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May 2012

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Slow and Steady Wins the Race at Goodwill Church, Montgomery, NY

Evangelical Presbyterian church weathers economic storm, and rallies congregation to invest in the technology it needs.

by Mark Johnson

Goodwill Church is an Evangelical Presbyterian church located in Montgomery, N.Y., situated in the historic and scenic Hudson Valley region, with a lineage in the area that dates back nearly 300 years. About 12 years ago when John Torres was ordained as senior pastor, Goodwill's membership numbered approximately 100-150. Since that time the congregation has grown exponentially, with approximately 1,000 people attending services over the weekend.

The church was already up to five services over the course of the weekend, and had to add yet another service on Saturday evening. Worship Pastor Josh Stewart says, "Our former sanctuary became too small. It only held 230 people, and [so] we were forced to hold six services on a weekend."

Executive Pastor Jay Lee adds, "Our biggest problem was we had to turn first-time visitors away. People who know the system will come earlier to get a good seat, so we had to turn people away. We didn't want to do that-which is why we added another service. So we had two services on Saturday and we asked the long-time attendees to give up their seats on Sunday and come Saturday. But people are creatures of habit, so, it worked for a while but then they slowly migrated back to Sundays."

To facilitate growth without having to further increase the number of services, Goodwill Church was able to purchase property directly adjacent to its existing facility and expand the campus. With plans in hand for a new Family Life Center that included a 700-seat sanctuary, church leadership broke ground for the building in 2006.

Assessing need
In the summer of 2009, Lee and Stewart met with James Cioffi, owner of Boulevard Professional, an A/V rental and installation company in Oradell, N.J. Stewart was introduced to Cioffi via a connection to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician Dave Mason. Boulevard's production division, run by Cioffi's twin brother Anthony, provides tour support for Mason.

Together, Lee and Stewart cast their vision for the sound requirements for Goodwill-and it was evident to Cioffi that dynamic music played a large part in the worship experience. As Stewart notes, "It is a blended worship style that mixes hymn, praise choruses, and current contemporary worship songs." The band includes drums, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, and occasionally keyboards. Vocalists include Stewart and up to four backup singers. There is also a 25-30-member choir that sings from time to time.

Then for special events, they'll add in horns. "It was clear early on that this was not just a spoken-word sound system," Cioffi says. "Josh [Stewart] leads a killer worship band and wanted a state-of-the-art sound system."

Leaping budget hurdles
Goodwill Church staff approved Boulevard Pro's design and budget in the fall of 2009. However, with bank loans becoming harder to obtain, Goodwill found itself a casualty of the credit crunch. Work progressed, albeit at a slower pace than originally anticipated. Belts were tightened and budgets were cut. As Lee says, "When you're building a building, the costs that are always cut first [include] the stuff that's not required for a Certificate of Occupancy (CO), which includes the sound system. But then when you're building, you know the best time to put in a sound system is before you put the walls up. And in any construction project, you never have enough money-so that battle is always there."

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Mark Johnson is an independent technical trainer/writer based in Crockett, Calif., and former editor of Sound & Video Contractor and Church Production magazines. He can be reached at mjohnson6286@sbcglobal.net.