This is a tribute to the many achievements of an amazingly talented and dedicated cadre of volunteers that simply made technology happen at All God’s Children church.
For years we truly moved mountains – until the status quo got threatened. The patterns became obvious: control of the rules – control of information. When a chosen few are above organizational rules and broker information to suit their agenda – it becomes crazy making. It is sad that an organization made up of such honorable individuals has such a long history of protecting an elitist class by systematically bullying those members who are talented yet vulnerable.
Timeline
TEAM HISTORY
Things really took off when Andrew Sonnek joined the team. He becoming the impetus to expanding the team in the areas of worship visuals and the website. Peter and Andrew put in virtually every Friday night for a couple of years to build “technology central” in the balcony of the church mostly from scavenged stuff dug from the deep recesses of the church.
We made significant upgrades and repairs to the decades old sound system to make it state-of-the-art. All labor for engineering the system, repairing infrastructure and installing new equipment was done by volunteers.
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This project entailed repairing three large speaker cabinets hanging 32 feet directly above the chancel. A slopped floor, stairs and other obstructions prevented us from simply using a ladder to assess the situation. We rigged up a long pole with a compressed air hose to remove decades of dust so that we could examine the manufacturer information plates with binoculars. The manufacturer is still in business and was happy to help us get replacement parts. The speakers needed to be lowered and dismantled before we could determine replacement part numbers, so there was no way to order parts ahead of time.
Click below for more on this story.
Joint venture with Music Team recording first CD at A-440 studios. Produced the video Jesus to the World.
New projector with high intensity lamp and long-throw lens makes it possible to use video projection on Sunday mornings. Designed, fabricated and installed a rear screen for video projection in the balcony so the choir can sing “heads up”. Selected Song Show Plus software.
The church website is now part of the Tech Team. Reworked entire website including dynamic content for each ministry team. Hosted photo shoots for all staff and leadership. Personal email accounts are replaced with corporate email. Complete redesign of the website using MacroMedia/Adobe Creative package
Church computers and the network are now part of the Tech Team. We installed a firewall with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) so the treasurer and staff can work from home. Reconfigured QuickBooks and Servant Keeper as server based applications with remote access.
Acquired 12 identical industrial computers donated from a local pharmaceutical company who graciously configured them with fresh legal copies of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office Pro. We setup a domain network with roaming profiles. This means each users desktop experience followed them regardless of which computer they logged into. All computers were configured identically with all user files replicated to the server. These features made problem solving a breeze. If a computer was acting up all we had to do it swap it out with one of our spare computers and the user could pick up from where they left off.
The plan was to replace these computers every two years following the rotation cycle of our donor company. Unfortunately this fizzled out when the member contact left church membership.
With a boiler license in hand, a nearly century-old steam heating system was operated, ensuring daily safety signoffs. To streamline troubleshooting, a status display was developed. The refurbishment of the system was undertaken, which included boiler repairs, radiator updates, and restoring previous modifications. Additionally, steam trap capsules were implemented, significantly reducing the annual replacement costs.
Held formal training classes for volunteers with topics such as microphone selection and placement, how to manage sound gain structure, graphics design, and web authoring.
Purchased photocopier and duplicator after escaping ridiculous leases that cost $50,000 over a 5 year period. Installed printers with proven cost of ownership and stopped the trend toward cheap-to-buy, expensive-to-own ink jet printers.
Of course the fear mongers were ready to defend the status quo. What if it breaks leaving us with no way to make copies and a repair bill that will bankrupt us? We put it into perspective. For the same price we are currently paying we could buy a used Riso duplicator every other month and throw the old ones away! If our photocopier goes down it would be cheaper to have Office Max make copies for us – including daily pickup and delivery to the church – then what we now pay.
The cost per copy is a fraction of what we were paying. All decisions were based on a total life cycle cost model which can be used for future similar decision making.
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The main floor bathroom had several generations of security, phone, and network cables routed through holes in the ceiling, floor and walls. It was not a pretty sight. An adjacent closet contained multiple generations of phone equipment dating back at least 50 years. We either removed or relocated all of these to more appropriate locations.
All network and computer cables now terminate in a central wiring closet along with connections to our outside service providers. Patch panels give us the capability to rapidly troubleshoot and re-route problematic connections from anywhere in the facility. This results in a robust technology infrastructure and a welcome cosmetic improvement to the offices.
We upgraded our Internet from DSL to broadband which required new equipment to be purchased and configured. We now have about 10 times the speed at half the cost of the previous service. A renter needed this level of service and agreed to pay all expenses for the upgrade.
We completed in-wall wiring and connecting five Proliphix thermostats to the church network. We can now access the heating schedule over the Internet. Alerts have been setup such that an email or text message is sent whenever the temperature goes outside of a predefined range.
For some people the only thing less understood than technology is the nature of technology people. We developed our own marketing graphics as an extension of the church’s identity for an ongoing educational dialog with the congregation.
We used bulletin inserts, videos, signage, etc. to promote specific activities and topical factoids to help demystify technology. We boosted team membership by 300% after hosting open balcony Sunday’s – which featured VIP seating including coffee and donuts to entice folks to simply observe what all goes into a Worship service.
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Qwest agreed to refund massive overbillings after the Tech Team filed a complaint with the Public Utilities Commission. We then reduced the phone bill by 2/3’rds by eliminating features that our own phone system could do. We replaced ancient trunk lines coming into the building which has eliminated frequent service calls.
