What are three major currencies in a modern society?
Money, time, and energy.
When you pitch a new Christmas production, you’ll come across each of these as objections in some form. Heck, you’ll probably have all these objections within yourself!
We’re going to talk about money today. After all, we all know programs and special services can get expensive. Printing costs, set pieces, costumes, makeup, new tech components – all of this can really add up, especially if it’s a new script each year.
When I first wanted to produce a Christmas program, I was a bit stumped with this. I wanted to do more than just have a mini version of a church service – some congregational singing, a special song or too, and a message. I had a script more or less ready, but how could I produce it without it costing an arm and a leg, and also avoid having bathrobed shepherds?
What we spent money on:
Music: the primary cost each was licensing enough copies of the music we ordered. Be sure to follow copyright law & usage requirements!
Tech Supplies: The first year we did have to buy more mics. I needed to have eight speakers up front at once – our church doesn’t have a worship band so this was a new thing. I could have made it work with fewer, but thankfully the purchase fit into the church’s A/V budget for that year. This was a one-time cost, and we’ve been using these mics for three years and counting.
Script Binders: Our church uses smaller folders for choir music, and I used those the first year. For Year 2 I purchased a set of twelve black 3-ring binders on Amazon. These housed scripts, director’s notes, pianists’ music, A/V notes, etc. and were a lot more spacious and practical. (This also saved me a ton of time formatting the script to fit the smaller folders) I keep them in a plastic bin in my garage so we can maximize the set by using them year after year.
How we kept the budget down:
- No costumes. Participants wore dressy church clothes in black, gray, and dark Christmas colors, with dashes of gold and silver. I’ve considered implementing specific costumes in the future – like to have a costumed actor for a specific monologue.
- Speaking of participants, none of ours were paid. Our pianists, singers, speakers, A/V techs, and setup people all volunteered their time to participate. *Side note: the more organized you are, and the better your script is, the easier time you will have with buy-in from your participants.
- No sets. Setup was our regular Christmas decor – 5-7 trees across the stage, and a backlit cross. We dimmed the lights and projected backdrops onto the screens. (This is something else I’ll likely amplify in future years. I’m working on a Good Friday program for 2020, and am designing a display to use as a set piece.)
- Free specialty backdrops. Each year I picked specific fonts and a custom graphic (courtesy of our church’s phenomenal administrative assistant). The unique font & color combinations kept the look different than our regular services.
- Using the tech capabilities and supplies the church already owned. This meant I had to plan the sound setup to work with our limitations – like having only three monitors and two monitor channels – or get larger expenses approved ahead of time, like when we ordered a new set of mics. Again, the more organized and prepared you are, the easier it will be to justify these expenses.
- Some costs were accounted as other aspects of church expenses. We printed all the scripts and music at church, so those specific expenses were absorbed into the general office printing expenses.
- Maximizing on what really matters. Keeping costs down isn’t so much about “what won’t we do” or “what can’t we have” but it’s “what really truly matters” and keeping those priorities straight. For me as a director, what really matters is
eternal truth presented through meaningful words and beautiful music.
If you have to purchase everything- scripts, music, sets, costumes – your production can get really expensive. And if that’s in the budget, go for it! But if you’re in the same situation I was, and need to create beauty through minimalism, you can make up the ‘budget’ by bringing together a great team and giving them time to create magic. The real cost is then that of time, creative energy, and the heart that pumps the life into this program
And let me tell you, there is an incredible reward that will be yours when you see the program that’s been pumping through your heart for months comes to life.
When we’re creative to the praise of God, we are acting out a special part of our role as His image-bearers.