We have had some technical issues lately at church. I haven’t been able to pinpoint the source of the issues but the fact remains that there are things happening that are causing big problems in the sound booth and ultimately affecting our worship experience.
A few weeks ago, some issues cropped up in the sound booth, primarily around the visual aspect of things: computer, EasyWorship, projectors etc. Our entire system has been pieced together over time, by many people, so it’s not exactly intuitive. Each week, I have spent a few hours tweaking things and digging in to find how things are all tied together attempting to resolve all issues, but not quite getting ‘er done. Plus, each week, it seemed like other things would happen that would just add to the frustration.
This past Saturday night, I went up to make sure things hadn’t gone haywire again and surprisingly, things seemed good. I had one lingering issue with the TVs on the stage not working right, they are used as monitors for the band. I was in the middle of the auditorium, talking to someone, both projectors were on and suddenly both screens went black. Just add to the craziness of what has been going on! After a couple of hours, I still didn’t have projection.
Sunday morning, first service, no screens. grrrrr.
The pastor reassured me that it’s no big deal, he knew I was frustrated, but it would work out. Mary arrived after the first service and she jumped in and chased some wires down and found an S-video plug laying on the floor. In the big ol’ mess of wires, I hadn’t seen it. I quickly identified it’s home and we had projection. Another few buttons pushed and we had monitors on stage. How in the world that just fell out, I’ll never know, apparently, it was loose and it’s time came.
That may be a nice story, but there is a point. I am a strong believer in praying for technology, especially as it relates to church and ministry. I have prayed more over that equipment lately than it probably ever has been. I asked Mary in amazement how she did it, more out of frustration that I didn’t find it. She said the whole time she was looking, she was praying. God answered her prayer! Why didn’t God answer that prayer for me? After I pondered that awhile, I realized that God did answer my prayer, just in a different way. All of the digging around and tweaking I have done has brought me to a point where I understand things much better than I ever would have otherwise. I am more confident now that, if things get unknowingly changed, I can quickly adjust it back to what it should be. That might seem like not that big of a deal, but this system is redneck, seriously. (Did I just say that?) It’s redneck in the best possible way.
It fits together to make a decent system but it needs to be scrapped and redone. It’s fine for now, especially as I continue to understand things about it. I’m not aware of anyone who knows all the ins and outs of it, so my goal is to be that guy.
By the way, my role in my church is changing in the near future and I’ll be sharing more about that soon. It’s not a big thing, really, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Technorati tags: churchtech, churchmedia
Cable management is a very, very good thing. Anytime you have a pile of wires… there will, will, will be problems. Probably frequently.
Buy yourself a roll of velcro tie and get those cables coiled and tied up neatly, and a LOT of these kind of issues will go away.
I found myself laughing as I read your post. Not only have I prayed over equipment but I knew exactly what you were talking about when you said “this system is redneck” I’m now praying that I someday have the opportunity to rip out all the wiring accumulated in our 90 year old sanctuary and start over.
Thanks for the post!