Our Faith Journey
In 2019 we got Rooted at The Grove in Chandler, AZ. But before we moved to Gilbert, AZ our good friend and tissue worker, Joseph "Jojo" Hughes invited us to his church, The Well in Livermore, CA. For 3 years we found different reasons and excuses to not go with him. Then we would say "yes" and bail last minute. But we finally did go with him and his family on the last Sunday before moving.
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There was a feeling my wife and I felt at The Well. Just standing in the pews waiting for the service to start...I could feel the start of that lump growing in my throat. For years I did my best to stifle true, honest emotion and had a hardened heart, but could always put a smile of my face. So the fact that I "felt" was a "look left-and-right with my eyes and think in my head 'what is happening to me?'" moment. By the end of service, I couldn't help but cry. The reason we were moving was because I had lost job which combined fitness, doughnuts, and sales/marketing. I loved who I was working for, but it didn't work out. My health was in a bad place and it felt like the move was out of failure, because it was.
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When we went to The Grove the first time in June 2019, that same feeling that my wife and I experienced happened to us again in the Worship House. All that did was let us know that we found the home we were looking for. Then fast forward a few months later to March 2020. There was an announcement asking for help in the social media area. Since I've managed social media accounts for large revenue companies, I felt I was qualified to at least help out the church.
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As we know, the pandemic shut everything down and The Grove needed to start a live-stream for the congregation. They also needed to get it done within a week. This all happened while I was still helping with social media, I was uninvolved in any of that process. But because there was a need for live-streaming, the opportunity to be a camera operator opened up. I was asked if I'd ever shot video before, which I had done, but not for a live event. That experience was apparently enough, and I was on a camera on Sundays along with helping as a social media volunteer.
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I was really bad at being a camera operator. There was a look and feel that the team needed, but was outside my skillset. After a few Sundays, my talents were transitioned to lighting. During certain worship songs and the sermon, there are lighting transitions. In the event the automated system did not work, I would be there just in case. I learned and bonded with the team over the weeks and eventually, The Grove asked me to step into a position which made no sense when I first heard the recommendation.
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Floor Director
Shadowing to become a floor director was what I was assigned to after running lights. The floor director determines which of the cameras shooting is actually presented to those viewing. I was able to learn from a GCU graduate, Alex Connally, who had a ton of experience in broadcast. I began to understand the concept and watched the timing of how he would call shots to the "switcher." A switcher hears the calls of the floor director and presses the buttons to bring up a camera, then make the camera "live" for the audience to see. As you can imagine, that communication and execution must be impeccable to make sure the vision of the floor director is displayed.
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There are a ton of other details and factors that go into floor directing, but today, I am normally the person responsible to floor directing and switching. If you are curious about what that entails, be sure to check out @groveproduction on Instagram and you will find insight to what we all do as a team.
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