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Audio-Visual Team Charter

MAYFLOWER CHURCH

Audio-Visual Team Charter

Streamline System 06 — Team Charters

DRAFT for consideration by the Servants Council at its meeting on July 11, 2026. Not yet ratified. Upon ratification this becomes a standing charter, reviewed at each August Leadership Summit and re-ratified on material change.

Governing Principle

When the technology is invisible, the Word is heard.

This team's success is measured by what the congregation never notices: clear sound, fitting images, and a faithful recording. It serves the gathering so that nothing technical stands between the people and the Word, in the room and over the air.

1. Oversight (the home)

Overseeing board: Elders (Bylaws Art. II §B 1.c.4, the audio-visual ministry named directly under the elders). Day-to-day point person: Senior Pastor. Every team has a home; this team works first with the elders.

2. Purpose

This team carries the technical operation of the Lord's Day Gathering so the worship service can be heard and well presented, both in the room and for those joining by recording and radio broadcast. It exists so the preaching of the Word and the congregation's worship reach every listener clearly, with images and sound that serve worship rather than distract from it.

3. Priority-ministry link

This team serves the Lord's Day Gathering (System 01). It is the technical hands that let the gathered church hear the Word and join in worship, in person and beyond the room.

4. The Commission

The elders commission this team to run the technical operation of every Lord's Day Gathering and appointed special services, so that the service can be heard, seen, and recorded faithfully. The work has a steady weekly scale. Before each service the team conducts sound, camera, and slide checks and confirms all needed equipment is in place and working. During the service it operates and adjusts sound, camera, and slides for the fullest worship participation of the congregation, and records the service for radio broadcast. The team keeps the equipment maintained and the work areas orderly, responds to Planning Center requests in good time, and arranges substitutes when members cannot serve. The standard is faithful and unobtrusive: the technology serves the Word and disappears from notice.

5. In scope / Out of scope

In scope:

  • Pre-service sound, camera, and slide checks, and confirming all equipment is in place and working before the service.
  • In-service operation and adjustment of sound, camera, and slides for full congregational worship participation.
  • Recording the worship service for radio broadcast, and post-service shutdown and cleanup.
  • Keeping work areas clean and uncluttered; labeling or discarding broken equipment.
  • Participating in quarterly assessments of the worship service video and in-person worship quality.
  • Responding to Planning Center requests in a timely manner and arranging substitutes when unable to serve.
  • Recruiting, training, and scheduling AV volunteers; maintaining and troubleshooting equipment.

Out of scope:

  • Worship music selection and leadership. That is the Worship Team's charge (see Coordination); this team operates the equipment to serve the music chosen and led there.
  • Setting the order of service and the pastoral content of the gathering. The Senior Pastor and elders hold that.
  • Building repairs and facilities work beyond AV equipment. Those are coordinated to the Trustees.

6. Scale

Shape: a permanent core of trained operators scheduled across the Lord's Days, expanding to cover special services such as Advent, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Reformation Sunday. Commitment categories are drawn from the Volunteer Chapter (System 06). The team trains and schedules operators rather than relying on one or two. Leadership is one appointed Audio-Visual Team Leader (System 07).

7. Key responsibilities

  • Conduct pre-service sound, camera, and slide checks and confirm equipment readiness.
  • Operate and adjust sound, camera, and slides through the service for full congregational participation.
  • Record the service for radio broadcast and perform post-service shutdown and cleanup.
  • Keep the AV areas clean and orderly; label or remove broken equipment.
  • Take part in the quarterly worship-quality assessments.
  • Respond to Planning Center requests promptly and arrange substitutes when needed.
  • Recruit, train, and schedule AV volunteers; maintain and troubleshoot equipment.
  • Escalate equipment needs to the Elders and facilities concerns to the Trustees when they cannot be resolved by team members.

8. Coordination

  • Worship Team (Elders): clean boundary. The Worship Team selects and leads the music and states its technical needs; this team operates the sound, projection, and recording to serve it. The technical operation belongs here; the music belongs to Worship.
  • Senior Pastor and elders: receives the order of service and pastoral content the gathering requires; escalates equipment needs to the elders.
  • Trustees: facilities concerns that AV members cannot resolve are escalated to the Trustees.

9. Resources

Budget line: general audio-visual expenses are administered by the Elder Chair (Purchasing Policy), consistent with this team's elder oversight. Note a known oddity to keep on the record: the church's "Audio/Visual fund" is administered by the Deacon Chair, while the team itself is overseen by the Elders. The team is elder-overseen; the named fund sits under the Deacon Chair. [Confirm with Anton whether the fund administration should be realigned to the Elder Chair to match oversight, or left as is and simply documented.] Facilities needs are coordinated with the Trustees. Scheduling and volunteer requests run through Planning Center.

10. Health indicators

Faithfulness-shaped signs the team is alive, not a measure of gear or production gloss. The year's specific targets live in the System 11 annual goals, set with the elders each August.

  • The Word and the worship are heard clearly, in the room and on the broadcast, week after week.
  • The technology serves quietly; the congregation is not pulled out of worship by technical trouble.
  • The recording for radio broadcast goes out reliably each week.
  • A trained roster covers the Lord's Day without leaning on one or two operators.
  • Planning Center requests are answered promptly and substitutes are arranged when needed.
  • Equipment is maintained and orderly, and needs are escalated to the right board in good time.

11. Review and approval

Standing charter, reviewed annually at the August Leadership Summit. Re-ratified by the Servants Council on material change. Escalation beyond the team's or elders' authority follows the Decision-Making Framework (System 09). Leadership succession follows the Leadership Handoff Guidelines (System 12).

Commissioned by: Elder Chair ____________________________ Date __________

Ratified into the operations documentation by: Servants Council ____________________________ Date __________

Sources

  • Mayflower Church Constitution and Bylaws, Art. II §B 1.c.4 (audio-visual ministry under the elders); Art. II §B 4.c.7 (Servants Council receives and approves Ministry Team charters).
  • Streamline System 01 — The Five Priority Ministries We Guard (The Lord's Day Gathering).
  • Streamline System 06 — Team-to-Board Oversight Map; Volunteer Chapter.
  • Streamline System 07 — Role Clarity, "19 — Audio-Visual Team Leader."
  • Streamline System 09 — Decision-Making Framework; System 11 — Annual Goals; System 12 — Leadership Handoff Guidelines.
  • Purchasing Policy (general A/V under Elder Chair; "Audio/Visual fund" administered by the Deacon Chair).
  • Prior AV Team Charter draft (substance inherited); Worship Team Charter (sibling form for parallelism); Team Charter Standard, this folder.
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