I have been out of town (Orlando) for the last week, and sadly I was not able to join my home church, First Orlando (physically) in their worship services this weekend. I did, however watch the stream online on Saturday evening. This morning, I was able "multi-worship" and attend two churches here in Atlanta that are very dear to me.

I was blessed by visiting Buckhead Church this weekend. The scenic atmosphere was ingenious, as it always tends to be. They had a rig on stage that consisted of truss', plasma displays and LED light fixtures. It was a nice setup, which wasn't a surprise.

Todd Fields led the worship set this morning. It was great experiencing his worship style again. I have not been in a worship service with him for sometime now...probably the last time was back in the day when I was at a 722 service!

The churches in the North Point family, have moved toward a new technique of letting their congregation be a part of the sermon. Instead of the Satellite churches being a week behind NPCC...or whichever church Andy or the speaker was at, they elected to invest in simulcasting each week. I am not sure of your knowledge of streaming audio / video, but this is a major task! I am not quite sure on the technical setup they have for this new option, but all churches have to be timed right in order for this to work appropriately. I am sure they have some type of DDR (digital disk recorder) that each facility uses "just in case" something goes unexpected. I know when Shane Stevens took me on a tour of the NPCC facilities early 2008 he was mentioning doing something like this. I guess it finally happened!

Simulcasting allows for members at all satellite churches to hear the same message the same week, which makes everyone feel included moreso than a delayed message. It was interesting to see the audience's reaction to the sermon. Andy Stanley (Senior Pastor of NPCC) had a question time, and people answered aloud the questions and even laughed out loud at jokes...just as if he was preaching at Buckhead!

It was a great experience. I hope that one day, I am lead into a ministry that not only am I broadcasting God's message...but incorporates streaming to multiple venues. It will be an exciting experience.

After the service concluded at Buckhead Church, I traveled over to my home church, Rehoboth Baptist Church. After visiting around with my kids, the Minister of Music (Andy Newsome) approached me and asked if I was willing to go CG for the service. I accepted. **It turned out that Michelle (Andy's Wife) was not feeling well and was unable to make it to the service. Michelle is usually the CG masterette...and take care of those responsibilities week-to-week. It was very humbling to be trusted enough by someone that you have never worked for to just up and ask you to do something major for a worship service. That went well. Although, it would have been more convenient to have ProPresenter, they have Media Shout...which is fine, but I do prefer the GUI of ProPresenter much more. Plus...it works on a Mac... :)

I was impressed, though with the state of the technology at that church. Most of that equipment is older than me, so it is good to see A) that it is still functioning after all these years and B) that the staff at RBC is using the stuff...to assist the worship experience. Nothing is worse that having something **sit** because it is not up to today's standards. Put it to work! It cost good money. You should not waste it, if it is still meeting your needs.

Tonight, I will be attending the evening service at Rehoboth. I am really looking forward to that as well.

-Ken

Labels: Andy Newsome, Andy Stanley, Buckhead Church, church, MediaShout, North Point, Pastor Rusty Womack, ProPresenter, Rehoboth, sermon, simulcast, streaming, Todd Fields, worship