Setup

Run sheets, checklists and the booth itself

By Mambo Mutinda · Founder & CEO, TajiCast

26 August 2026 · Updated 8 September 2026

Most service problems are not technical failures. They are somebody not knowing what happens next. A run sheet, two checklists and a diagram fix more Sundays than any equipment purchase.

The run sheet

A run sheet is a list of what happens, in order, with what the media team must do at each point.

It is about transitions, not content. The team does not need the sermon outline or the lyrics. They need to know that after the second song there is a reading from the floor, which needs a microphone and a passage on screen.

A workable format is one row per item:

Keep it to one page. A run sheet that spills onto a second page is not read during a service.

Flag what is different from a normal week in a way the eye catches. The unusual item is where things go wrong, and it should not have to be found among the ordinary ones.

Start-up and shut-down checklists

Two lists, laminated, in the booth. They are for the person who is not you.

Start-up:

• Power on in order — desk, amplifiers last, so nothing thumps through the speakers.
• Recall the saved sound scene.
• Extend the display; check native resolution.
• Open the presentation software; check the output is on the right screen.
• Load songs and any planned readings.
• Put a real verse up; check it from the back row.
• Start the stream in preview; check audio and the scripture graphic.

Shut-down:

• Stop and end the stream properly, so the recording finishes.
• Save anything that needs saving.
• Amplifiers off first, then the desk.
• Wireless microphones off, batteries on charge.
• Anything broken written down where the next person will see it.

Signal flow

Signal flow is the path each audio and video signal takes from source to destination. Most churches carry it in one person's head, which works until that person is away.

Write it down once. A single diagram: every microphone, instrument, camera and computer; what it connects to; and where it ends up. Photographs of the back of the rack, labelled, count.

What it buys you:

• Fault-finding becomes a check against a diagram instead of tracing cables under pressure.
• Someone else can fix things.
• You can see where a change would break something before making it.

Label both ends of every cable. This is tedious for an afternoon and repays it the first time something fails ten minutes before a service.

The booth itself

Small physical things that change how well one person can work:

• See the platform. A booth without sightlines forces operation by ear.
• Everything within reach from one seated position — desk, keyboard, screen.
• Light you can control. Enough to see the desk, not enough to spill onto the congregation.
• Somewhere to put a laptop that is not on top of the sound desk.
• A power strip with spare sockets, because there is always one more thing.

Christmas, Easter and the big ones

Large services fail on the parts that are different, so concentrate everything there.

What tends to be different: more people, extra readings, a candlelit or darkened sequence, guest musicians, a longer service, and often a congregation less familiar with how your church runs.

Rehearse only the differences. The ordinary flow is practised every week. Walk through the candlelit section, the extra readings, and any handover the team has not done before — with the people who will do it.

Practical points that catch churches out:

• Darkness changes the screen. A layout that reads in normal light can be dazzling in a darkened room. Check it in the actual lighting state.
• Extra readings mean extra microphones, and extra passages on screen. Get the references in advance.
• More people means more phones on the wifi, which matters if your stream shares that connection.
• Recruit ahead. The service most likely to be short-staffed is the one with most visitors.

The takeaway

• Run sheets carry transitions, not content, and live on one page.
• Write down the signal flow once; it turns fault-finding into a check.
• For big services, rehearse only what differs from a normal Sunday — that is where they break.

Related: Running the screen alone · Media team roles