Claim OwnershipThe ChurchGear Podcast
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© 2025 The ChurchGear Podcast
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Are you a church tech director? If so, this podcast exists to serve you specifically. Each week we pull the tech director out of the booth and place them onto the stage to share their most outlandish stories and hidden wisdom from the tech trenches. Hosted by Toby Walters and Blake Hodges.
199 Episodes
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If you increase your skills, can you get by with lower quality gear? Jesse O’Brien joins us this week to reveal the Red Rocks playbook for stretching a gear budget and still delivering excellent production quality. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 – Toby crawls under the stage to fix church AVL integration issues 7:30 – Jesse O’Brien from Red Rocks Church joins the podcast 9:00 – How Jesse got into church production at Red Rocks Church 12:15 – The production gear Red Rocks Worshi...
How important is it to have fellow church tech friends? Justin Firesheets joins us to discuss how production friends can help improve your church's production, your morale and keep you sane! In this episode you'll hear: 0:00 – Intro: Why church techs need church production friends and community 1:00 – How many friends do you actually need in church production? 5:36 – How Toby’s church tech connections saved the day 7:00 – Justin Firesheets on building relationships i...
![Producing the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service [Mosaic's Brad McCraw]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/ju572bv1nerb84alvcoh5vgwl82x?.jpg "Producing the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service [Mosaic's Brad McCraw]")
How do you produce the largest Gospel presentation in history with less than 10 days? Brad McCraw joins us to discuss how his team produced the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service with no time and the highest of stakes. In this episode: 1:00 — Moments When Time Stood Still in American History 5:45 — How Brad McCraw Became the Production Lead for Charlie Kirk’s Memorial Service 11:00 — How Secret Service Affected the Production and AVL Setup 12:00 — How Mosaic Pulled Off the Charli...
Are churches allocating their church production budget in the right places? Church Tech Consultant, Jerod Togger, joins the ChurchGear podcast this week to discuss In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 Toby’s thrifty upbringing shaped his gear buying habits 6:00 Jerrod Togger joins us!10:10 What’s the first place to start in church production in AVL20:00 Where should you spend and save money on church production lighting? 32:30 Does anyone watch the church broadcast?&nbs...
How can churches retain church tech talent when the secular world can offer them so much more financial compensation? Todd Elliott joins us to discuss the importance of valuing your church tech, finding your calling as a church tech and the theology of church production. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 — Are church tech directors still treated poorly? 4:45 — Todd Elliott on leadership and church production 11:00 — Finding your calling as a church tech 18:00 — The the...
![Recruiting Volunteers Beyond A Preservice Slide [Fellowship's Alexa Page]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/7moxom8aa0hrur85ybxhkmdhj81p?.jpg "Recruiting Volunteers Beyond A Preservice Slide [Fellowship's Alexa Page]")
How can we recruit church tech volunteers beyond a preservice slide? Alexa has recruited a full army of volunteers and joins us this week to discuss how your team can finally recruit the church tech volunteers you need. (And even more importantly, how to train them up!) In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 – Challenges of Recruiting Church Tech Volunteers 6:30 – Guest Interview: Alexa Paige on Church Volunteer Culture 12:00 – How to Recruit and Keep Church Tech Volunteers 19:25 – The First...
![How Flying Drummer Boys Save Souls [Prestonwood's Bryan Bailey]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/b4cy791e3rmwryvk86yrz7sq8dyy?.jpg "How Flying Drummer Boys Save Souls [Prestonwood's Bryan Bailey]")
How does production bring souls to Christ? Bryan Bailey joins us from Prestonwood Baptist Church to tell us how excellence in production brings people closer to the Kingdom. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 Did ChatGPT Write Toby’s Church Production Book? 4:00 The Most Overlooked Element of a Successful Church Production 7:25 Creative Church Outreach Idea: Build a Fence for Your Community 15:45 How to Cast Vision That Inspires Your Church Production Team 24:00 Maintaining...
![History of Church Production [Sweetwater's Kent Morris]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/uobg687hhpee76nzfj47zacc36vr?.jpg "History of Church Production [Sweetwater's Kent Morris]")
Did church production only start in the past few decades during the worship wars? Or did church production start centuries ago instead of decades? Kent Morris of Sweetwater joins us this week to school us in the history of church production. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 – Toby’s new church production book release6:20 – History of church production and how it evolved26:00 – Theology behind church production and worship tech29:20 – Why church production is ess...
How do you pull off a massive event like the Passion Conference? Makenzie Collins has worked on the Passion Conference multiple years and joins us this week for the principles it takes to execute a big event well. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 – How Toby and Blake landed their wives (Church Meet Cutes) 5:45 – Interview with Makenzie Collins (church tech & AVL insights) 10:00 – What AVL gear and production does it take to run Passion Conference? 15:15 – Principl...
![Should Every Church Live Stream? [Resi's Steve Kaminsky]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/ofgkn6e7obxgujfdi5twe83br7dv?.jpg "Should Every Church Live Stream? [Resi's Steve Kaminsky]")
How much should you prioritize live streaming? Resi's Steve Kaminsky joins us to discuss live streaming, multisite streaming and the pro/cons of 4k. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 Toby’s “friendly gesture” gone wrong 7:15 Steve’s journey into church production 10:30 Does church need to be in person vs. livestream church services? 22:00 Should a new church livestream at launch? 26:45 How Resi helps churches stream to multisite campuses 29:30 What’s new and up...
