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Scott Trout
Internship Daily Journal

January 4th, 2022

10:00am-1:00pm (3 hours)
I worked on taking down Christmas decorations and organizing them for better accessibility
next year. One thing I did was find all the LED Christmas light strands and labeled them as
such and put them in a separate container for storage. We had issues setting up for Christmas
because everything was simply mixed together.

January 5th
9:00am-1:00pm (4 hours)
Continued working on organizing Christmas décor in the attic. I was able to straighten up
things to help create extra storage space and increase productivity.
Coordinated with the person who is leading worship this Sunday. I created an order of
service for Sunday to help guide the volunteers.
I have learned that so much of leadership involves communication. Without communication
you cannot lead effectively. In my role at the church, this involves emails, texts, order of
service sheets, and coordinating with Pastor Steve.

January 6th
9:00-1:00 (4 hours)
Worked on organizing workspaces. One thing I am learning about an organization is that it
collects stuff and when that stuff clutters up, it can prevent productivity and can also be a
mental weight. I also met with our Pastor to discuss future church-wide workdays and
projects that need to be done outside on campus. I will be coming out Saturday to do
yardwork around the church.

January 7th
9:30-1:00 (3.5 hours)
Coordinated with the person leading worship on Sunday. Made sure he had what he needed,
and communication was made and sent. I continued to organize my workspace and go
through some of the many things we have sitting on the shelf to see what we need to keep
and what we can get rid of and make more room.

January 8th
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
Cleaned the grounds of the church. The church has an event coming in May and part of the
property needs to be cleaned up and prepared. We cut down small trees and built a burn pile
for future disposal.

January 11th
9:00-1:00 (4 hours)
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Had our staff meeting to discuss the next few months and the deadlines we need to meet for
planning for events. The meetings have been one of the most beneficial things we have done
to increase communication and productivity. I also prepared an order of service for this
Sunday which I will be leading. I will be leading worship each Sunday for a while and have
planned out the songs for the month of January. I have worked with Tithely, which is an
information management system, to organize songs and services.

January 12th
9:30-1:00 (3.5 hours)
Prepared songs for Sunday, coordinated with our pastor on what he wants this Sunday
service to look like. Communicated with those in the band who will be helping with music
this Sunday.

January 13th
9:15-1:00 (3.75 hours)
Prepared music for Sunday service. Practiced worship songs and prepared order of service
for Sunday.

January 14th
9:45-11:30 (1.75 hours)
Finalized different pieces of communication for Sunday service. Communicated about
possible bad weather conditions and our plan if it gets bad. I also attempted to fix our
church’s riding lawn mower with a new battery the church bought. Unfortunately, the mower
still doesn’t start so there may be a deeper issue than the battery.

January 18th
9:15-12:30 (3.25 hours)
We had to postpone our worship gathering on Sunday so today I spent some time and shifted
the order of services in Tithely to the updated dates. We had staff meeting today and
discussed upcoming events and deadlines we need to meet.

January 19th
9:30-12:30 (3 hours)
I started planning a church video that we are wanting to make. I also looked into different
livestreaming services that will simplify our current livestream process, thus making it easier
for an untrained person to bring up the livestream on Sunday mornings. Once I found an
option, I started talking with our main media tech who runs the livestream to figure out if this
option would be a good one. The option I found was vMix. This is something we might try in
the coming weeks.

January 20th
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)

I researched additional livestream platforms and communicated with our sound tech.
Continued to organize our order of service for this Sunday.
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January 23rd
9:00-12:45 (3.75 hours)
Rehearsed songs for the service and talked with our media team about upgrades that our
livestream needs. Participated in Sunday service.

January 25th
9:30-12:30 (3 hours)
I researched further into what we would need to simplify and streamline our livestream
system for Sunday services. Taking the insight I gained from talking with our media guys, I
am looking into a new camera setup for our church and possibly what it would entail for us
to sound mix our livestreams inside of our streaming platform, OBS.

January 26th
11:00-12:30 (1.5 hours)
Due to a busy schedule with my other job, I was not able to work at the church very much
today. I did speak with someone from Resi, a livestreaming platform, and get additional
information from him about what the cost and benefits would be for our church to switch to
Resi. After this we met for staff meeting which took the rest of my time there.

January 27th
9:00-12:00 (3 hours)
Continued to research and communicate with our media team about upgrading our livestream
cameras and improving our online media presence.

January 28th
9:00-12:00 (3 hours)
Prepared our worship songs for Sunday and finalized a few research data pieces for
livestreaming to inform our pastor.

January 30th
9:15-1:15; 2:00-4:45 (6.75 hours)
Led our worship practice and then led worship for the church service. We had a meeting with
people wanting to join our church after the service. I am learning that a good leader in this
job setting, leading by example is important. I am also learning that leaders need to not try
and do everything themselves.

