Greg Atkinson

Today I fly to Spartanburg, SC to speak at a worship conference. This will be my 3rd year speaking at this conference. I love it, not only because I enjoy meeting new people (there will be about 1500 worship leaders from around the country), but also because the conference takes place about 15 minutes from where I grew up – so I’ll get to see my family, too!

This past week has been crazy. The search for our new Audio Coordinator/FOH Engineer is full on. I have a stack of resumes from around the country. I’m really praying for God’s wisdom, discernment and guidance to the right person.

Something that is pretty cool and very special to me are the roses we display on our stage each week. The roses represent someone that has come to Christ in the past week. White roses represent children. Yellow roses represent youth. Red roses represent adults. Yesterday we had two red roses. I love the constant reminder of changed lives and what we are to be about. I’ve been on staff at Bent Tree now 6 months and there hasn’t been a Sunday, yet, where we didn’t have at least one rose on the stage – that’s amazing!

Another local church, Irving Bible, has their congregation members light candles each week and place them on the altar. The white candles represent something that God is up to in their life. The red candles represent someone that has come to Christ in the last week. It’s cool to see the red candles sprinkled throughout the sea of white candles.

Do you do anything like this at your church?

If you get a chance, read my article “Merger” in Christian AV Magazine. You can probably relate to it. How is the relationship with the musicians and techies at your church? An even better question is: Do you see the technical people at your church as artists? Do they see themselves as artists? My title at my church is Director of TECHNICAL ARTS. I believe that lighting, sound and video are arts and ways to express our gifts, talents and love for Christ. Your thoughts?

Yesterday was great. Brenton Brown (and his amazing band) led worship – they rocked and really were sensitive to the Spirit. Our worship pastor preached and blew me away. We had a high school senior video direct for the first time and he did wonderful (keying and all). There’s no turning back now – we’ve started keying and we’re not going back. It was just a great day all in all. I love my church and am proud to be a part of it.

REMINDER (I’m looking to hire a full-time Audio Coordinator/FOH Engineer – PLEASE let me know if you know of someone that would be good for this position. Below is the job description:

Overview

Bent Tree Bible Fellowship, a 5,000-member, non-denominational church located in Carrollton, TX (a suburb of Dallas), is accepting applications for the Audio Coordinator position. Bent Tree Bible Fellowship currently holds three Sunday services (2 in the AM and 1 in the PM) in their current worship center. A new 3,200-seat worship center is being built and should be ready in late Fall of this year, at which time the church will go to 2 Sunday morning services. Bent Tree is seeking a full-time Audio Coordinator who will be responsible for overseeing audio systems for all worship services and special events that occur on the church campus. In addition to mixing front-of-house on Sunday & for special services, this position would include implementation of production team’s weekend sound goals, oversight of regular maintenance of existing equipment, sound support for itinerant ministry events outside of weekend service, team building and interaction, potential studio recording opportunities, and much more. You’ll be working directly with the Technical Arts Director on a week-to-week basis in addition to our large volunteer team and Worship and Arts staff.

Job Summary

The Audio Coordinator will lead volunteer audio teams and team leaders and so will need to be comfortable leading and managing people. The Audio Coordinator will eventually oversee audio editing and sound design using Pro Tools and other editing equipment once the church’s recording studio is complete. Lastly, this individual will oversee the operation, distribution, and maintenance of all audio equipment and systems throughout the campus.

Duties

* Oversee audio needs for all weekend services.
* Oversee all sound equipment on the church campus.
* Oversee systematic recruiting and training of audio team workers.
* Work with the Technical Arts Director concerning the acquisition of new equipment and software.
* Oversee the maintenance and repair of audio equipment and software.
* Ability to set up and operate advanced sound system (96 channel Digidesign Venue) and has at least 1 year experience with digital consoles and comfortable mixing at least 40 channels of audio.
* Oversee a budget for area of responsibility.
* Provide stability, leadership and mentorship for Audio ministry.
* Develop and implement training for secondary and volunteer audio staff.
* Oversee digital audio recording and editing of conferences, seminars, sermons, concerts, and other activities as requested by Worship & Arts staff.
* Oversee audio recording for website and podcasts.
* Oversee audio needs for small classroom settings and other smaller church functions.
* Oversee training of non-audio lay persons in the use of audio/visual classroom equipment.
* Maintain inventory of audio equipment.
* Maintain current knowledge of new technology and availability of latest audio equipment and supplies on the market.
* Fulfill other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

* Has a strong relationship with Jesus Christ.
* Must be an equipper and lead as such. The Audio Coordinator will have to multiply himself.
* AS/BS in Audio Engineering or related field is preferred.
* At least three years previous experience in related field.
* Organizes simultaneous multiple tasks.
* Operates with thoroughness and attention to detail.
* Works cooperatively with maintenance team, custodial staff, pastoral members, volunteers and general public.
* Act as a troubleshooter and makes mid-course corrections as needed.
* Has a strong knowledge of signal flow & RF wireless mic programming.
* Has experience with a digital console. The new worship center will have a Digidesign Venue as its sound console (prefer someone with experience on the Venue).
* Ability to troubleshoot and do basic repair on electronic equipment.

