Keeping It Simple for the Volunteer Audio Team

Contributor: Allen Sargent, Discipleship Coordinator at Christ the King Lutheran Church Fallbrook, California

Key Takeaways

• Volunteer audio teams are often responsible for complex church sound systems with limited training and experience, making simplicity a critical part of long-term success.
• Clear instructions, consistent workflows, and volunteer-friendly system design can help reduce confusion, mistakes, and audio issues during services.
• Training is important, but hands-on experience and practical support are often the most effective ways to build confident church sound technicians.
• Simple tools such as color-coding, step-by-step guidance, and consistent equipment setups can make church audio systems easier for volunteers to operate.
• The goal is not technical perfection, but creating a reliable church audio workflow that allows volunteers to support worship services with confidence. 

Anyone leading a praise or worship team in a small or mid-size church has faced the challenges of an all-volunteer tech team.  Many are called but few can face the fearsomeness of an intimidating soundboard or the possibility of the vocalist's mic dropping out mid-solo – especially without a background in pro sound. 

Here, Allen Sargent, a 20-year praise team leader and Discipleship Coordinator at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Fallbrook, California, shares his tips for helping new volunteers succeed by keeping things simple. 

The Challenges Facing Volunteer Audio Teams

As a leader in a mid-size church, I've found that volunteers are the most important resource, since there is rarely a paid staff member either in the band or running sound and video. Occasionally a trained person appears, but most commonly, the Worship Leader selects the music, leads the band, trains the audio and visual team, and is primarily responsible for repairing or upgrading equipment as needed. 

Volunteer recruitment is an ongoing project at every level. Turnover in the audio/visual area can be high because it is often one of the most thankless and pressure-filled jobs on a Sunday morning. No one ever tells the audio volunteer, "Great work today, no feedback, and all your levels were perfectly mixed and EQ'd." No one tells the video volunteer, "Your lyric screens were perfectly timed."  

Quite the opposite.

The only time an audio/visual person gets attention is when something is not working. It feels like everyone in the building has turned around and is staring. So, as the sweat rolls off the brow and seconds seem like hours, the Worship Leader is not just praying that a problem is fixed, but that the audio or visual volunteer will not quit after this day! It's true. 

All Worship Leaders agree that the very best sound person is a musician – and that's why professional sound engineers often began their careers playing in a band. Musical experience helps with everything from monitor mixes to balancing the sound in the room. 

Unfortunately, the average mid-size church often lacks experienced audio volunteers. Even many dedicated volunteers rarely have the time or interest to dive deeply into technical topics such as equipment specifications, microphone selection, or sound system design. In many churches, there may only be one or two trained individuals available, making it necessary to place a willing but inexperienced volunteer behind the soundboard at the last minute. 

Keep It Stupid Simple

For that reason, and because of the pressure placed on volunteers, the lack of experienced operators, and the reality of church ministry, I strive to find solutions that are simple. This is what I call "Stupid Simple." 

This is not a put-down. It's about matching the complexity of a task to the volunteer's available training, experience, and comfort level.  

How does a complete novice figure out which end of the XLR cord to plug into the mic? Or why does this 1/4" jack not fit into any of the slots on the snake? Where's the "on" button? If everything is on, how come I still can't hear anything?  

Experience has taught me that these are real questions. Many times, I've driven to the church before a wedding or funeral service to answer them, whether that meant unmuting a channel or turning on an amplifier that someone had unknowingly switched off. 

I have learned that instructions requiring more than three steps are too confusing. Instructions that do not include pictures may be ignored. And if directions are not visually obvious, or stated in everyday, non-technical language, the hapless volunteer will become easily and quickly confused. 

Practical Tips for Volunteer Audio Teams

Leave Simple Instructions at the Soundboard
As stated: keep it simple. 

Always leave simple instructions at the sound board so volunteers can quickly reference them when needed

Color-Code Microphones, Cables, and Channels
Color-coding can make a church sound system far easier for volunteers to operate.

