What’s your name?
Nate Williams
Where do you serve, what is your title, and how long have you served there?
I am the Creative Director at Bay Shore Community Church, a multicampus nondenominational church in Delaware. I have been working at the church for 6 months, 3 and a half of those months have been in quarantine.
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t go to church?
I am in charge of the videos that we create as a church as well as work with our communications director (my beautiful wife) to give the church a cohesive and ascetically pleasing online presence. We guide the colors, fonts, pictures, and video content that is released from our church and use platforms like Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and our website to inform/encourage and inspire our congregation.
What were some of the things that you experienced that shaped the way you approach your work?
I’ve had the opportunity to work in a few different careers creatively and all of those experiences have helped me form a unique approach to my work. For example, I’ve worked for a non-profit public access television station and learned how to make videos look professional using just the equipment I had.
My time working as a wedding videographer taught me the importance of storytelling and I bring those elements into the videos I create for the church. I feel like every job I have worked has given me a unique perspective that may speak specifically to a potential viewer.
What’s the one thing you wish people knew about your job?
When I tell people that I work at a church they usually think that it is only a one-day-of-the-week type of job, when it truly isn’t. There is a lot of time and effort that goes into making the service as concise and as informative as possible. It might take a few hours to record and edit a two-minute video, just to make sure what was said was accurate and engaging.
More so than anything, I would like people to know that a lot of care and prayer goes into every aspect of what they are experiencing each Sunday.
What is the one tool for your job that you can’t live without, and why?
I couldn’t live without my computer, because I do literally all of my work from this machine. This MacBook is portable, reliable (for the most part), and the key to being able to be productive at home.
I do not have to lock myself in an office to get things done. I can sit on the couch while watching New Girl in the background and knock out that to-do list at the same time.
What is the biggest mistake that you see churches making when it comes to communications and marketing?
I feel like a lot of churches see folks like Elevation, Red Rocks, Bethel, and Hillsong that make amazing content and feel like they have to do the same type of communication and marketing. I do not believe that’s necessary at all.
These churches are creating their content and marketing in such a way to reach their target audience. We have to create content and marketing that reaches our people. Our church is in a rural area so our pastor will tell stories of fishing or a funny thing that only locals would understand, communicating in a way that he knows will reach our audience.
Who is someone that you look up to in the church communications world?
I look up to Chad Vegas, he is the Video Director at Bethel. Clearly the work that he does video-wise is amazing, but I remember listening to a multi-view video of him (I’m a nerd when it comes to that stuff), and his team live switching for a worship set and he started crying while directing the camera operators. I started tearing up myself because I realize at that moment that for him, video production was the way he worshiped the Lord. I will never forget that.
I want to be a leader that can lead but also allow God to speak to me while I’m serving.
Nate, your statements make so much sense and are so relatable to church communicators who are also creatives. Your insights as an experienced creative for the church brings to light the important things to consider in producing graphics & videos. We hope you continue to serve the Lord with all your creative guts!
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