January Total: 61.75 hours

February 1st
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
I started planning all the worship songs for the month of February and put them in our
information management system, Tithely. I started organizing the service orders and figuring
out what pieces we needed for them. We had our staff meeting today as well. These meetings
help us to get on the same page and accomplish more.
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February 2nd
10:00-1:00 (3 hours)
Continued working on the month’s songs and communicated with some of the band to make
sure we are all on the same page. I also sent a reminder out to some people about an
upcoming event here at the church.

February 3rd
9:30-12:30 (3 hours)
Finished up planning out the songs for the month and continued to organize the service order.
I concluded research for the livestream upgrades last week so I am waiting to hear when we
can move forward with some of these things. I rehearsed Sunday’s songs to figure out what
keys we will be playing them in. This streamlines our Sunday morning rehearsals.

February 4th
9:00-12:00 (3 hours)
Cleaned up leftover tables and chairs that were still in our sanctuary from a meeting that
happened this week. I wanted to investigate what other worship leaders and churches were
doing for their media setup so I found some online church tech tours to compare what they
were doing with what we do. I have found that looking at what others do sparks creativity
and helps me look at our setup more objectively. Lastly, I finalized the service order for
Sunday and placed the service order sheets at the volunteer stations in our sanctuary so they
will have them as soon as they get to the church.

February 6th
9:15-1:00; 2:00-4:45 (6.5 hours)
We practiced our worship set at 9:15 and prepared for the service to start at 10:30. Before the
start time I talked with our media team and heard from them about what they need in order to
improve our video livestream into our lobby and how we can run it into our nursery instead
of using a Wi-Fi connection which has been unreliable for us. At 2:00 my wife and I hosted
the young adult group for our bible study. This has been a ministry piece that our pastor has
been wanting our church to deepen since there is not much done for this age group. One
important piece of leadership I am learning is to listen to my team. I may have my own ideas
of what works and what does not, but most often they are the ones dealing with the situations
firsthand. I need to listen to them and value their input. This in turn helps them feel valued
and can increase job satisfaction.

February 8th
10:15-12:15 (2 hours)
My wife was not feeling very well today so I decided to work from home. Our pastor is
going to be out this Sunday, so I went over our service order in Tithely and made sure that
we had all of our service pieces covered by someone. This week I will be making an
announcement video with our pastor. I will most likely do that on Thursday. I used the list of
items that the media team gave me for improving the livestream in the lobby and nursery to
compile a price estimate. I ran the price estimate by our pastor who also helps set the budget
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with the stewardship team and then ordered the hardware once it was approved. Keeping
track of spending and making sure that inflow is greater than outflow has been a good,
constant reminder to me. It can be easy to get carried away with what we need, but if we do
not have the money for it, it simply has to wait.

February 9th
9:15-12:15 (3 hours)
We had staff meeting today and started to discuss our Easter plans. I need to think ahead for
Easter and work on compiling the songs and contacting our volunteers. In addition to this, I
need to think through what our Good Friday service will look like.

February 10th
9:30-12:15 (2.75 hours)
I shot and edited our pastor’s announcement video for this Sunday. He is going to be out of
town so I am working on figuring out what the service will look like. Digital media is a
growing need in today’s society and the Church, I am finding, is no exception.

February 11th
9:30-11:30 (2 hours)
Finalized the order of service in Tithely and made sure that everything was ready for Sunday.

February 12th
10:00-12:00 (2 hours)
Spent some time mowing the lawns in the back of the property for an event coming up in the
summer.

February 13th
9:15-12:45, 2:00-4:45 (6.25 hours)
Coordinated the Sunday service. The pastor was gone so I was the only staff member there.
Once again, communication is key. We did band practice and then did the service.
Afterwards we had our young adult small group at our house.

February 15th
9:30-12:30 (3 hours)
Discussed with the staff what Sunday is going to look like with a special announcement to
the church. I worked on details for documents we need for that announcement.

February 16th
9:30-12:30 (3 hours)
Continued to work on material for this Sunday’s announcement. We are putting together
materials to have on a table to bring attention to a ministry opportunity. In some ways, the
things I have been working on would be considered marketing for this opportunity. I have
been working with the admin on how to present it and make sure that it all makes sense.
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February 17th
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
Spent most of the day continuing preparations for this Sunday’s announcement and putting
together the table with all the information. I coordinated with our admin about making a
graphic to use on a TV at the table. I am learning to utilize other’s strengths and weaknesses
in accomplishing tasks. Instead of trying to do it all myself, work is a community process.

February 18th
9:00-12:00 (3 hours)
I rehearsed songs for Sunday and prepared the order of service. There were some last-minute
items to get done for the announcement on Sunday, so I worked on those things. The things
that were involved getting all of things this week included printing, designing, and
organizing.