For example, if Channel 5 is red, use:  

• A red microphone identifier  
• Red tape on both ends of the cable  
• A clearly marked channel on the mixer 

Using consistent microphones and cables can also reduce confusion and simplify troubleshooting. 

Overlap Training with Experienced Volunteers
A trained person will sit with the newbie during services (and at rehearsal when it is possible, which it is frequently NOT) helping answer questions and reinforce best practices in real-world situations. 

Introduce One Skill at a Time
When training new volunteers: 

• Introduce one channel at a time
• Avoid overwhelming them with advanced mixer functions
• Walk around the room to listen in corners, sides, front, middle and back
• Encourage them to focus on hearing individual instruments and voices in the mix

NEVER touch the EQ buttons, DO NOT use headphones. I challenge the sound person to pick out each instrument and each voice in the mix, but that is a higher skill that will take time and experience.  

Prioritize Consistency Over Complexity
In many churches, success means ensuring the sound system operates reliably and consistently.

Sometimes that means simply: 

• Turning the system on correctly
• Leaving established levels in place
• Unmuting channels when needed
• Avoiding unnecessary adjustments that can introduce feedback or other problems

A polished mix is a bonus. Reliable operation is the foundation. Having NO feedback today because someone is NOT playing with channel sound levels can be the cherry on top! The reality of unskilled audio people managing sound during a service is all too common. 

Avoiding Dropouts

There are two ways to avoid dropouts:

Training is Helpful – but Experience is the Best Teacher
If someone feels the heat of a live issue, they're more likely to take corrective action or know how to handle a situation next time (assuming they don't quit).

When volunteers experience and successfully work through a live issue, they're more likely to recognize and address similar problems in the future. 

Avoid Distractions
Focus is critical when operating a church sound system.

Having a friend sitting at the soundboard can become a distraction. I encourage sound operators to sit by themselves while running audio so they can focus on listening to the room and responding appropriately when issues arise. 

Keep Church Audio Volunteer-Friendly

Twenty years of experience leading worship teams has taught me that technical specifications are often like binary code to the average volunteer. Most people understand that someone needs to know all those details, but their goal is simply to run the system successfully without feeling overwhelmed. 

Always remember that volunteers have a lot of responsibility and pressure thrust upon them and very little time to learn the skills required for the job. Just as modern smartphone apps are designed to be intuitive and easy to use, church audio systems should be simplified wherever possible.

The goal is to create systems and workflows that allow volunteers to operate equipment confidently and successfully without requiring extensive technical knowledge.

For more guidance, explore Shure’s House of Worship Resource Center for additional tools, insights, and audio solutions. 

About Allen Sargent: He has led praise teams for over 20 years, managing sound, volunteer recruitment and training in small and mid-size congregations.   He has also been musical director for a private K-8 Christian school, writing and directing Christmas and spring musicals. Allen enjoys working with worship teams in different congregations and leads special event teams comprised of musicians from a variety of churches.  He'll be returning to Camp Pendleton in Santa Fe this December to lead a rock band for the annual Santa Fly-In Christmas Family Day where the elves, according to Allen, are "pretty darn tough-looking".

FAQ: Volunteer Church Audio Teams

How can churches make audio systems easier for volunteers to operate? Focus on simplicity. Clear instructions, consistent equipment setups, visual labeling, and easy-to-follow processes can help volunteers operate a church sound system with greater confidence.

What is the best way to train a volunteer sound technician? Training is important, but experience is often the best teacher. Pairing new volunteers with experienced team members and providing hands-on opportunities helps build confidence and skills over time.

How can churches reduce mistakes during services? Simple workflows, minimal distractions, clear documentation, and avoiding unnecessary adjustments can help volunteers operate the system more consistently during worship services.

Why do volunteer audio teams sometimes struggle? Many volunteers have limited technical experience and little time for training, yet they are often responsible for operating complex audio and video systems in high-pressure situations.

What should church leaders prioritize when supporting audio volunteers? Create systems, instructions, and workflows that match the volunteer's experience level. The easier a system is to understand and operate, the more successful volunteers are likely to be.