As an independent contractor, I wear a lot of hats. One of my responsibilities is the weekly oversight of part of the AVL operations at Northwest Community Church (NCC) in Cary, N.C. As a portable church, NCC meets each week in a high school auditorium. To meet our goal of communicating biblical truth with excellence, we need to supplement the high school auditorium with a state-of-the-art portable AVL system.
Having gone through the process of recruiting volunteers, sourcing equipment, and navigating through the portable church journey with several different churches as an integrator, church TD, and volunteer, I've compiled a list of best practices for video systems in small and portable churches. Here are just a few things you should consider based on my experience, and what I've learned from folks much wiser than myself that God has graciously placed in my life throughout the years.
Before You Buy Anything …
Many hands make light work. The biggest undertaking when planning for a portable PA scenario is recruiting volunteers. A rotating team of nearly 40 volunteers tackles the arduous task of complete setup and teardown of our portable AVL system at Northwest. Portable church services will not happen without volunteers. Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers each week, our high school auditorium is transformed into an inviting, contemporary worship center.
Qualifications
On my list of things to look for in a volunteer, technical aptitude is a distant second place to attitude. In fact, its kind of similar to the old adage, “the best camera is the one you have.” A warm body that is dedicated, faithful, has a servant's heart, and is teachable is often far more valuable than a paid professional. Whether it's manning a camera, running the presentation software, or hauling heavy equipment pieces around, skill is nice, but being nice is nicer.
Avoid Burnout
You don't want to leave a trail of bloody stumps. Burnout is common among volunteers at small or portable churches. Partly because there aren't that many strong backs, and there aren't that many skilled operators. So, just because someone is willing to be there each week for setup and teardown, be sure you avoid this scenario at all costs. That smiling willing face can turn into a scowl in a matter of weeks if there is no hope of a break and a chance at normalcy worshipping with family or friends. A great target for your rotation is every third week. This allows volunteers to not be away from the task so long that they forget everything they learn, while also providing enough of a break to feel like it isn't dominating their experience as a worshipper at your church.
Consistency
One of the biggest complaints I hear from small and portable churches is in the area of consistency. Bill King, director of worship for Northwest Community Church, says, “Because there are different teams doing setup each week and the volunteers are in different stages of training, there are always surprises. Most of them are minor, but can easily escalate if not managed quickly. In the area of projection, I'd say the biggest issue would be image-screen alignment. We are working with a fixed-length, short-throw lens on our Panasonic projector, which means there is not much ‘wiggle room' with respect to getting all the equipment placed in the same exact spot each week. The time and effort required to get a focused image aligned with the screen varies week-to-week, and depends upon the experience of the video tech who is making the corrections.”
Leadership – Proactive, Not Reaction
Sometimes the problem of consistency is due to a lack of direction. When you are constantly reacting to each complaint or suggestion by those in the congregation, consistency is out the window. You need to decide early on what your philosophy is about manned cameras (seen, or unseen?), content (I have seen churches nearly split over whether or not to use a countdown), placement of the tech area, motion backgrounds, etc. If you don't get out ahead of it, you will constantly be chasing your tail, reacting to comments, complaints and demands that are passionately varied. You do not want to put the volunteer video operator in the position of having to field these complaints and have to come up with an explanation on the fly. Instead, decide these things early and put them down in writing as policy. This takes most of the pressure off your volunteers, and helps define what your “culture” is. If your church does not have policies drawn up for AVL philosophies, ask them to do this. It's very important, and will prevent uncomfortable conversations between volunteers and members of the congregation.
Be Flexible & Communicate Clearly
Be prepared to be flexible with setup. This has to be part of the DNA of any portable church. The closest thing to a setup “disaster” for our church happens each spring when our high school hosts a musical production in the auditorium we use each weekend. King explains, “The school musical's set was built over a four-week period, presenting us with new projection challenges every week.”
Clear and friendly communication between our church staff and the host venue is the key to working around issues such as these. Ask for calendars, sketches and plans well in advance.
A portable church is supposed to be flexible—not just in attitude, but in equipment. Flexibility should be a key ingredient on your list of criteria when sourcing equipment. Also, decide which elements are crucial, and which ones are “optional” if need be. When things go wrong, if your team knows what to focus on and what to let slide, it will help keep things relaxed and fun for your setup team.
Purchasing/Budgeting
Most portable churches have “humble” beginnings out of necessity. As a congregation grows, the need for a larger, clearer image projection also grows. In some cases, the need for additional screens to cover a widening view angle must also be addressed.
There are several things to think through when budgeting for a small or portable projection system.
Content Creation
Whether it's the live message, video bumpers, or special features, your video projection system can only be as good as the content you are creating. This is particularly important for satellite campus situations. You'll want to budget appropriately for your camera-capture system and your tools for video post production. Having a toolbox full of tools is great, but you need a technical artist to use the tools. You will need to identify capable operators, whether they are volunteers or paid technicians. If you don't have a qualified technician, there are lots of good resources for purchase online for churches needing countdown, video bumpers, or video illustrations and motion backgrounds.
Getting out ahead of your budget and deciding what things are important to your church will help narrow the scope of what you put on your video projection wish list. It can also help prevent waste.
