Jim brings more than 40 years of experience in church media and broadcast production, beginning in 1983. He served as Media and Communications Director at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis from 1988 to 2019 and spent 17 years as broadcast director for Adrian Rogers’ Love Worth Finding television ministry.

A past president and lifetime member of the Metro Media Ministers Association, Jim now consults and speaks with a focus on helping churches apply broadcast principles to communicate more clearly and effectively online.

Most churches are streaming, but far fewer are thinking like broadcasters. The difference shows up in dozens of small decisions that shape how the stream looks, sounds, and feels. This session focuses on the practical habits that bring consistency, clarity, and confidence to live production, helping teams move beyond simply getting a signal online to delivering a more intentional and engaging viewing experience.

Wes is a church media leader, educator, and speaker with more than 30 years of experience in production, communications, and volunteer development, and a Lifetime Member of MMCA. He has dedicated his career to helping churches build healthy, sustainable media teams where excellence is repeatable and volunteers serve with confidence.

He has taught and mentored students in Christian universities and ministry leadership programs, equipping the next generation of church production leaders. His work bridges real-world production with leadership and systems thinking. He is the author of Systematic Creativity, focused on building production systems that support creativity while maintaining clarity, structure, and team health—emphasizing volunteer development, repeatable processes, and growth without burnout.

In his breakout session, Raising Up the Next Generation, Wes will share how churches can identify, train, and develop emerging leaders within their media teams. He will cover practical strategies for volunteer development, leadership pipelines, and systems that equip younger team members not just to serve—but to lead. Attendees will gain tools to build a culture of discipleship and long-term sustainability.

Ronny Cates is a seasoned musician, audio engineer, and creative leader passionate about shaping the sound of modern worship. A former bass player for Petra, he brings decades of touring experience to his work behind the console. He currently serves as Director of Audio at 12Stone Church, leading audio strategy across multiple campuses and broadcast environments.

Blending musicality with technical expertise, Ronny has helped define consistent, high-quality worship audio in a multi-campus setting. He focuses on building systems and teams that deliver clarity, excellence, and consistency—no matter the room or platform.

In his breakout session, Sound Branding, Ronny will explore how churches can develop a recognizable, repeatable audio identity. He will share practical strategies for creating cohesive sound across front-of-house and broadcast, helping teams move beyond “good sound” to a defined audio brand that supports vision, enhances worship, and scales across every campus.

Lucas LeFevre is the founder of Holy Work, a journaling and coaching practice that helps people break out of survival mode and rediscover clarity, peace, and purpose.

Before starting Holy Work, Lucas served as Chief Creative Officer at Ramsey Solutions, where he helped grow the creative team from 16 to more than 150 people and helped develop shows like The Dave Ramsey Show and The John Delony Show.

Today he helps people slow down, tell the truth about their lives, and follow the deeper pull God has placed inside them.

Steve Smith served for more than 25 years as Media and Communications Pastor at two of the Southern Baptist Convention’s largest and most influential churches: First Baptist Orlando and Brentwood Baptist Church in Nashville. More recently, he has served in executive leadership in Oklahoma and South Carolina and has just begun serving as Executive Director at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, one of the largest Presbyterian congregations in the United States. 

Steve is also a past president and lifetime member of the Metro Media & Communications Association, bringing decades of experience in church communications, leadership, and ministry strategy.

In this breakout session, Steve will discuss the partnership between media and communications leaders and executive pastors. Exceptional media and communication ministries don’t simply create excellent content; they steward people, time, resources, and opportunities to advance the church’s mission. Drawing from experience in both church media/communication and executive ministry leadership, he’ll share practical principles that help your ministry align with broader church priorities and demonstrate wise resource management.