Additional Skills that are beneficial to this position

* Administrative skills
* Teachable and able to teach
* Leadership/supervisory skills
* Passion for excellent sound
* Participation in weekly planning and production meetings
* Ministry experience (volunteer recruitment/training)
* Keep a neat stage/platform
* Self-motivated to manage work-load
* Humble, servant attitude
* Love the Lord, show up on time, work hard, lead by example, pray often, rest hard, do it again!

Salary

This is a full-time position with benefits (40 hours/week on the average.) Be aware that there are peak ministry times 4 times a year where you’ll probably work over 40 hours (Good Friday/Easter, Christmas, Summer Fine Arts Day Camp and Fall Missions Festival). Feel free to check out http://www.btbf.org for more info about our church. Resumes and demo reels or CDs can be sent to Greg Atkinson at the church.

Email resumes to: gatkinson@btbf.org

Contact Information

Bent Tree Bible Fellowship
Attn: Greg Atkinson
4141 International Pkwy
Carrollton, TX 75007

Phone: 972-306-4477
Fax: 972-306-0894
Web Site: www.btbf.org

I appreciate any of you that prayed for me yesterday. The meeting got canceled and looks like it will be on Thursday.

On another subject, I’m having several training sessions for my tech team this summer. One session is for our camera operators, one is for our video directors, one is for lighting and one will be for our graphic operators. We’re also doing some social get-togethers. What are you doing with you team this summer?

Many have asked where I’ve been. Since my last post (on day 2 in California), my laptop, with all my passwords on it,  crashed. Yes, it crashed before my workshops at Saddleback, so I had to teach my classes without any visuals – hard to do when your subject is media ministry. My laptop is now being worked on and will hopefully be back in action next week.

I’ve got 3 and 1/2 words for you: In-N-Out Burger. Yes, sir – gotta love it. I’ve already made the first of a few trips to In-N-Out Burger. Monday was a rough travel day with all the delays due to storms in Dallas. I got on a different flight and had to go back late Monday night to get my luggage from the original flight. I arrived at Saddleback in time to talk with their worship pastor, Rick Muchow. I also got a sneak peak of what they’re doing Thursday night, as well as sat in on a rehearsal with Tommy Walker. I spoke to him briefly and told him we’re looking forward to having him at our church later this year. Brenton Brown is coming to our church later this month, so I need to run into him, too.

After leaving Tommy Walker’s rehearsal, I then went to check in at the hotel they booked for me and found out I was booked Tuesday through Friday (even though I arrived Monday night). I called up Rick Muchow and he invited me to sleep at his house – which I did. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Rick is one of the nicest men I know. I thank God for him and his family’s hospitality. I pray God will bless them. The next morning it was a true joy and blessing to see Rick leading worship with 2 of his sons on stage singing with him. Tim Hughes led worship after him and Rick Warren spoke – it was awesome. God showed up. More to come…

I’m back home after attending my family reunion in South Carolina. The highlight of my trip was spending time with my mom and step-dad, my sister’s family and visiting Brookwood Church, where I visit whenever I’m in town. I enjoyed talking with their youth pastor and senior pastor. The family reunion was so-so. My brother, who I haven’t seen or heard from in 3 years was there. He said “Hi” and “Bye” – that’s about it. My kids didn’t even know who he was. That’s life. We all come from various family backgrounds and dynamics. We all need prayer. I know I do.

BONUS:

• Get FREE “Evan Almighty” video clips from SermonSpice.com HERE.
• Get a cool liquid distressed motion background from WorshipHouse HERE.

Today I fly to South Carolina. I’ve got a family reunion tomorrow, which ought to be interesting since we haven’t had one in years. I fly into Charleston, SC, which is where my wife and met and went to college (and lived for 8 years). The first churches I ever served on staff at were in Charleston. We’re going to do some sight seeing, cruise by our old college and have lunch at my all-time favorite Mexican restaurant with 2 friends from college. One of the friends is my college roommate – he’s bringing his 2 boys and I’ll have my 3 kids with me (should be pretty cool).

After sight-seeing and visiting in Charleston for a while, we’ll head up to the upstate of South Carolina, which is where I’m from and my mom lives. We’ll do the family reunion thing on Saturday and then I’ll get to visit some churches on Sunday. I’ll fly home on Monday and will probably blog again on Tuesday. Peace!

After being sidelined for a while with a fractured foot and aching back, I was thrilled to join the ranks of the healthy last night as I played in a softball game. I haven’t played softball in over a year, so I’m sure I’ll feel it today. I appreciate all the prayers for my back and overall healing.

My family is out of town this week, so I’m living the bachelor life. After the softball game, I made it in time to catch a 9:30pm movie (it was $.50 Tuesday at the dollar theater). I saw “Next” with Nicholas Cage. I like Nicholas Cage and I enjoyed the movie, except for the ending. I thought it was a horrible ending. Has anyone else seen this movie? If so, what did you think of the ending?

EXTRA:

I forgot to mention Father’s Day resources from Angelhouse Media yesterday. I encourage you to check out their media resources HERE. They have “I Love You Dad” – which is similar to what they did for moms. They also have a countdown and loops. Check them out!

BONUS:

As you know, I love the band: MuteMath. They just recorded the theme song for the new “Transformers” movie. You can check it out HERE.