Real Life Christian Church is a multi-site Christian Church located in central Florida. Real Life spans across eight campuses with seven locations, bringing in anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 attendees. In addition, their online streaming platform brings in another 6,000 viewers from around the country and the world.
In a recent Playback episode, Grant spoke to Jerod Togger, the Production Assistant at Real Life Christian Church. With nearly ten years of experience at Real Life, Jerod was able to provide thoughtful insight on what he’s learned to focus on throughout his day to day role.
Keep people over process.
Jerod noted that one of the biggest challenges that churches face is getting caught up in the processes.
“The more I get into it, it’s more about the loving on people and relationship building and volunteers than anything else.”
He states that one of the most important parts of his job is to pour love back into people and help them fulfill what the Bible has called from them to do. It is his true passion to get people plugged into the church service and watch their faith grow throughout their journey.
One of the ways he does this is by helping produce and facilitate the technical aspects of the musical worship throughout the service.
“One of the main parts of my job is that I want to make sure that myself and my teams do well, is that we support our worship teams and our worship leaders well and really help give them what they need. I want to be a support to them, not a hindrance.”
This is an extremely important role because a lot of churchgoers rely on contemporary worship to break down their walls and soften their hearts to receive God’s message.
“I think music is one of the best ways for someone that has never ever stepped foot in a church before to understand the first rung on the ladder about who God is, who Christ is…”
Healthy Things Grow
Jerod recognizes that with a large church like Real Life, it takes a dedicated staff and community to continue God’s mission and vision for the church. Part of this is remembering what the Bible states about growing and changing and being able to communicate that message in a compelling way to a large group of people.
Jerod noted that people typically fear change, so it is important within his job to make sure the service messages are being communicated effectively from the pastor, to the stage, to the congregation and beyond. Churches are working to communicate the oldest message in history, but the means in which it needs to be communicated shift over time to fit cultural and societal trends that resonate with the group.
“We want to be relational with people, but we want to make sure that we're communicating the message in the most effective way possible.”
One of the many ways Real Life has seen its vision and mission grow is through the success of their online platform. While it was started around three years ago, it has become increasingly popular over the past year. Jerod emphasized the renewed sense of purpose it provides seeing someone streaming a Real Life service week after week from over 10,000 miles away.
This idea highlights the profound, far-reaching effects of staying biblically based and communicating God’s message no matter the platform or accompanying technology.
Be Aware of the Approach
In a world where society is constantly inundated with information, it is important for churches to be cognizant of how they are communicating to people and meeting them where they are.
“By the time that people come to your church for the first time, they already know everything about you from the time that they've watched you online, went on your website and plugged you, maybe listened to a podcast or streamed something on TV driven by your campus. So they're not there to be sold something. They're coming in looking to have a need filled.
That need is just to be part of something bigger than themselves.”
With that in mind, Jerod finds that churches need to place less emphasis on marketing themselves as a church and more emphasis on the community and the way it lives out Jesus’ calling. This starts by forming a relationship and connecting with members as soon as they walk in the door, making them feel loved and present in the moment.
Want to learn more about Jerod’s insights as a Production Assistant? Click here to listen to the full podcast episode.