Worshipping God is not just spiritual to Angel Munoz, it’s also technical. As tech director at Calvary Chapel East Anaheim, he says he’s very intentional about making sure the tech is an expression of worship. He’s also adamant that volunteers shouldn’t feel like they’re stuck in a “job.” We asked him about these and other passions in a recent conversation.
CPM: What's your background, in a nutshell, and what drew you into church service on the technical side?
Munoz: I have a degree in music with a focus in studio recording. For the last 15 years, I've built my career working in various areas of the AV industry. I've done everything from summer concert series to theatrical productions to AV in higher education. In between all those experiences, I was always drawn to serving God through tech arts and worship. On the tech side of things, I see tech arts to be a very personal expression of worship. I am intentional with my light programming, with the slide presentations, with our camera directing, etc. All of our movements are intentional with the purpose of worshipping God. I am very passionate about that.
CPM: From your experience at Calvary Chapel East Anaheim, what are the best ways to build and grow a healthy tech team?
Munoz: It all starts with a healthy serving environment. When I first got here, I realized that many of the (volunteer) team members were "tied down" to a service and position. Not much wiggle room to take an evening off or to be in worship with their families. My take on serving in church is that it should never feel like "work.” Sure, we do actually work when serving, and sometimes it's hard, tedious and physically demanding. But never should it ever be considered a "job" to our volunteer teams. The first thing I started to do was to bring in extra hands to help. Slowly but surely, we started to get people more involved, which means a lot of training. We're still working on this process, but it has helped give relief to those who had been committed to run things on their own for so long. We are seeing our tech people stick around longer and [be] willing to help when we have bigger events.
CPM: What tips do you have for creating healthy communication between the tech team and senior leadership?
Munoz: Know how to communicate to your senior leadership. Everything is forwarded to my cell, because I like the immediacy of communicating when I think of it. Text, email or call, I use any resource necessary to send and receive info. Some of my senior staff, however, are not the same way. Some are much better on the phone than over text or email. Some simply need a face to face. Know what forms of communication work for each, and you will see better response times for what you need.
CPM: What's on the horizon for Calvary Chapel East Anaheim?
Munoz: We're excited to see new upgrades to the children's ministry program. We're adopting a new theme titled "Adventure Kids,” where we are making our children’s areas [into] a camp, woodsy-like setting. We are doing some much needed audio/video upgrades to our rooms, as well. We are also training up more people to help serve tech in our children's Sunday services. [And] we are rolling out to completion by the end of June [2019].