February 19th
9:00-1:00 (4 hours)
Outside workday at the church. We spent time getting the grounds all cleaned up for future
church events.

February 20th
9:00-12:45 (3.75 hours)
Led worship for the church service and made the church announcement at the end with the
pastor and my wife.

February 22nd
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
Cleaned up the sanctuary from Sunday. We had staff meeting for most of the morning. We
discussed what needs to happen this week and the next for our marriage event coming up on
March 5th. I am also taking stock of supplies for building a new children’s check-in desk.

February 23rd
9:30-12:30 (3 hours)
Prepared songs for Easter and planned out our Good Friday service setting. I verified that the
person who is scheduled to help me with music this Sunday is able to help still. One thing I
am learning is to not assume someone remembers something. There have been plenty of
times when I have not followed up with someone and it ended up that they had forgotten.

February 24th
10:30-12:00 (1.5 hours)
Due to severe back pain I decided to work from home today. I continued to figure out details
for Easter and I started compiling my thoughts for a Creative Arts meeting on March 13 th to
prepare for Easter. Meeting preparation is important because you want it to be worth the time
that these volunteers are giving towards it. The meeting needs to be to the point and
respectful of their time.
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February 25th
9:30-12:30 (3 hours)
Finalized the order of service for this Sunday and rehearsed the songs. I also practice a song
for Easter that our band will be learning. I find it best if I practice songs by myself before
playing them with the band so I know how I want to band to play it. It helps give a sense of
direction to the band practices. I discussed details with our pastor for the marriage event
coming up in a week.

February 27th
9:15-12:45, 2:00-4:15 (5.75)
Led band practice and prepared for Sunday service at 10:30. We also started setting up for
our marriage event happening this Saturday. After service we led our young adult group at
our house. It is easy to get lost in details of ministry or business and forget that it is all about
personal connections.

February Total: 74 hours

Current Grand Total: 135.75 hours

March 1st
9:30-12:30 (3 hours)
I cleaned up the sanctuary from Sunday and tried to get an idea for what we need to
accomplish in there for our marriage event this Saturday. I worked on Easter details. Some of
these details involved preparing for our Creative Arts team meeting in two weeks and then
planning out the key to one of our songs and arranging it.

March 2nd
10:45-12:45 (2 hours)
We had staff meeting today and we discussed all the details for this upcoming marriage event
this Saturday.

March 3rd
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
Worked on setting up for our marriage event this Saturday. I set up pipe and drape, lights,
and cleaned out the backstage area.

March 4th
9:30-12:00 (2.5 hours)
I practiced the worship songs for this Sunday, finalized the order of service, and prepped as
best I can with the marriage vent being on Saturday. I looked up and compiled a list of
questions and answers for a marriage trivia game for Saturday.

March 5th
10:15-11:45, 5:00-10:00 (6.5 hours)
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I came early on Saturday and mowed the front lawns at the church to prepare for the
marriage event later. We came in at five to do last minute prep, sound check, and set up and
then served and participated in the event. It was mandatory for staff to be there. It was a
wonderful night.

March 6th
9:15-1:00, 2:00-4:00 (5.75 hours)
Led the band practice and helped with the Sunday service. Later we led the young adults
group.

March 9th
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
Had staff meeting most of the morning. We discussed how the marriage event had gone last
Saturday and how things could have been improved. Reflection and correction are important
to progress, without us actively trying to see how we can improve we will not naturally
improve.

March 10th
9:00-12:45 (3.75 hours)
Prepared for Sunday and went to Home Depot to buy a cord for a TV we need for Sunday.

March 11th
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
Prepared songs for Sunday and looked into replacing our broken projector bulb. I
communicated with my team some announcements for this weekend and printed off some
material for our pastor.

March 13th
9:15-12:30 (3.25 hours)
Led the band practice and helped with the Sunday service. We did not have our young adult
group afterwards. I did organize and lead a team meeting with all my team to help us prepare
for Easter. This meeting was to help us all get on the same page and figure out details. It was
very helpful.

March 15th
9:30-11:30 (2 hours)
Due to my second job outside of the internship, this week I have to report two hours earlier,
so I won’t be able to work as much this week for the internship. This has been cleared with
my supervisor for the internship. I worked on preparing songs for the band for Easter and I
communicated Sunday’s Creative Arts meeting notes via email back to the whole band as a
recap.

March 16th
9:15-11:30 (2.25 hours)
We had staff meeting today.
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March 17th
9:00-11:30 (2.5 hours)
Continued making preparations for Easter and sent out communications with my team.

March 18th
9:15-11:30 (2.25 hours)
Prepared the service order for Sunday and planned out the different elements needed. I am
finding that a lot of my job involves communicating with people and helping people be
where they need to be.

