From very humble beginnings in the 1970s as Concord Bible Fellowship, the evolution to Blue Ridge Community Church in 1991 reflected the Virginia congregation’s desire to modernize and become attractive to unchurched people. After years of portable sanctuaries in everything from a school to a nightclub, the church built its new Forest, Va., permanent facility in 2005. Technical Director Andrew Hunt was hired by his home church just before that transition.
Q: What's your background in a nutshell, and what drew you into church service on the technical side?
A: After I graduated High School, I got a job for an electrician and then also enrolled in a local community college to study electronics. As a kid, my father had taught me to play guitar, so I had a little bit of this creative musical side as well, although I never amounted to anything more than a “front porch picker.” It didn’t take me long to discover that I didn’t like the idea of being stuck at a desk designing/analyzing or repairing circuits and I also wasn’t particularly fond of hot attics and nasty crawl spaces. So, I entered a four-year university and received a Business Degree, figuring that it was “general and useful enough.” My college job was at a local music store here in Lynchburg, Va., and there I was exposed to the world of mixing sound. For me the two worlds of creative/musical and electronics/technical came together. Not long after I graduated, I received an offer to travel mixing sound for a small group on the weekends and learned a ton in that year. I had continued serving at my local church and in 2004, they asked if I would consider coming on staff as technical director and I’ve been at Blue Ridge since.
Q: From your experience at Blue Ridge Community Church, what are the best ways to build and grow a healthy tech team?
A: Over the years, I’ve experimented a little but for us, I think something we call “Tech Group” has been the most beneficial. We started the first version several years ago and it ran for a couple of years until we launched our first multi-site and about a year after the site launch, we began the current format. Tech Group is a weekly gathering. It’s an open invitation to all who serve on the team as well people who may be considering serving. We focus on three things:
1. Character - Where are we with Jesus?
2. Chemistry - How are we doing relationally?
3. Competency - Are we learning?
Character is king, so we focus heavily on helping one another follow Jesus. Our new format is a little bit of an experiment in that we are meeting for six to eight weeks at a time then taking six to eight weeks off and repeat throughout the year.
Q: What tips do you have for creating healthy communication between the tech team and senior leadership?
A: I once had a senior leader who constantly said, “In the absence of communication, things go negative.” Basically, senior leaders don’t typically like surprises, so communicate efficiently, effectively and as often as possible. Good communication goes a very long way at building trust between my senior leadership and me.
Q: What's on the horizon for Blue Ridge Community Church leading into 2019?
A: We will be focusing more heavily on making Tech Group better and using that as a team-building platform. Our Bedford campus will also hopefully be transitioning from portable to permanent install, so we are excited to start work on that project as well.
