The documentary recounts the life journey of Sameed Osman, a once-devout Muslim focused on converting America to Islam. The film walks through his fight to disprove Jesus, but through a series of dreams and dangerous encounters, he is forced to answer the question: Who is Jesus?

Northwoods’ Lead Storyteller and Digital Content Pastor Jake Sutton, is the filmmaker, and he sits down with Joseph Cottle for this episode of the Church Production Podcast. Sutton says after hearing about Osman’s story, he knew it was special and deserved time and attention. 

“I just felt like we've never really been given the time to take people to visual places where these people were, versus ‘Hey, we're going to have this talking head video,’ which I'm so just over that,” he explains. 

And it took time. It was finally ready almost six months after the originally planned Easter debut. Sutton’s teaching pastor knew it was well worth the wait and needed to be viewed by the whole church in its entirety. So he made the film that weekend’s message. 

“He's like, ‘Dude, that story is so powerful.’ And then so we watched it for 26 minutes and then he led like 120 some people to Christ. We keep hearing atheists coming to Christ this next week. This guy, who was a Christian converted to Isla,m is now meeting with Samid because he's like, ‘I didn't know there were this many lies, Sam, let's talk about it.’ So, we just keep hearing stories of people coming to Christ through it.” 

In this podcast, Sutton shares his backstory of how he got started making movies as a child and bounced around in other ministry jobs until his filmmaking talent was unleashed. He also talks about emotional life detours that could have changed his trajectory if it weren’t for the guiding love and grace from his church family. 

Scott dives deep into the spiritual side of lighting design, describing how prayer and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit have shaped his creative decisions just as much as gear choices and stage design theory. He also offers hands-on advice for churches working with limited budgets—sharing practical lighting strategies, like using LED tape creatively or layering fixtures for depth.

The conversation explores the often-overlooked relationship between lighting and video quality, the tension between honoring leadership and following divine direction, and how artistic disciplines in the church can—and should—adapt with the seasons.

If you’re a church tech, worship leader, or creative looking for inspiration, technical tips, and a fresh perspective on what it means to serve with both excellence and obedience, this episode is a must-listen. It’s equal parts practical and personal, and Scott’s humility and humor shine through.

Cooke has just returned from Athens, Greece where he was speaking to around 500 pastors and business leaders from 52 countries. He was invited to talk about his book, Church on Trial, and how to protect your congregation, mission and reputation during a crisis. 

“I had people coming up to me for hours just saying, ‘Wow, my pastor opened up for the first time about this crisis situation in our church,’” Cooke says. “And it's not just sexual stuff, it's embezzlement, it's financial, it could be legal issues. The city encroaching and some of the countries these pastors came from, the government is trying to pressure the church into shutting down their message. And so it's a lot of issues. It's very complex. So, I was thrilled. It was a great opportunity.” 

Cooke says you never know when you're going to find yourself in between a team and a bad situation and how you communicate to your team in that time is super important because you might be the one person they trust, the person that keeps them in their church community. 

“27% of the people that leave the church leave because of a crisis at their church or how poorly the church handled it. Now, that's not 27% of people going to another church. That's 27% of people that are walking away from God completely. So, it's how we handle ourselves during a crisis is absolutely important for a leader, whether you're a media leader, a communications director at your church, whatever you do, it's really important that you know how to step up and communicate clearly during something like that.”

To hear more about Phil Cooke’s book, Church on Trial, and learn all about his production background and how he broke into film and television - both Christian and secular, listen to this podcast! 

“Something that people need to realize, and I talk about this in the conferences and the workshops and things that I do regarding AV over IP technologies, and I recently talked about this at the SALT conference and some people looked at me differently when I said this, is that I believe every church technical leader needs to know about it, but it's not for every single location or every single church,” Chapman explains. “And the reason that I say that is that there are some specific things about the intersection of an AVL and the IP or internet protocol or things over ethernet or fiber that you have to understand if you're going to get into it. And so, one is to just let people know that there's still always going to be copper around and you're going to be able to have that some way somehow. But if you are looking at things and problems and needing some solutions that an IP-type protocol can help, it's important to really know the basics of network structure and how to be able to set up that network before you even put any kind of AVL on it.” 

So where do you start? Something that surprised Chapman when talking to friends who are integrators and dealers working on large installs like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they suggest that anyone new to AV over IP start with Dante and get level one certified right away - since so much gear is being made now at all price points is Dante enabled. 

