The Buzz

What do old wiring, empty boxes, abandoned power cords, gear that hasn’t worked in years, or even parts and pieces from Bob’s last attempt at a shining Bethlehem star have in common? How could it be a problem?

We all know the children’s song, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so…” but its truth and what else the Bible tells us is not just for children. Knowing what the Bible tells us can be a great help in your technical ministry.

There is a funny children’s cartoon character called “Bob the Builder,” and he has this phrase that he repeats: “Can we do it? Yes, we can!” If only that were true in real life!

What we find so helpful on road trips—knowing where we are and when we’ll get where we’re going—is often lacking in our tech ministries. If you think this might be a problem with your ministry (i.e. you’re not sure where you are, let alone when you’ll get where you’re going), here are some tips you should find helpful.

Ergo-what? It’s just a big word for the ease in which you can do your job in your environment. In other words, is your mix position laid out in such a way that it’s easy for you to do what you need to do? The more efficiently your workspace is organized, the better able you will be to do your job.

Many times churches service their technical gear or systems and keep servicing them and servicing them, and keep putting on duct tape “bandaid” over duct tape “bandaid.” After all no one sees it, so things just sort of limp along (sort of) when what is really needed is a big decision, one that requires much thought and prayer. But how do decide when that time is? How do you know when enough is enough?

We’ve all had a project that’s gotten way behind schedule or over budget. It’s called scope creep. The scope of work slowly grows and grows and grows and grows, and pretty soon becomes a monster that cannot be tamed. How do we prevent it? What can we do if we are in it? These steps may not be the end-all weapon to vanquish the monster of scope creep, but here are some things that may be a help to you if you find yourself in the grip of the scope creep monster.

We’re not talking about how many times you have frogs in your ministry. If you have a frog infestation problem, please don’t call Ministry Tech, call your local animal control. Rather, do we take time to figure out what went wrong and why? And most importantly, do you figure out how to make it right next time?

Many times the problem is really as it seems. It really is bad; it really is big. But sometimes it’s the simple things that we overlook.