Welcome back everyone! I hope you’re having a wonderful week. I just returned home from a great night out with my wife, and good friend Jayme Braun. He was in town with his band for a gig they had at the FBR (Phoenix) Open and invited us over to see the show. It was great to see him and witness  the expertise he brings to production work and the industry.

An Interview with a Pro

I asked Jayme a few weeks ago if he would be willing to take some time and be a guest blogger here at New Media Ministry and he was very excited. Without further ado, I wanted to share some insight he gave me in a recent interview about production, ministry, and the marriage of the two:

Me: Jayme, I’ve known you for a few years now. We became friends while working on a short ministry tour for ADORE Ministries, Matt Maher, and others back in late 2007. For me, it was a first experience with larger scale tour productions, tour buses, the whole nine… for you, it’s a pretty normal occurrence. Tell me first – how did you get involved in production?

Jayme: I was the singer in a band just after I graduated from high school. Our drummer had a friend that had a recording studio and had a bunch of live sound gear. He taught me how to hook it all up and let us use it when our band played. I was the only one there the day he showed me how to use the gear so I was the one that always ended up setting it up. I really enjoyed the tech part of it so I started working for my church doing the sound for many different services. My church in Florida was a large conference center and had a lot of bands and speakers come through, so I guess I cut my teeth there. It was a great experience and is what lead me to go to school for Audio and Film Production.

Me: It sounds like, then, that church and serving as part of a ministry have been a part of your life for awhile. How did you first get involved in ministry? And how do ministry and production work together?

Jayme: I grew up as a Preacher’s kid, so I have been around the ministry my entire life. Even though it was always a part of my life, it wasn’t until 1995 that I really started to understand and serve God with more then just my lips and fear of my dad’s disappointment. I began to understand that it was about a relationship with Jesus – not just a list of do’s and don’ts, or even how often I went to church.  When I started getting the relationship thing down, that’s when I began to be more involved in ministry. As I spent more time with God on my own, it birthed a new vision and passion in me: a vision to help the body of Christ in the things of the technical, and a passion to do it with excellence.

Being a sound engineer and a Christ-follower has given me the opportunity to serve in so many different arenas – from mega-churches to traveling the world with worship leaders from all walks of faith. It has really given me the ability to serve the Kingdom with my talents and make a difference in both a church and secular setting.

Me: I’m right there with you. Our God and His people deserve our very best. You’ve taken that idea to the next level. With the help of your partner and co-founder Tim Ranson, you’ve created a company called Winning in Worship. Tell me about that.

Jayme: Winning in Worship came out of a time in my life where God was speaking to me about the spiritual climate of the United States. He said to me, if just 25% of His people could corporately reach His throne every week, the spiritual climate shift would be staggering. And then He said this: The problem is in the Technical. That blew me away because that’s what I do. That’s my job and my talent. He then told me that every week the church as a whole is losing in worship because of the technical. I felt compelled to ask God how to win that battle in worship and the response was to train people – like me – that are behind the scenes to serve with passion and excellence.

It was shortly after that Tim and Jenifer Ranson came into my life (Tim owns Delta Stage and Lighting in Nashville, Tn.). It was obvious right away that we both shared the same vision to serve the body of Christ with passion and excellence, and Winning in Worship (WIW) was born. WiW is a technical training company started for the purpose of training the volunteers and staff that run the sound, lighting and video of churches and conferences. We also do full service installation of audio, video and lighting. There have been so many installation and training companies that have taken advantage of churches in the past that we wanted to offer excellence, integrity and quality with a cost efficient approach.

It has been such a blessing to serve the Church with our gifting and train others to do the same. We have seen first hand the difference that a well-trained engineer makes during a Sunday worship service, as well as for concerts and conferences. We developed a DVD series for both Audio and Lighting that could be considered similar to a 101 level course for any engineer. Whether you have never touched a sound console before or you have been mixing for ten years, the DVD series can benefit anyone.

Me: I’ve had the opportunity to watch a few of your short tutorials and they’re really great. I might have to pull your arm a little in the near future and get those posted here at New Media Ministry! Thanks for your time. I look forward to featuring your blogs about audio and your experience in production settings, but I think I’m more excited to continue to share your story and passion for serving God’s people.

Jayme: You got it. I’m excited to contribute and be a part of New Media Ministry in any way I can. Thanks for having me.

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Jayme Braun has been an audio engineer and production manager for several years, serving several highly publicized bands (Switchfoot, Israel & New Breed, Emerson Drive). He is co-owner of Vanguard Recording – a live recording company based out of Nashville and co-founder of “Winning In Worship” – a training company dedicated to bringing technical excellence to the Church. Jayme, his wife, and their beautiful new daughter reside in Brentwood, Tn. They attend the nearby Oasis Church where Jayme also serves on staff.

* NOTE: Jayme actually gave me some GREAT content on common mistakes/pitfalls he sees when working churches/venues. I’ll be posting that information early next week. *

For more information on Winning in Worship, please visit: www.WinningInWorship.com.

Jayme is also co-owner of Vanguard Recordings – a live recording company. Information about Vanguard Recording can be found at: www.vanguardrecording.com