They've got right now I think three different levels of certification that you can go through and it is meant to be something that builds one on top of the other and it's an easily accessible certification,” Chapman explains. “It teaches you some basics of IP protocol with AVL stuff about the importance of having a proper network set up. And then it begins to get further in on how to set up complex networks, VLANs and sub LANs and different things like that. But really everybody can go and get that level one.” 

While the integrators he knows are now requiring all their new hires to have the Dante level one certification, ironically, Chapman has yet to get his own certificate because he hasn’t needed it…yet. 

“No, we don't use video with Dante here at Cottonwood Creek. We use Dante audio and then we use the lighting control over IP,” he says. “And then we are using ST2110 natively here and ST2110 is basically the uncompressed video standard that the SMPTE organization said this is going to be the IP protocol for video where bandwidth and network management is not going to be something we're concerned with. We're going to be more concerned with quality and how good does the video look. How does it sound when all the audio and video are combined into that? And so that's where we are in ST2110 for video and we have switchers and things that all use ST2110 and we still do some native SDI stuff that we're capturing and putting into our video server, and that's just because we couldn't afford going ST2110 all in the first round.” 

Chapman says the great thing about having a switcher or router that will do ST2110 is it’s like going back to old school in professional video, where you had huge rack-mounted devices and cards to fit in with eight channels of coaxial video to get it into a digital video switcher and then it comes back out analog coaxial on an output card.

“And so now instead of those cards being analog or SDI and converting it to a different protocol and be able to come out, now it's coming in ST2110 natively and then it allows you to be able to have the networking features of the IP protocol and be able to manage video that way without it being in this very simple SDI box video over IP and especially ST2110 has literally put a stick of dynamite on my nice little perfect little SDI box and blown it to bits.” 

Chapman says while he’s having to re-learn some forgotten skills, he says it’s exciting because churches and ministries of all different sizes can now have so many price-point options to choose from and that’s something the church market hasn’t had before. 

Recently, Radiant Church in Kansas City, Kansas switched from a mobile setup. They were a church plant that was meeting in a rented space every week until the recent move. David Jeong, the AVL Lead at Radiant Church grew up a preacher’s kid in South Korea and says he had no plan to work in ministry, “I said, ‘Dad, I'll do anything in my life except for being a pastor or being in full-time ministry, stuff like that.’ And the Lord said, ‘Jokes on you!’” 

Jeong’s family moved to the United States in 2015 and he went to a small Christian school where he joined the worship tech team to try and make friends and because the technology looked fun. There he developed a passion to learn about AVL and from that point he got involved at his church. 

Now he’s the AVL Lead at Radiant and just last year they went through the process of developing out a new and permanent facility. “It's in the greater Kansas City area. It's a pretty busy street. It was a sports recreation center beforehand,” and he says it still is. “They're actually right behind our main auditorium. So sometimes I see volleyball in our main auditorium underneath chairs and what not.” 

After they bought the building and did minimal renovations, Jeong says they decided to use their portable AV systems to worship in the new building while they renovated. It was a smart move because they didn’t have to pay rent at the old location while they renovated the new facility. Jeong’s first piece of advice? “I would actually suggest utilizing professionals,” he explains. “Whether it be system design and especially, especially, especially if you're rigging anything above people's heads. Do not ever do it by yourself. It's dangerous. It could fall. It's a liability.”

Listen to this podcast to hear Joseph Cottle talk with Jeong at length about the entire process and the pros and cons of how they did it. 

The livestream audio at LifeMission Church in Olathe, Kansas is getting so good that people are taking notice. Caden Van Dorn is a production tech at Life Mission. He’s an audio specialist who is being asked to help other churches around Kansas City figure out their live stream audio issues for a small fee. In this podcast Life Mission AVL Director Joseph Cottle and Van Dorn sit down to explain what they’re doing for the live stream that makes their audio so enviable. 

Cottle and Van Dorn are good friends and have been working together for about two years now. 

They explain that their live stream audio wasn’t always so good and it’s been a process bringing the quality to where it is now. And while they switched audio desks last summer, Van Dorn says that’s not the reason. “No, I don't think the console has made that big of a difference because I'm not really doing much on-board processing. All of the processing on the live stream is being done outboard through 
 Waves,” he explains. 

Cottle says, “What I really love about our mix for the live stream is it sounds very live. Sometimes mixes can sound so dry and that's what makes them pretty meh and is a dead giveaway that it's a set and forget mix is just not good. So how are you using the little bit of processing after what Russell's doing? How are you using that to create that live feel?” 

