Tech tools enhance services

On Father’s Day, the 11 o’clock congregation at St. Paul on-the-Hill, Pickering, sat in rapt attention as some young people from the parish talked about why they liked their fathers. It was a delightful moment, bringing smiles to many.

The difference was, the children were speaking in a short video that was shown on an electronic screen at the front of the church. With expert lighting, sound and editing, they were able to tell their stories – and the congregation was able to watch and listen to them — in a powerful way.

St. Paul’s was able to create this experience with the help of a $13,000 grant from the diocese’s Our Faith-Our Hope: Re-Imagine Church campaign. The fundraising drive has raised $41 million in pledges to help churches in the diocese share the Gospel in new ways.

St. Paul’s used part of its grant to install new wiring, allowing the church to show its services on five electronic screens throughout the building, including the parish hall. This helps with overflow crowds for things like weddings, funerals, baptisms and other special occasions, says the Rev. Canon Kim Beard, incumbent.

“With the service on large screens, people in the parish hall can participate,” he says. “They can sing along, watch and listen to what is going on in the sanctuary. It makes their worship experience much more intimate than it otherwise would be.”

The church also used some of its grant to upgrade its video camera technology, enabling it to broadcast the service on screens in the sanctuary. This means that worshippers no longer have to flip through prayer and hymn books, as the words and music are projected up on the screens.

“We can go paperless,” says Canon Beard. “This is helpful for several reasons. Number one, people are looking up during worship. The singing is better and people are looking at what’s happening at the front rather than looking down. Secondly, it’s environmentally friendly. Thirdly, in addition to broadcasting the service, we can show things like presentations from the children and liturgical dancing that people at the back of the church might not otherwise see.”

Parishioner Bill Bradbury is the church’s audio-visual coordinator, putting together all of the service material for the screens and doing the camerawork. He’s been training young people from the parish to help out with the camera and to run the sound board. Together, they look after the audio and visuals on a Sunday morning.

The church is using technology to not only enhance its worship experience but to welcome people who visit online. Its website includes a video that shows clips from parish life. There are also recordings of sermons and special presentations, for those who can’t attend in person or are looking for a church. “For people who are checking us out, they can get a good idea of who we are by our website,” says Canon Beard.

The plan to equip the church with screens, video camera upgrades, website features and wiring will cost about $50,000, of which $13,000 came from the Our Faith-Our Hope campaign. “The grant has been a wonderful encouragement and it is much appreciated,” says Canon Beard. “We want to thank the campaign and the diocese. The grant encouraged us, and it helped us speed up the rate at which we can implement projects.”