Sound Harvest

	Audio as worship What is the point if they can't even hear you?

Col 3:23 reminds us to work as "unto the Lord.." We are to give our best. I am convinced that is what our Pastors and Worship Leaders strive for week after week. Elders and church members do the same by purchasing quality sound systems and wisely investing precious resources into our sound and video systems. All of the well prepared music and spoken word passes through

these systes and the hands and ears of a tech, most of the time a volunteer with a great heart, some experience but little to no training. Much like the hi-tech computer industry, the pro-audio industry has become more advanced in it's operation and use. Along with new added features comes the expectation that eh end user is educated, well informed and konws exactly what he or she is

doing. This is where Col 3:23 comes in; where our quest for excellence in everything we do cannot cease to advance, but must press on. Just like when training became necessary with the advent of the computer age so must our continued study of room acoustics and audio equpment accompany existing or nely installed equipment.

Trust Your Sources

The source of our training is just as important as the quality of the training. Consider hiring a professional speaker to preach on Sunday mornings simply because of his great voice and speaking skills. Forget the fact that he is not of your faith and is not qualified to teach from the word of God. Would you still hire him to Pastor your church? We feel it is important that a Worship Leader and fellow believer teach audio concepts in church so that the role and mission of the church is emphasized and that the subjects covered actually harmonize with the mission. It's really not about the gear, or how much you or I know. It's about transparency and accomplishing a mission. About serving those who take the stage to serve the flock. We in the A/V Ministries are servers to the servants.

The Lie

More technology is not the solution. In fact, there are many ad campaigns that sell the concept that digital simplifies. While that myth can be substantiated in many instances, it is by no measure a hard rule. Can digital help, enable, provide new and different tools? Absolutely. Will it make an untrained sound engineer able to make sound like a trained sound engineer? Not even close. That is comparable to upgrading computers for someone who has no concept of how to run even a basic model. We install and train on both Digital and Analog platforms.

Both digital and analog have their place in the church, and both will be around for many, many years to come. When making a decision on buying a console be absolutely sure to contact other churches with experience on the console you are buying and compare their results and the experience of their sound people with your own sound people. Then decide if the technology is within reach of your end users.