March 19th
12:00-1:30 (1.5 hours)
Came to the church and spent some time mowing the lawn in the back of the property in
preparation for an upcoming event this summer. The property needs a lot of work to get the
place looking nice.

March 20th
9:15-2:15 (5 hours)
Led band practice for our 10:30 service. After the service we had an Easter band practice to
prepare for upcoming Easter.

March 22nd
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
Worked on preparing worship song lists for the month up until Easter. We had staff meeting
most of the morning. I will need to be contacting individuals about the Good Friday service
coming up. We need people to do Scripture reading and I need to find out who these people
will be.

March 23rd
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
Cleaned up the stage from Sunday and organized one of the storage rooms that needed to get
rearranged while we looked for another projector. I also spent most of the day working on
songs for the Sundays leading up to Easter and then started working on songs for Good
Friday. A lot of preparation work in the weeks leading up to a special event.

March 24th
9:00-12:30 (3 hours)
Continued to prepare songs for Easter, Good Friday, and this Sunday. I am trying to get
caught up for planning songs for the month.

March 25th
9:30-1:00 (3.5 hours)
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Worked on building a Check-in kiosk for the children’s wing. This took most of the day at
the church but it was as nice change from my normal routine. My task was to build one using
as much of the stuff that we already had on hand. This was as nice challenge.

March 26th
12:00-3:00 (3 hours)
Sang and helped facilitate at a memorial service at the church.

March 27th
9:00-12:45 (3.75 hours)
Helped lead the service and organized band practice before.

March 29th
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
We had staff meeting most of the morning. I put together a materials list and estimated costs
for a project I am working on for the church.

March 30th
9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)
Worked on staining the check-in desk for the children’s department and went to Home Depot
to buy the approved materials for the project. Communicated a reminder out to the band
about our Easter practice this Sunday.

March 31st
9:15-12:15 (3 hours)
Continued working on the new check-in table for our Children’s department. I used the
supplies I purchased yesterday and got most of the project done. I have a little left to do
which might need to wait until next week. I was the only one in today. Our pastor and admin
where either in meetings or sick.

March Total: 83 hours

Current Grand Total: 218.75 hours

April 1st
11:30-12:15 (0.75 hours)
Due to an issue with my other job I was unable to get to the church sooner. Today was a very
light day, however, since it was primarily just making sure that we are all set for Sunday. I
got those things done, communicated with the band, and prepared for Sunday.

April 2nd
1:30-3:00 (1.5 hours)
I helped mow the lawns at the church.
April 3rd
9:15-3:00 (5.75 hours)
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Led band practice before service, helped lead the service, and then led Easter band practice
after service.

April 6th
9:30-11:15 (1.75 hours)
Worked on new check in table for the children’s department.

April 7th
9:30-11:30 (2 hours)
Prepared the songs for Sunday and communicated with the band. I also coordinated with our
décor team for a good time to decorate for Easter. We will be doing it on Wednesday of next
week.

April 8th
11:30-2:00 (2.5 hours)
Finished the new check in desk.

April 9th
10:00-11:00 (1 hour)
Mowed lawns at the church to prepare for Easter.

April 10th
9:00-12:45; 2:00-3:45 (5.5 hours)
Led band practice and worship during the service. Our young adult group met again this
Sunday as well. Relationships are key.

April 12th
10:45-1:30 (2.75 hours)
Prepared the sanctuary for our Good Friday service and communicated with the people
serving. We have band practice on Thursday and I am also finding people who can help tear
down after our service on Friday.

April 13th
10:30-1:30; 5:30-8:00 (5.5 hours)
We had staff meeting today. We discussed many details about Easter and what needs to be
done. Later I came back and helped lead our stage decorations.

April 14th
12:00-1:30; 5:30-8:00 (4 hours)
Continued to communicate with those serving in Good Friday and Easter and finalized some
last-minute details. Later that day we had our last Easter band practice.

April 15th
10:30-1:30; 5:30-8:30 (6 hours)
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Problem solved for our Good Friday service. Our projector went out in our sanctuary, so I
had to set up two TV’s on our stage. It took me most of the morning. At 5:30 we had our
rehearsal and then our service at 7:00. I realized that I had not clearly communicated some
things to those where were serving so it was a little chaotic some moments. I learned that I
need to keep communication clear and make sure that I am not assuming anything.

April 16th
1:00-3:00 (2 hours)
Mowed the lawns at the church to prepare for Easter Sunday. I coordinated with another
volunteer who came and edged the lawns.

April 17th
8:30-12:30 (4 hours)
Our first Easter service started at 9:15 this morning. My wife and I got to the church and
practiced with the band as best we could. We did not have time to walk through all of the
songs, but we practiced the spots that we could. Our second service went very well.

April Total: 45 hours

Grand Total: 263.75 hours