Mike Schwiebert

My passion is to see the church live up to her scriptural commission. I believe that technology plays a key role in accomplishing that objective.  How we live and communicate the Gospel, and the tools we use to do it, has become the passionate pursuit of my life.

Husband to the beautiful and magnanimous Rose.
Dad to the talented and gorgeous Ashley.

You can follow me on twitter here to be notified of new posts and random thoughts about church and ministry.

Background

I have been working in church video since 1991. My first church out of Bible College (in Savannah, GA) started a TV Ministry through a local TV station. Eventually we purchased our own gear and brought the recordings in-house and utilized our Sunday services.
Back then, if memory serves, we were shooting with JVC KY 27U cameras, switching on a simple Echolab component switcher (with a Sony DFS 500 for FX) and recording on Beta SP. All editing was done with a Sony BVE 2000. Yep, tape to tape. I was a one man band-—producer, director, editor, tape traffic, order filler—you name it. I also oversaw the middle school youth ministry, and assisted the pastor in men’s ministry, Bible classes, and a myriad of other things.

I owe a huge debt to my video mentor, Tom Schmidt, who saw my potential and provided the philosophy that has shaped my approach to directing.

In 1999, I began working as an editor at an International TV ministry in TX, still going tape to tape on a Sony BVE-2000. Eventually, I began editing in our master control room on our Phillips DD35 3 ME switcher, Aviom Axial editor, Abekas DVEOUS 4 channel DVE, on Digi-beta (pre-record was a God-send, amirite?). We used Sony cameras and eventually upgraded to Ikegami HD cameras around 2004 (I think).

In 2005, I began managing the 14 member production team. I loved directing on that Phillips DD35. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to edit with it first.  We used 6 cameras: including 2 handhelds, a pedestal, and a jib. We produced over 15 unique video and radio masters a week and well over 200 promo spots a year. I have fond memories of directing live shows for major Christian networks, remote shoots in Israel, and some crusades.
We also transitioned to non-linear editing, establishing 4 Final Cut Pro edit bays in addition to our Control Room. We started with X Raids in each bay but eventually added a fiber connected SAN. (I believe it was around 50 terabytes when I left in 2007.) Hard work for sure, but a lot of fun!

I owe another debt of gratitude to that fantastic team, especially Judy and Brad. After sowing so much into me, they allowed me to lead the team and them. There’s too many people to thank, I better stop there. The team dynamic we all created together was incredibly special.

In 2007, I took a position as a media/technical director at my current church in North Carolina. We have grown from 7 volunteers to over 70, improved infrastructure in each venue, added a new video system and launched two satellite campuses. I now have the opportunity to serve as the Creative Arts Director uniting the Worship Arts team, Technical Arts, and Communications in creating and facilitating great experiences in all our services.

I can think of no greater environment to work in than with a gifted team, each superb at their given task, working together to creatively communicate the Gospel. The fondest memories of my working career are in a high pressure environment, tackling problems and creatively working together.