Russell is the church’s contract sound engineer and Van Dorn says that live feel has several aspects to it.  “Okay, so what this actually comes down to that live feel, the difference between a studio album, let's just take this to an album away from livestream or to a post produced album,” he explains. “You can tell when something is live because not everything is perfect. Well, depending on what you listen to, not everything is perfectly tight all the time and there's that natural organic feel to everything. But also you can hear the room and that translates very well to giving the feel of this is live when you're listening to something on Spotify.”

As far as mics go, they have relatively inexpensive mics like Behringer condenser mics on mic stands on either side of the stage front and one next to the drum cage as well as shotgun mics hung near the PA but pointed at the crowd. Funny story. Cottle says those mics just appeared out of nowhere. “We were up moving light fixtures earlier this year and we look up, we're on this big extended boom. And then we're like, holy crap, somebody put shotgun mics up here. We had no idea. These have just been here the whole time for years...they’ve just been chilling.” 

Van Dorn says they were an important piece of the puzzle. “And those, since they're so close to the PA, they contribute. They bring a very mids-forward sound. And so those mics contribute a lot of weight to the feel of the live stream, he explains. “Those [the other] mics contribute a very bright sound and so when you marry that bright sound that can really deliver a lot of that live feel with the weight that you get from the mids-forward, shotgun mics that are next to the PA - It really helps glue the entire thing together.”

Van Dorn goes on to explain what he calls the Four Pillars of a Successful Stream Mix: 

1.)   Proper Gain Staging

“You need some way to make sure one that you can keep your audio from distorting, but also important, make sure that your limiters, what's being limited on your limiter translates to what's happening on your live stream mix.” 

2.) Having an Accurate Room 

“Having a room that reflects what the livestream mix is going to be hearing. So, every church that has a soundboard has speakers that are of varying levels of quality. And so, they will either more accurately or less accurately represent the sound that is coming through that system.” 

3.)   Hire a Good Engineer (if you have to) 

“For smaller churches, you might think, ‘Hey, well I can't really swing a contract engineer.’ That's a very valid concern,” Cottle says. “I would come back at that though and say that if you have somebody who's attending your church that is a competent audio engineer and maybe they're volunteering once a month. You'd be surprised at how many people would show up every week if you offer them a hundred, 250 bucks a week to show up.”

Van Dorn says the goal is consistency. “If you train your audio engineers up to offer something consistent that feels the same every time, that makes it worlds easier to set and forget a live stream mix because you know what to expect. If you have the same level and consistency of product being offered, it's so much easier to make these global decisions about your livestream mix and what's coming into it and feel confident that it will be well represented because your engineer knows how to do the same thing every week.”

4.)   Monitor Your LUFS

“This is how all major streaming platforms determine, this is how they gauge their audio. So, every streaming platform shoots for a target loudness called LUFS. Yes, this is a measurement,” Van Dorn explains. “In Waves, there is this other plugin called WLM meter, and it allows you to basically set it and then run it for a few minutes. Over the course of time, it will take the average level of the signal coming in and it will tell you what the LUFS value is. Keeping that high average is very important to having a consistent listening experience so that the big parts sound just as loud as the quiet moments ideally.” 

Van Dorn and Cottle’s’ podcast conversation lasts 45 minutes and is full of very specific details on all of these ideas for getting and keeping live stream audio high quality and consistent. 

Allen and the film's director, Caleb Clark, brought their own personal experiences to the story, creating characters who reflect the pain and resilience involved in mental health battles. From the pastor grappling with guilt and loss to the character Eli, who struggles with thoughts of despair, each narrative explores complex human emotions often left unspoken in church settings. The city of New York, featured prominently in the film, adds an authentic texture to the storytelling, making Unseen a relatable and impactful piece for audiences worldwide.

Throughout the episode, we delve into Amanda’s passion for creative storytelling, diversity in film, and the power of video in connecting communities. We discuss the importance of elevating independent voices in film and why even a simple video can resonate just as strongly as high-budget productions. Plus, Amanda and Joseph explore ideas on how churches can use video to bridge different campuses and foster deeper connections in divided cultural spaces.

Whether you're a filmmaker, video enthusiast, or someone curious about how video can transform communities, this episode provides rich insights into how video production can drive meaningful stories and connections. Don't miss Amanda's compelling thoughts on church filmmaking, community-based storytelling, and the future of media.

