What You’ll Learn:
- How Chris Tomlin treats his sound engineer as the “sixth member of the band”
- The exact communication strategies that prevent sound check disasters and build team unity
- Why your church’s “us vs. them” mentality between stage and booth is sabotaging worship
- Virtual soundcheck technology that lets your whole band hear what the congregation hears
- Specific gear recommendations for consistent sound (house drums, wireless systems, amp setups)
- How to establish a shared “bullseye” vision that unifies your entire worship team
- Pre-service preparation tactics that transform scrambling techs into worship partners
- The relational capital approach that solves technical problems before they become conflicts
- Console workflow systems that work whether you have volunteers or paid staff
- Why your boutique gear might be hurting your worship experience
The Partnership That Changes Everything
Picture this: Chris Tomlin is standing on stage in front of 15,000 people, leading “Worship Night in America,” and somewhere in the darkness behind the crowd sits a man who considers himself just as responsible for leading worship as the guy with the guitar and microphone. His name is Jeff Sandstrom, and he’s been Chris Tomlin’s front-of-house audio engineer for over eight years. But more importantly, he represents something most churches are missing entirely.
Most worship leaders see their sound tech as technical support—someone who pushes faders and fixes feedback when things go wrong. Jeff’s story reveals a completely different paradigm that could revolutionize how your church approaches worship ministry.
“Chris has done a great job making me feel like a sixth member of the band,” Jeff explains, and that single sentence should make every worship leader stop and think. When’s the last time your sound engineer felt like part of the worship team rather than just the person who makes it loud enough for everyone to hear?
Here’s what makes their partnership extraordinary: they share the same “bullseye” for every service. Before Chris even steps on stage, both men know exactly what constitutes a “win” for that worship experience. It’s not just about playing the right chords at the right time or avoiding technical disasters. They’re working together toward a specific spiritual outcome for the people in the room.
Jeff describes his role this way: “In the same way that the band is leading worship from guitars and keys and bass and drums on stage, my instrument is the sound board, and I take that responsibility very seriously – to lead worship from where I am in the room.” This isn’t just technical excellence; it’s pastoral care delivered through audio engineering.
But here’s where most churches miss the boat entirely. The vision for worship can’t just live in the worship leader’s head or even be shared only with the musicians on stage. Jeff challenges senior pastors and worship leaders to cast a broader vision that includes every person involved in the worship experience: “Let’s be bold and decide why are we doing these songs, why are we doing music in the first place, and let’s be strategic in the vision for that.”
The practical implications are game-changing. When everyone understands that they’re facilitating heart-level encounters with God rather than just putting on a good show, the entire dynamic shifts. Technical problems become team problem-solving sessions instead of blame games. Sound checks become collaborative preparation instead of necessary evils.
Jeff reveals specific strategies that transform the worship team culture. First, preparation is non-negotiable. The sound team needs to receive set lists, keys, special notes, and song recordings well in advance. When the band walks in for rehearsal, everything should be plugged in, line-checked, and ready to go. But here’s the crucial part: this preparation creates space for relationship building before the pressure hits.
“We can actually spend a few minutes in a conversation: ‘Hey, how are you doing? How’s your week? How’s your family?'” Jeff explains. “This is extremely important time before getting wrapped up in the rehearsal so that we can spend a few minutes to build some of that relational capital.” When technical problems arise—and they will—this relational foundation prevents the “us-vs-them” mentality that destroys team unity.
The technology recommendations Jeff shares could revolutionize smaller churches especially. Virtual soundcheck capability allows the entire band to come out into the sanctuary and hear exactly what the congregation hears. Suddenly, that keyboard player realizes his left hand is obliterating the bass guitar’s frequency space. The guitarist discovers he’s fighting with the piano’s right hand for sonic territory. These aren’t mixing problems; they’re arrangement problems that can only be solved when musicians understand what their contributions sound like in the room.
Wireless technology for guitars allows worship leaders to step off the stage and hear their mix from the congregation’s perspective. Chris Tomlin regularly uses this approach to collaborate with Jeff on achieving the sound they’re both working toward. It transforms mixing from a guessing game into a partnership.
Jeff’s equipment philosophy might surprise gear-obsessed worship leaders. Consistency trumps boutique every time. House drum kits that stay tuned and mic’d the same way. Standard amplifiers that work well in your specific room rather than someone’s favorite vintage piece. Color-coded, consistently labeled systems that volunteers can navigate. “You leave your ego at the door and come play our house stuff because that’s what works best for our room,” he explains.
The workflow systems Jeff describes solve the volunteer rotation challenge that plagues most churches. Establishing consistent layouts, leaving open channels for surprises, and creating standard templates that serve as starting points rather than rigid presets. The goal isn’t automation; it’s creating predictable systems that allow for creativity and adaptation.
Perhaps most importantly, Jeff addresses the human element that technology can’t solve. Building relationships outside the “heat of the moment.” Finding out what’s happening in your worship leader’s life so you can pray together. Raising the bar beyond just following cue sheets to experiencing genuine community as a team.
Bottom Line: The secret to Chris Tomlin’s powerful worship experiences isn’t just great songs or skilled musicians, it’s a partnership model where the sound engineer functions as a worship leader from behind the console, working toward a shared vision that transforms both the team dynamic and the congregation’s experience, proving that great worship happens when technical excellence serves spiritual purpose rather than existing as an end in itself.
Loading ...