:15 How do we find contentment in our role?
53:15 How to know when it’s time to change churches
55:45 Finding our identity in the correct space
1:03:00 Tech Takeaway: Exercise to see you matter a lot

Plugs: Hangout with Stephen on Instagram, check out his podcast and order his wife's enneagram book.
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

Take our survey here and you'll get the full report emailed to you December 4th!

Check out HouseRight here for all the reasons we love them.

Get more money back in your budget and more space in your closet by selling us your used gear here.

Resources for your Church Tech Ministry

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

Connect with us:

Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here!
Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here.
Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here!
Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!

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