What were the key takeaways for the XP and Church Tech relationship series? We give our top 10 takeaways for the series here! In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 Toby’s Hot Water Moment on a Podcast 9:15 Takeaway #1: Building Trust in Church Production 12:50 Takeaway #2: Shorter Presentations for Pastors 16:15 Takeaway #3: Avoiding “No” in Tech Conversations 18:30 Takeaway #4: Why 90% Is Enough in Church Production 22:00 Takeaway #5: Presenting Options to Leadership 25:30 Takeaway...
How do you get your executive pastor to give a "yes" to all your requests? We're joined by our Southeast Church friends today to continue our Executive Pastor and Tech podcast series. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 Blake’s hilarious church tech mic moment 4:55 Southeast Christian Church team joins the podcast 6:50 Five Truths and a Lie: church production edition 16:00 What an executive pastor really does in church leadership 18:30 How church techs can build trust with t...
How do you request budget the right way from your Executive Pastor? Our Covenant friends join us to discuss the right and wrong ways to ask for a production budget from your XP. In this episode: 1:00 Why the Global Church Production Community Feels Small 4:45 Covenant Church Production Team Joins the Podcast 12:45 Inside the Role of an Executive Pastor in Church Production 14:45 How Senior Pastors Shape the Vision for Production 18:30 How to Request Production Budget...
How do you build trust with your executive pastor? Our friends from Crossroads Church join us for part 1 of our executive pastor series. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 Toby’s Church Tour & Travels 5:00 Crossroads Church Production Team Joins 6:00 Ideal Church Auditorium Size 12:30 Church Production Budget: How Much to Spend 20:00 Building Trust with Your Executive Pastor 24:45 Explaining Tech Value to Your Pastor 28:15 Tech Questions That Annoy Pastors 31:15 How Pas...
![Live-streaming Expert! [Josh Nassar]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/fo9l4ai92ktthtonye0pz1a7oleh?.jpg "Live-streaming Expert! [Josh Nassar]")
Should your church livestream? Josh Nassar joins us on the ChurchGear podcast this week to discuss livestreaming, budgeting for livestreaming and Toby gives a conversion story you can't miss! In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 – How to Meet Your Spouse While Serving in Church Production5:00 – Church Production Pro Josh Nassar Joins the Podcast7:45 – Josh Nassar’s Journey Into Church AVL & Tech Ministry11:15 – Getting Started in Church Live Streaming: Tips for Begi...
![Prioritizing The Right Parts [Lakepointe Church's Blaine Johnston]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/c8zwujxc5ycrjx7pk5k58pzkdg9c?.jpg "Prioritizing The Right Parts [Lakepointe Church's Blaine Johnston]")
How do you stay grounded in church production to prevent burnout, death by comparison and connected to your spouse well? Blaine Johnston joins us to discuss all of this and more on the ChurchGear podcast this week! In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 – Wild Podcast Opening & When Pastors Cross the Line 4:30 – Guest Introduction: Blaine Johnston (Verify Name) 7:30 – What Does a Church Campus Producer Actually Do? 8:45 – The AVL Gear Setup at Lake Point Church 18:2...
![Avoiding Church Lighting Mistakes [Drew Middlebrooks]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/7bte6egh4c3szk7n3fg6fg0bxtbr?.jpg "Avoiding Church Lighting Mistakes [Drew Middlebrooks]")
How do you have the best church lighting possible? Drew Middlebrooks joins us this week to discus common church lighting mistakes to avoid, if your church should be a "blackbox" and the right movement to give your lighting. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 The Legendary lake day 4:30 Drew Middlebrooks joins us from Auburn Community church 6:00 how did Drew get into Church production?11:00 How do you keep your church lighting consistent and clean? 16:55 What are...
![Calm Always [Vive Church's Danielle Iselin]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/z3mps1m1gwr2pw2p29vdgmr9ral9?.jpg "Calm Always [Vive Church's Danielle Iselin]")
How do you stay calm, cool and collected when things go wrong during church? Danielle Iselin went from working on aviation safety to church production, so she joins the ChurchGear podcast this week to tell us how she cross applies those lessons to her job now at Vive Church. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 – Kicking Off the Church Production Podcast 4:30 – Meet Danielle from Vive Church 12:00 – Behind the Scenes: Vive Church Production Setup 13:50 – Recruiting &...
How do you do production in the biggest areas like Lakewood church? BK Beard joins us the week to tell us about his time at Lakewood church. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 Episode Kickoff: Church Tech Talk Begins 5:00 Meet BK Beard from Lakewood Church 12:00 Inside Lakewood’s AVL Gear Setup 18:00 How Fast Pastors Notice Production Changes 29:45 Gear Maintenance Tips to Avoid Sunday Fails 32:45 Baffle Blake: Lighting Logic by HouseRight 38:30 Disaster Story: Total Blackout Momen...
![Across the Pond Production [UK's Matt Sales]](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/11txh9orwh5q0jdkx6l80h7zu9yv?.jpg "Across the Pond Production [UK's Matt Sales]")
Is church production different in other countries? Matt Sales joins us from the UK to tell us the unique aspects about church production in the UK and Africa. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 INFOCOMM 2025 Highlights for Church Techs 5:45 Meet Matt Sales: UK Church Production Leader 10:15 Behind the Scenes of UK Church Production 14:15 Acoustic Challenges in Historic Church Buildings 20:00 How EU Churches Prioritize Production 23:30 Church Production in Africa: Gear, Gro...
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