Gary Neidert, tech team volunteer (left) and Andrew Brenden, youth pastor and video tech at City Point Church in Allen, Tex. Gary nominated Andrew as a Church Production Hero of the Month for his role setting up the online church and managing streaming technology early in the pandemic lockdown.
Next man up. Sports teams use this phrase a lot when a player gets hurt, someone has to step up. It also works that way in
"Church Production Hero of the Month” is a collaboration between Church Production Magazine and Ross Video. We’re looking to highlight the men and women who consistently exceed expectations for your local church. So tell us—who looks like a church production hero to you? Nominate your hero here.
churches when staff or volunteers fall ill or move away, especially in smaller ones like City Point Church in Allen, Texas. Right in the midst of 2020 COVID lockdowns, as church leaders were trying to figure out online church and streaming technology for the first time, the main pastor fell gravely ill and then needed a heart transplant. This triggered a cascade of role changes and that’s when Andrew Brenden, the youth pastor, also became Andrew Brenden, the video tech. He started as the church was recording services to share online in the early stages of the lockdown.
...as church leaders were trying to figure out online church and streaming technology for the first time, the main pastor fell gravely ill and then needed a heart transplant.
“Andrew had to come in and put all that together. And then later on when we had two cameras, we were able to go live streaming and he's been the one that gets it set up to make sure the live stream works and on top of being a youth pastor,” says City Point Tech Team Volunteer Gary Neidert, who has nominated Brenden as a Church Production Hero of the Month.
Andrew Brenden (left) and Gary Neidert (right) with several of the youth serving on the production team at City Point Church. "It's cool to really see these guys are engaged and they're coming up with ideas and you can really see them take ownership, which is awesome. Because one day I'm not going be the one that's leading it," Brenden says.
“Video of just fell into my lap,” says Brenden. “So, I've had experience with it in the past a little bit. So, just because you have a little bit of experience and the drive to learn, that's kind of what got me into this position.” Brenden says he learned a few things from his video editor/director brother-in-law at his previous church. “I kind of became their pseudo video guy. And so, everything that I've done is just school of hard knocks and it's how I've learned, you know, what not to do basically.”
“I would say 80% of the people in the video department are under the age of 18." - Andrew Brenden, City Point Church, Allen, Tex.
The little experience Brenden had would never have prepared him for figuring out how to live stream during COVID, with brand new equipment. But he says Neidert and the other guys at City Point all pointed him in the right directions. “Honestly, I had a great team that surrounded me. There’s Aaron Conger, who's really our tech god at this church, and guys like Gary, who introduced me to different podcasts and said, ‘Hey, I have you seen this YouTube video. These guys are really breaking it down,’” he explains. “My co-worker, Stephen Tucker, we would sit here hours on Saturday being like, ‘How do we figure out how to communicate between the board and the Mac Mini and OBS?’ And hours and hours of just wanting to punch everything in sight because you're frustrated it's not working.”
"I just wanted to recognize him as being a good guy.” - Gary Neidert, tech team volunteer, City Point Church, Allen, Tex.
So, of course, in the end, they did it. In the midst of personal and global crises, City Point was streaming live content to their 400+ congregation to stay connected against all odds. “I've been nominated as Church Production Hero of the Month, but make no mistake, that's not because I'm amazing and awesome. I had to be the one that stepped up at that moment to do something. But I had a team that definitely helped me accomplish what we accomplished as a church.”
LIZ BRENDEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Andrew Brenden, the youth pastor-turned-tech guru did what he knew best. He engaged the kids. “I would say 80% of the people in the video department are under the age of 18. You walk in on a set back here in our video room and you've got eighth graders, ninth graders..." Brenden adds.
The youth-pastor-turned-tech guru then did what he knew best. He engaged the kids. “I would say 80% of the people in the video department are under the age of 18. You walk in on a setback here in our video room and you've got eighth graders, ninth graders sitting around and Gary's having to wrangle them as a director on Sunday mornings,” he says laughing. “But it's cool to really see these guys are engaged and they're coming up with ideas and you can really see them take ownership, which is awesome. Because one day I'm not going be the one that's leading it. It could be Nathan, it could be Ryan, or whoever is back here so to me, the future is really bright because we've got young minds that are behind the scenes learning and growing.”
In addition to youth pastor and video tech, Brenden also does church marketing. Before he committed to full-time ministry, Brenden worked at a digital marketing agency doing Google ads. His expertise was pay-per-click marketing or PPC. “My expertise there kind of translates. It's interesting to see how many people search at two o'clock in the morning for a church near them,” he says. “And we do run ads as a church. We run PPC ads on Google, and also on Microsoft. We have paid profiles on Yelp, so I kind of manage that side of it too and we'll do YouTube ads. Typically, that's around big church events like Easter, our birthday, Christmas, and things like that.”
Neidert concludes, “He does a lot of different video stuff at the church. He's been a busy guy and he's very faithful. He's been faithful to the church and I know he and his wife have put in a lot of extra hours to make all this happen and he's faithful to the pastor and to the church. And I just wanted to recognize him as being a good guy.”
