As technical artists we’ve observed an unprecedented expansion of technology use in churches.  Several large churches taking advantage of newly affordable technology have done some pretty cool things.  Christian ministries have sponsored high quality productions including live broadcasts, stage plays, films, music albums, festivals, tours, and more.

Large productions are never a one man show.  It takes a multitude of talented individuals.  Writers, composers, directors, singers, actors, talent managers, coaches, editors, music producers, riggers, graphic designers, marketers, printers, contractors, finishers, videographers, grips, technicians and more.  These are just some examples of all the different technical artist positions required to make huge productions happen.

Over the last decade, well respected leaders in the Christian community have been spreading the message of living a purposeful life.  Out of that craze, several spin off’s have gotten people excited about having a God-ordained career that they love.  Some logically conclude the following:

“Maybe God wants me to go into full-time ministry as a technical artist.”

Is this your dream?

It was certainly mine at one point in time.  What happened next was a harsh reality.  There were no job openings.  Especially not at my current church.  Not even when I looked just outside of my church network.  Nothing.  The church job market was just as rough as corporate America.  I couldn’t understand how everyone was talking about wanting to do great things in their church and in their community with technology, but no one could point me to a church who was expanding their staff.  Upon further investigation, I learned quickly why this was the case.

Here are three reasons why American churches are not necessarily  hiring techies:

1.  Pro-sumer mindset.  “Technically challenged” church leaders see something cool another church did and they sometimes assume that they could find all of the equipment to pull off a similar production at Best Buy or Guitar Center.  “How hard could it be?”  One reason why churches don’t even have certain skilled positions on their radar is because they simply don’t think the job requires a professional.  It may not have crossed a leaders’ mind that a degree or certification may be required to even operate certain equipment.

2.  Volunteerism:  A spin off of the pro-sumer mindset is the thought that a church should place volunteers in highly skilled areas.  Even deeper than that is the idea that professionals should “serve the church” by donating their time and talents.  While volunteerism is not inherently problematic, when the vision of a church requires the equivalent time and energy to that of a full time or seasonal position, one might think that they were being taken advantage of.  After all, you wouldn’t ask your pastor to preach 4 times a week for free.  That would be absurd.  Pastors usually have degrees (student loans), licenses, and the affirmation of the leadership to “serve the church” WITH appropriate compensation. Technically professions have degree (loans), certifications, and licenses as well to practice their profession and should be treated accordingly.

3.  Tight Budgets:  You might be tired of hearing about the economy at this point, but average churches have taken sustained financial hits as they rely on charitable giving to keep their doors open.  When their tithing base tightens up their belt, the church follows.  Sometimes this results in one highly skilled person operating in several capacities at once.  There may be one technical director on staff who is also acting as a program director, stage manager, etc. This director may love to hire you as his or her assistant however budget limitations may cause them to go longer periods without hiring the help they truly need.

Despite these three dismal reasons that churches aren’t hiring, DO NOT GIVE UP.  Now that you know what you’re up against, you can use this knowledge to set yourself up to be the exception.  The GOOD NEWS is that none of those three scenario’s are sustainable.  Usually when something goes awry with one of the above, an opportunity opens up.   Next time we’ll discuss what you need to do to be prepared for such an opportunity.