There is a growing community of youth who are interested in technology today. ESports are the fastest growing sport in the world and it seems like, where the youth of the 1950’s wanted to grow up to be astronauts, today’s students strive to become internet famous. With all of this emphasis on technology and computers, there is a great opportunity to spark interest in the world of production among the next generation.

Being the Student Ministries Production Coordinator, I work with our other student ministries staff to train, encourage, and empower students to learn, and own the production elements of our gatherings. Many church ministries have paid staff to create and execute gatherings, but our philosophy is to create and distribute out as many production volunteer opportunities as we can. At a typical gathering, we have one staff member overseeing approximately five to six student volunteers.

Our ministries are broken down between middle school (Tsunami) and high school (Ripple Effect). For full participation, my goal is to have middle schoolers volunteer for the high school event and vice-a-versa. This allows for students to be volunteers when they are on the schedule and participants within their own ministry to maximize time with their small groups. Furthermore, the heart behind having students run the event is to build a team that believes in our culture guide. By putting people first instead of the product, we can focus on relationship-building. To be a part of the production team means that you have joined our family. We are always building each other up and looking out for each other even outside of the production realm.

All this to say, our training and onboarding process for new student volunteers in production can easily take a new volunteer with zero experience and craft them with the information, training, experience, and confidence to run an entire event successfully. Because a lot of the equipment is not able to be taken home to practice, we have a rotating schedule that tries to keep everyone in a role as much as we can, without asking too much commitment from a volunteer.

However, training a sixth grader looks much different than training a senior in high school. This is where I believe the fun happens! Because there are many areas within production, each position can entice a whole gamut of different personalities, maturity levels, experiences, and attention spans. Each day, I individually craft a plan to value each volunteer who is scheduled for the night. This can include attending a student’s sporting event, picking up and playing a new game that is popular, or having scheduled games to play at Front of House during down times throughout the night. Being personal and intentional with each student communicates that they are valued and not just working a job on their night off when they could be doing homework or relaxing with their friends. Going into each night with a new attitude and thought process of how to relate with the students on the team is the most basic, but most rewarding part of my job.

And so, I always keep extra pool noodles handy! There is nothing better than pulling them out when you have an extra seven minutes while the band is setting up and having an impromptu pool noodle Battle Royale. Especially with high-energy, younger students, this is a great way to be silly and kill some time, but in a safe way. Pool noodles are a big hit (see what I did there) amongst the volunteers who usually have been trained to separate work and play. By adding elements of fun within the times of having to focus, students realize that the main goal is to enjoy their time while serving. Always encourage laughter. Always encourage cutting up. Always encourage interacting with other students (ping pong, basketball, etc) pre and post service. Always encourage time to hang out and build friendships. Always encourage ‘everybody, always.’

Engaging students in production has many difficult areas to navigate – from ever changing homework and extracurricular activities’, to difficulty communicating to a student who got grounded from their phone. However, by adding value to each student and seeing them grow personally, spiritually, and also technically during their time within the production family, the joy of this role surpasses all else. After our final technical meeting and before each event begins, I obviously plan and hope for the event to run smoothly from a technical standpoint – but I always end the meeting with the reminder that our number one job is to have fun while you own your role.

Dillon Manship

Dillon has a way of winning the hearts of our students while helping them build their competence in the production world. Under Dillon’s leadership, our students gain a mentor and a friend. His approach to leading affectively engages our students and makes learning fun, while also teaching them to focus and take on challenges. – The Learning Together Team

Production & Pool Noodles