Black Box Podcast

BlackBox is stepping into a new season—with new conversations, fresh collaborators, and guests from across the church & production industry. In this episode, Shep, Brad Bramer & Tyler Kerpsack get back to the fundamentals of production leadership: developing people, building healthy teams, investing in volunteers, and creating technical environments where others can grow. BlackBox exists to equip the local church as an independent advocate, trusted partner, and creative collaborator. From audio, video, lighting, and systems integration to leadership development and production strategy, we help churches make confident decisions, strengthen their teams, and build healthier teams and ministries. Whether you’re a production director, worship leader, technical artist, integrator, or church volunteer, this conversation is about leading people—not just managing equipment.

Lee Fields, Stephen “Shep” Sheppard, Brad Bramer, and Tyler Kerpsack are BlackBox—an independent team helping churches strengthen production systems, develop healthy teams, and make wise technical investments. Today, they’re joined by Danielle Iselin, a passionate volunteer equipper inspiring the Church to double down on recruiting, developing, and investing in volunteers. Danielle brings a remarkable perspective on scale, having served as the sole production staff member supporting 20 campuses across eight countries. The conversation covers everything from which movie best represents running a production team to women in production, production gamers, building volunteer culture, and how to leave a church staff role well. Whether you lead church production, serve on a technical arts team, manage volunteers, or work in worship ministry, this episode offers honest perspective on leadership, healthy transitions, and equipping people for meaningful ministry.

In this episode, Lee Fields, Shep, Tyler Kerpsack, and Brad Bramer get into what it really looks like to operate at a high level when things go sideways. We talk real stories—from stadium shows to high-pressure environments—where cues get missed, plans change mid-song, and you’re forced to make decisions in real time. There’s some Kanye conversation in here, but more from the lens of what’s actually happening behind the scenes and how teams carry those moments. We also hit on the tension of working in spaces where your values get tested—and what it looks like to stay grounded in the middle of it. This one’s about composure, awareness, and learning how to respond when the pressure’s on.

In this episode, Lee Fields, Tyler Kerpsack, Shep, and Brad Bramer are back together talking through the realities of church production during the Christmas season. The conversation covers what it really looks like to lead production teams at scale during the busiest time of the year — from church staffing models and production budgets, to caring for volunteers, working with contractors, and making smart decisions around gear and resources. The group also reflects on Christmas gifts for church production teams, how to show appreciation without blowing budgets, and where leaders often feel the most pressure during holiday weekends. If you serve in church production, audio, lighting, video, broadcast, or technical leadership, this episode offers honest perspective, practical insight, and shared experience from leaders navigating Christmas in real time. Follow along, share with your team, and subscribe for more conversations around church production leadership, staffing, budgets, volunteers, and worship technology.

In this episode, Lee Fields, Tyler Kerpsack, Shep, and Brad Bramer are back together talking all things church production, worship technology, and creative leadership. The conversation dives into creating production content that actually serves the local church, the platforms and channels currently inspiring us, and what it looks like to build meaningful voice and credibility in the church production space. Lee shares more about the launch of his new audio-focused podcast, and the group unpacks practical thoughts around designing and building worship centers, production systems, and the realities of leading technical teams in churches of all sizes. Whether you serve in audio, lighting, video, broadcast, systems design, or production leadership, this episode offers honest conversation, real experience, and perspective from leaders actively shaping the future of church tech and worship production. Follow along, share with your team, and subscribe for more conversations around church production, AVL systems, worship environments, and leadership behind the scenes.