Tune in to hear more about how film and television can bring people together—and why Amanda thinks everyone should go further with their creative ideas, no matter the budget.

The conversation kicks off with Jody sharing how his career and faith intersect, leading him to volunteer his talents for churches over the years. Whether working with large churches that have established television ministries or smaller congregations just starting out, Jody sees it as part of his spiritual responsibility to give back through his production skills. He highlights the importance of finding your strengths, recognizing your God-given talents, and using them to serve your church community effectively.

Jody and Joseph dive into practical advice for churches looking to begin or enhance their media presence, particularly in the realm of live streaming and video production. Jody emphasizes that while technology today is incredibly affordable—far more so than in the early days of church broadcasting—having the right person in charge is critical. He explains that churches need a media leader with at least a basic understanding of production, rather than relying on untrained volunteers. Without this key leadership, even the best equipment will not yield the desired results.

From discussing entry-level gear like PTZ cameras and Blackmagic Design products to offering guidance on cost-effective editing tools like DaVinci Resolve, Jody outlines a pathway for churches to create professional-level content without breaking the bank. He stresses that, even though budgets may be small, the quality of church media should meet a "minimum threshold of quality" to engage audiences who are used to polished productions on platforms like Netflix and YouTube. Poorly produced content, he argues, can detract from the message and turn potential viewers away.

Jody also addresses the importance of intentional post-production work. Whether it's testimony videos or promotional material, proper lighting, sound, and editing can make a world of difference in how effectively a church communicates its message. He encourages churches to seek out individuals who have an understanding of these elements and not settle for subpar efforts simply because it's “for the church.”

Through this engaging discussion, Jody Eldred offers valuable insights that any church production leader—whether working with a small or large budget—can use to improve their media presence. The episode serves as a resourceful guide for those looking to navigate the challenges of church media in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Discover how Grace Church has adapted their services for both in-person and online attendees, leveraging technology and creative strategies to enhance their worship programming. Ben also discusses the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed their team to refine their approach to online services, transforming them into highly polished, TV-quality experiences.

In this episode, we sit down with Ben AbuSaada, the Director of Worship Arts at Grace Church in Overland Park, Kansas. Ben shares an inside look at how Grace Church blends live and pre-recorded elements to create a dynamic worship experience across their three campuses. From the technical aspects of production to the challenges of engaging a live audience with video teaching, Ben offers valuable insights into the evolving landscape of church worship.

Listen now to gain valuable insights from Ben AbuSaada on creating a cohesive worship experience that resonates both in-person and online.

Join us as James discusses the challenges and benefits of being the "middle man" in a large, multi-site church environment. He explains how his role helps to streamline communication, manage expectations, and reduce conflict between different departments. Discover his insights on leading both up and down the chain of command, and learn how effective middle management can enhance coordination and execution in a complex organizational structure.

Whether you’re involved in church operations or simply interested in effective leadership strategies, this episode offers valuable perspectives on maintaining balance and fostering collaboration within any organization.

Tune in to hear how James Harding’s innovative approach is making a difference at First Baptist Rogers and how you can apply similar strategies in your own context.

Discover why large, soft light sources are key to enhancing facial features and creating depth on screen. Isaac shares insights on backlighting strategies and the importance of shaping light to add dimension to your shots. Learn how to avoid common pitfalls and master the art of lighting for maximum impact in post-production.

Whether you're just starting or looking to level up your church production lighting game, this episode offers valuable advice and practical wisdom from a seasoned industry expert. Tune in to unlock the secrets of lighting for post-production success!

Learn more in this interview with two church filmmakers who discuss the changes the pandemic has brought to church video production. Presented by NanLite

Join us for a discussion between Don Poythress, Dr. Michael Santucci, founder of ASI Audio and sister company, Sensaphonics, and Brian Blackmore, editor of Church Production Magazine. 

Before taking the position at Blue Ridge, Josh worked for East West wedding filmmakers https://www.eastwestproduction.com/weddings/, a company named best wedding filmmaker in the world by Harper’s Bazaar and worked in commercial filmmaking for many years shooting for magazines like Vogue and Rock and Ice. But he says God was preparing his heart for ministry work long before Blue Ridge called him. In his Talking Tech interview Josh tells us that story, shares his current film projects and talks about how his commercial work was good preparation for ministry filmmaking. 

