Date

2-29-2024

Department

School of Music

Degree

Master of Arts in Music and Worship (MA)

Chair

Paul Randlett

Keywords

Technical Artists, Church Production, Technical Arts, Tech Ministry

Disciplines

Liturgy and Worship | Music

Abstract

Church technical artists have an integral role in modern worship services due to the use of technology in church production. The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of different aspects of the role a technical artist has in worship ministry, as well as to explore current training practices and determine effective ways to train the volunteer technical artist holistically beyond their technical role. Church technical directors, technical volunteers, and worship pastors were interviewed and surveyed to collect data used to determine the level of importance of a volunteer’s different roles and responsibilities and how they affect worship ministry. Data was collected to determine the effectiveness of current training practices and what technical directors and volunteers thought would be ideal training practices. Participants responded to prompts gauging the level of importance they would assign to four different areas of a volunteer’s role: technical knowledge and expertise, theological foundation, relational skills, and artistry. Participants rated technical, theological, and relational aspects to the be the most important in worship ministry, while artistry was secondary. Throughout the research process and literature review, it became clear that technical training was easily available through online resources and training manuals, while theological and relational training were lacking for church technical artists. The data suggested that theological training was the most important and the most consistently misunderstood among all the topics that were explored. Because the use of technology in worship services is so integral to modern worship practices, it is crucial for churches and technical artists, both paid and volunteer, to know and understand the scriptural and theological underpinnings of the job that they do and how they affect the understanding of the congregation they serve.

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