Find or Train

[GCCarts]

So here is an ongoing debate around our "water cooler". Do we rely on finding experts who come to us knowing how to shoot and edit quality video, run a soundboard etc. OR do we take interested novices and invest money into training programs to get them to where they can produce the quality we need. For example I have people who want to be on our video production team but they have little to no experience. I want to purchase final cut, tutorials, network with the local college for workshops etc. That wil mean dollars, which we are short on. What I am hearing is that I should be more focused on those already doing it who can bring their own toys, but honestly there are not too many of those folks out there. Advice?

[tedanderson]

Invest in your own people. That's what Jesus would do.

Its OK to hire someone so that they can get you started but if you do that, you should be transitioning towards getting your own people up to speed. One thing about hiring outside people to do you work for you is that they will not have the same vision or personal interest in making your video as great as it can be as your own people will.

[Sysmom]

It all costs money, no matter what you do - and we're a ministry, money is always going to be short.

Invest in your own outfit and your own people's interests. Find people who have a passion, and train them. Build a team and make them part of the vision.

If you rely on an outside people to bring in their toys ... when they leave, they'll take not only the toys, but the expertise, with them, and you'll be in a worse spot than you are in now.

deb

[bggowing]

I've always said that the secular world view is different than the church view. In the secular world you'd go for those who already know the stuff. But in the church world if you have people with servant's hearts who are willing and able to be trained then you should invest the time, effort, and funds to train them. Chances are they will be doing it for the right reasons and will be there longer than the "experts".

Does it take a significant amount of dedication on you and your church's part? Absolutely. But the payback in watching someone in your ministry grow in their knowledge and ability and watch them use that newfound knowledge for the good of the Kingdom is awesome to see. I've done it with just about every member of my team and for every frustrating moment of watching them flounder through something I get a ten-fold return of pride as they start to blossom and spread their wings.

[jlhyde]

I agree with all the above. Invest in your own people but they must be trained right! Training does not mean just knowing how to operate the gear. It knowing how to frame a shot and knowing shot selection and how and when to use it. It's knowing transition effects and how and when to use them. More importantly, when NOT to use them.
It's knowing the psychological aspects of production etc. etc.

[cmchamp]

Train a child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it.
We've all heard that before, but I truly believe that we - the Chruch - aren't very good at that completely. In general, we get them saved, then let the flounder. What we should be doing, no matter what the gift or calling, is getting them saved, then train them in the Word and the Way, both physically and spiritually, as well as find out what their gift(s) or calling is - if they have one. And, we all know, He didn't create anyone without a gift or a calling. We (the Church) need to work at that, I believe.
C.

[Pastor Tim]

Originally Posted by cmchamp

Train a child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it.
We've all heard that before, but I truly believe that we - the Chruch - aren't very good at that completely. In general, we get them saved, then let the flounder. What we should be doing, no matter what the gift or calling, is getting them saved, then train them in the Word and the Way, both physically and spiritually, as well as find out what their gift(s) or calling is - if they have one. And, we all know, He didn't create anyone without a gift or a calling. We (the Church) need to work at that, I believe.
C.

Interestingly enough, this is a large part of what my sermon this Sunday is going to be about. I have recently been sidelined for a couple weeks with some health issues and it has become *very* apparent that I need to train some backup in a lot of areas. It's always hard in small churches, but just one example is that last week they reverted to the overhead projector because there is no one besides me who can actually build a show on Media Shout.

My goal over the next few weeks is to find and train from inside as many people as I can to give at least a nominal layer of backup. I think that our church, like many, has failed in developing the talents and calling of its members. God had to smack me pretty hard to make me see that, but it's a lesson I don't want to ignore.

Pastor Tim

[Sysmom]

I hope you recover from your lesson quickly.

[jlhyde]

If you read Proverbs 22:6 in the amplified Bible you see the whole text which says "Train up a child in the way he should go according to his individual gifts or bent" I don't know why the last part of that is left off of almost all modern translations. It is the most important part.
Also, the word that is translated "train" in the original language is the word that was used for the clearing out of the mouth of a newborn child.
It literally means: Create an environment for life. So what the verse really says is: Create an environment for life for a child, according to his individual gift or bent, and when he is old he will not depart from it. This is very different from the modern day interpretation where we think we should raise them the way we want to, decide what they need to know and pound it into their heads, with no regard for their individual gifts or bents. You can translate this into ministry as well.

[hussra]

Originally Posted by jlhyde

If you read Proverbs 22:6 in the amplified Bible you see the whole text which says "Train up a child in the way he should go according to his individual gifts or bent" I don't know why the last part of that is left off of almost all modern translations. It is the most important part.

Actually it's left off in the Authorised Version as well, it's not just modern translations.

I'm not a user of the Amplified Bible myself, but looking it up online the actual quotation in the Amplified Bible is

Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent]

i.e. the last part is in square brackets. Apparently the significance of the brackets is that they "contain justified clarifying words or comments not actually expressed in the immediate original text" - as contrasted to comments in parentheses which "signify additional phases of meaning included in the original word, phrase or clause of the original language".

So I guess the reason other versions omit those words is just because they aren't there in the Hebrew?

Best wishes,

Richard

[ebaker]

I would definitely recommend outside training. Part of what my company does is production training because we believe that it is MUCH more cost effective to train your team now so that when you get new volunteers they can be trained by the members of your team. This means instead of having to pay for someone essentially forever, you pay for large-scale training once, and only have to do more training as you get new equipment.

[Pastor Ryan]

I don't frequent this site enough, but several interesting topics this is one I am particularly intrigued with.

I understand it would be nice to hire all positions, then you could boss them around and demand things of them...because...they are getting paid...and you wouldn't have to train them.

Then there is the having volunteers thing, do you get only people who know what they are doing? Or do you train people? Or do you pay to have them trained?

Personally I train all of my volunteers, whether it is sound, mixing, video switching, graphics, Easy Worship Presentation, Lighting, Cameras, etc... you name it we train it. I have 3 AWESOME Sound guys, and if we were to get another one I would be in on the training, but I would allow the sound guys to do a bulk of it because they do it the most same with my guy from the local news station who is one of my switchers I would let him do some of the training as well as myself, I want to be in on the training because I want to get to know the person, make sure they are taught right, and also let them know that I know what I am doing and that they can ask me for help.

Hands on learning with your volunteers in my opinion is the best way to go.

We are a church of about 1500 and I have a media team of about 25 with 11 positions to fill on Sunday morning (2 services) Sunday Evening (1 service) and I run a skeleton crew of 6 on Wednesdays.