PIVOTING IN A PANDEMIC
Last March, we were confronted rather quickly with a deadly pandemic which shut down the world. St. Gregory's was certainly not immune and I remember quite distinctly the moment at our weekly staff meeting when we decided to cancel church services for the upcoming Sunday. We, in effect, closed down our facilities to all parishioners and the public as the entire world plummeted into the abyss of a lockdown over the course of just a few days. However, we as a staff realized rather quickly that we simply had to keep things going somehow. No church service? That idea seemed unthinkable. Within a few hours we came up with a plan to videotape Sunday's service and play it back on Facebook and Youtube for Sunday so that everyone could have a chance to be together, albeit virtually. Louis Birro brought his camera and we spent the better part of that Saturday filming the service and all night into the wee hours editing the video to have it ready by Sunday morning.
That seems like a lifetime ago, and yet it seems as if it were just yesterday. A lot has transpired since then. We found new ways of going "live" with our services, of keeping in touch with one another online, of truly worshiping in a new, virtual way. The terms "livestream" "Facebook Live" and "Youtube broadcast" all became part of our normal vocabulary rather quickly.
We were extremely thankful for the technology we had at our ready which included the iPhone and iPad, our portable Presonus sound system, and the internet. We actually never missed a beat--every service since that fateful Sunday has been aired online in some fashion. And we developed and re-imagined new online services such as Morning Prayer and Compline. Our Communications Coordinator began working hard to make sure our Facebook and Youtube streaming was going smoothly every week.
However, we soon realized that this new way of doing worship wasn’t going to just go away after the pandemic and we desperately needed a new and more permanent "system" by which we could livestream and record our worship services. Fr. Andrew gave us the green light to pursue any and all means. Vestry Sr. Warden Bill Lintz, Parish Administrator Ron Knowlton, and I began exploring the vast and complicated world of camera systems, software, computers, microphones, you name it. We suddenly found ourselves dealing with an array of issues such as 'what should our system encompass?', and 'how will it fit into our renovation scheme?'. Many discussions were held between Fr. Andrew, Rob Mitchell, chairperson of the Design Advisory Committee, Bill, Ron, Gary Paris, our treasurer, and myself.
After the departure of Ron Knowlton as Parish Administrator, we welcomed Michael Koppenal and his new energy into the mix. Gary had been worshiping at home via our current ipad setup and knew first-hand what we were up against. He graciously offered to cover a large portion of the cost once we felt we had the right system in mind. We finally decided to engage the services of Dennis Freemyer of Dfinitive Solutions to work with us in developing a system which could best suit our needs. He listened, and listened, and listened, and I'm proud to say that we finally took our new Audio/Visual system for a "test-drive" this past weekend, recording Sunday's service. Louis Birro, our original videographer who also filmed our Christmas Eve and Easter services, was engaged to operate the system, learning the software and cameras and this past Sunday, you were able to see what it actually looks like! For now, it’s in a portable state with four cameras and a control center. Next week, it will be permanently installed and we will be able to livestream our 10 a.m. service on a regular basis!
This new equipment has given our online ministry new life. It will enable us to bring to our members and to the world the St. Gregory’s that we all know and love in a dynamic and professional way. Our goal is to have folks at home experience worship as if they were sitting in the pew experiencing it in person. For many, this will be the new way of going to church. For those who may choose to stay home for reasons of illness or incapacitation, this will be an incredible way for them to still be with those they love, together in worship.
Many thanks to Bill, Gary, Rob, Ron, Michael, Dennis, Dawn, Fr. Andrew, Fr. Ben, and to Louis for making this all possible, and for truly Making a Difference in the life of St. Gregory’s and in the lives of so many watching here and around the world.