When Church Production magazine called to ask about our audio system, Andrew Hunt, Technical Director, couldn’t have known he would wind up on the cover of the magazine or that he would become a guest columnist.
In fact, Andrew wasn’t really sure he wanted to do the article at all. He told the writer, “You can read all day long about technical stuff. I’d like to include the other stuff behind the technical. The spiritual component.”
After several conversations, the magazine wrote the story on the audio system, but with a different focus, “Putting the Cross Before the Fader.”
In the article, Andrew points to what it means to serve, and focuses on our relationship with Christ:
“Ultimately, my goal is not to get them connected to the equipment but rather to get them connected to serving, through the technology. I’m less interested in what they know technically than what’s going on in their lives spiritually. I want to know why they want to serve and to help them grow spiritually.”
Andrew, who has been working at Blue Ridge since 2004, said God has taught him many lessons about how to lead the Technical Arts team. But the insight on how technical directors can get caught up in tasks and machines came even earlier, the year after he finished college. Andrew spent a year on a traveling team mixing sound in church after church. He often stayed in homes with technical professionals in those churches.
“I saw people more or less ruled by critical spirits. Part of that is tech people are bent that way. But they were ruled by it. It spewed out of them in a destructive way. After seeing this for a year, that broke my heart.”
It shaped how Andrew now works and serves. And he tries to share this perspective with others.
“A few years ago, we put all this time and energy into a stage design. To my knowledge, no one has ever seen a stage design and felt the need for Jesus in their life. There’s an element of truth in that. It is beneficial to the degree that it makes the environment warm and inviting….we can reflect the heart of God as Creator. But the power of God does not exist in the technical, the design or the lighting. The power of God is in the gospel. Romans 1:16 says, ‘It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.’”
Andrew said it’s easy for technical people to get very caught up in tasks and excellence in the execution of those tasks. He said that while he does want to serve God with excellence, he doesn’t even use that word with his team anymore.
“If we make a mistake, that doesn’t limit God and Him moving. The power of God is in the gospel. So we pray that we serve with excellence because our service is a natural outflow of our love of God. But whatever we do well or whether we make a mistake, our prayer is that God will move in such a way that people understand the gospel.”
Like other serving teams, the Technical Arts team makes prayer a priority.
“We pray that God would move. God would move in us. God would move in the people filling the seats,” he said.
Because of Andrew’s focus, Church Production’s editor asked him to begin writing columns that focused on the more spiritual area of tech direction.
Andrew has written several blogs in the last two years. Readers have responded in comments saying, “Thanks for stepping out to share this. It's a topic that stays underground in church production circles; and I appreciate your courage to be honest about your journey.” And, “Thanks for opening the topic, needs to be talked about. Just knowing others have struggled in this area is an encouragement.”
In November, Andrew was chosen as one of three new elders for Blue Ridge. He also continues to lead the Technical Arts team, and to point them to what he sees as the most important part of their jobs.
“At the end of my lifetime, God is not going to ask me, ‘Andrew, how good was the mix at Blue Ridge? Was the sound loud enough? Were the cameras always in focus?...I think He’ll ask, ‘What did you do with the people I brought into your life? How did you encourage people to follow me?’”