By Loren Alldrin

Though speaker history reveals a few excursions (pardon the pun) into bass drivers larger than 20 inches in diameter, the 18-inch subwoofer has been the "big dog" of sound reinforcement for decades. Wrapped in enclosures of all shapes and sizes, the 18-inch driver has proven itself to have the right balance of size, extended low-frequency response and cost. Single 18" subwoofers, like QSC's new active KS118, are a staple of compact and mobile sound systems everywhere.

The KS118 has a single direct-radiating, 18-inch woofer that uses electronic filtering to discard unwanted mid and high frequencies. This is in contrast to the smaller KS112 and KS212 subwoofers, which use a serpentine bandpass enclosure to acoustically roll off high frequencies. The end result is the same--lots of acoustic energy across a tightly controlled frequency range. For the KS118, that frequency range is about 35 Hz-110 Hz (-10 dB).

Same, yet different

The subwoofer is similar in size and shape to its predecessor the KW118, although the new cabinet's orientation is rotated by 90 degrees. The KW118 had 2,000 watts peak output; the KS118 bumps this to 3,600 watts. That translates to a peak SPL rating of 136 dB for the KS118. That's an impressive amount of bass, and I doubt many Sunday morning services will need more output than one or two of these boxes will generate. Come nightfall, a pair of these subs should cover the bottom end for full-blown concerts in venues up to several hundred seats.

We've come a long way from the days when a subwoofer was little more than a big driver in a big box. The KS118's onboard processors and amp section replace a bunch of outboard gear, all controlled by a panel safely nestled between casters and skid strips. The interface consists of a large selector knob, a few buttons, and a nice bright display. Menu options allow you to select from three different crossover points, engage Digital Extension and Excursion Processing (DEEP) mode, control delay and configure the cardioid processing. You can even save and recall presets. I never needed the subwoofer's manual, because the menu system is intuitive and easy to navigate.

The KS118's DEEP mode extends its low frequency response (with filtering, not synthesis) at the expense of a few dB of maximum SPL. Because few church venues will need to run the subs anywhere near their maximum SPL, I think this is a trade-off most will be willing to make. I engaged DEEP mode and never turned it back off. It makes the subwoofer's low frequency response even better, and doesn't compromise its tight, controlled sound.

I was eager to try the KS118's cardioid mode, which works with two subs pointing in opposite directions. When enabled at the control panel, bass output to the rear of the pair is decreased by as much as 15 dB, depending on configuration. This keeps bass energy from being wasted behind the stage outdoors, and should help reduce low-frequency clutter indoors. In real world testing, my results were mixed. I was able to hear a definite reduction in bass behind the cabinets in outdoor settings. Indoors, with bass filling the room, it was harder to discern a significant improvement in clarity or accuracy. Users should try cardioid mode in their venue--they can always fall back to the normal omnidirectional mode.

Close-up on the cabinet

The KS118 has large rubber feet on two sides, allowing it to be laid flat or stood upright. Both of these orientations put the casters, control panel and inputs on the back side. The cabinet has indentations opposite the feet for secure stacking of multiple cabinets. Despite its size and the sturdiness of its cabinet, the KS118 is surprisingly light and easy to maneuver. More than once, I found myself lifting the whole speaker up by one handle when trying to fine-tune its position. The casters are of high quality, making it an easy (and smooth) operation for one person to roll the speaker around.

From an ergonomics standpoint, I only struggled with the placement of the two recessed handles. When tipping the speaker on and off its casters, I often found myself reaching for a handle on the side where one wasn't. I can picture a group of designers arguing about which sides to put the handles on, and in my opinion they got it wrong. Granted, I was often wrangling the subwoofers by myself. Perhaps the handle placement would make more sense when being moved about by two people.

Pumping over 3,000 watts of power into a single driver definitely gives it a workout, and QSC was wise to give the KS118 thermal and excursion protection. QSC believes the KS118 can handle the current, and they stand behind the sub with a six-year warranty. The reliability of a subwoofer really hinges on the quality of the actual driver. QSC cut no corners in this area, loading the KS118 with an Italian-made B&C driver. Bravo, QSC.

Compared to a full range speaker, a subwoofer's job is pretty straightforward. It has to reproduce an octave or two competently, building a foundation on which the rest of the music sits. Within the bounds of this simple job description, the KS118 sounds fantastic. At lower volumes, the KS118 adds the fullness and warmth you expect from a well-behaved church subwoofer. At higher volumes, the KS118 puts on its club/concert attire and brings the excitement. It submerges you in that powerful, encompassing bass you experience viscerally. Great fun.

 --BIO--
 Loren Alldrin is a regular contributor to Church Production Magazine.