Project lead overseeing the replacement of a 100-year-old modified coal furnace with modern forced air furnaces. The project entailed the demolition of a room-sized brick enclosure, a six-foot diameter blower, retort, and sub-basement passageways. It also involved comprehensive asbestos remediation and removal. Managed the design and construction of intricate duct work to connect five new furnaces to the original ducting, servicing eight zones. The updated system featured advanced controls, including multiple stage heating, flame modulation, makeup air, outside air intake, variable air mixing, relief air, enthalpy sensors for free cooling, and Internet-based energy management thermostats.
Operated forced air heating and ventilation system of 5 furnaces with 8 zones, advanced controls and energy management.
Implemented centralized electronic media vault containing photos, artifacts, graphical elements, videos, music, business forms and more.
Content Management Software (CMS) is now being used to share content between church bulletins, newsletters, projection graphics, and our website. Macromedia Contribute software lets staff and team leaders make their own websites updates while following all stylistic rules.
Created a dedicated space in the balcony for technology including areas for worship arts (sound and video), service and support, and a collaborative work area with two computers for website authoring, graphics creation, projection slides creation, and word processing for use by all other teams.
We gathered natural gas usage statistics during the transition from the old fuel guzzling furnace to the new fuel efficient furnaces. Building on this success we expanded our monthly usage analysis to include electricity, water, and printing. The data was normalized to reflect the true actual cost for each period and was made available to the Board of Directors and all leadership.
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This was a sweeping effort to instill industry best practices into all of our technical systems – including sound, projection, telephones, copiers, furnaces, boiler, computers, network, website, and email.
Click below for a few examples.
We were plagued with power problems for years – sound system buzzing, video projection herringbone patterns, brown outs, overloaded circuits, equipment damage due to transients, lack of properly grounded circuits, and ground loops. With increased usage of wireless microphones came unpredictable problems. The straw that broke the camels back occurred when one pastor would randomly sound like Papa Smurf. Something drastic had to be done.
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Designed and deployed new website for Would Jesus Discriminate? campaign.
The church phone system is now part of the Tech Team. Repaired telephone system for less than $100 by replacing power supply circuit card rather than getting duped into buying a whole new system as was recommended by our service provider. Bought phone overlays that we can print ourselves as people come and go. Condensed several hundred page programming manual down to a few pages that are applicable to us.
We countered internal claims that our Lucent phone system is “beyond its service life” and needs to be replaced. Funny how the source of this unsolicited concern is the rhetoric of cold calls from sales people. We are in the sweet spot of ownership for this type of equipment. We have paid off the lease and now own the system outright. We also canceled an expensive service contract because parts cost a fraction of what they originally cost. The system is old enough where a great deal is known about its long term reliability and maintenance. This system has been deemed a long-term workhorse and as such there are tons of inexpensive replacement parts readily available for years to come.
We have no use for the advanced features of the current system much less the features of a brand new system. All we get with a new system is bragging rights over something shinny and a hefty monthly payment. Phone calls are phone calls. Provided the calls are clear and reliable there are far better ways of spending donated funds than keeping up with the Jones’.
Alex Palmer produced this video as a tribute to outgoing team leader Peter Erdman.
Alex becomes new team leader and changes focus from Technology to Worship Arts (sound and visuals for Services).
While this project never got off the ground…a great deal of work went into planning and designing an innovative way to reach those who can’t reach us. We had the unique opportunity of having three seasoned television professionals ready to produce world-class video of Sunday Services.
Our interim Pastor appoints Peter Erdman as team leader to reassemble the original Technology Team that is now fragmented throughout the organization. Technology needs to reflect the new church strategy of a “starfish” organization, eliminating the old command and control mindset that we are putting behind us. Out with top-down policy making and a moat surrounded building-centric infrastructure. In with world-class self-secured resources available to all leadership regardless of geographical location.
Provided custom sound and lighting for the play Greater Tuna and for the Christmas Cabaret.
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Comprehensive five years technology vision and execution plan. This strategy would put in place totally new technology reflecting a shift in leadership and church direction.
We designed and deployed a leadership portal based on Microsoft SharePoint. The first deployment was a bit ahead of its time since only a couple of teams found it useful. A few years later we redeployed the portal as part of an initiative of a decentralized organizational structure by our interim Pastor. It was still a struggle for leaders to adopt the technology but it was an excellent metaphor for the changes in thinking that was taking place. The organization was transitioning from top-down command and control leadership to one that is decentralized.
We had a twelve day opportunity to completely tear down and rebuild all sound, video, and lighting equipment. We literally erected a tent in the balcony to contain our activities which took place day and night. Most of our equipment just needs some TLC like new connectors, cleaning, minor repairs, and proper labeling. Complete engineering specifications and blue prints were prepared in advance.
Click below for more.
Major initiative to replace most on-premise application software and data storage with Office 365 including Outlook, OneDrive, and SharePoint.
We were one of the first organizations to take advantage of Microsoft’s announcement that their charitable donations now includes churches – we were granted 100 perpetual licenses worth $14,200 per year. Conducted several custom training seminars including producing training materials, and a custom training room.
Year-after-year we were able to move mountains because of the trust extended to us by leadership. However, when the status quo became increasingly threatened, the mountains became insurmountable sealing our own doom. Without trust a mighty river is slowed to the speed of molasses. Rather than dealing with the problem head-on our new senior Pastor asked the team leader to step down along with two outspoken tenured volunteers. Minutes later he rallied the remaining founding team member to stay involved; he resigned four weeks later.
The Technology Team was summarily disbanded, ending the team that was founded 14 years ago. We were asked to pack up our personal gear (8 truck loads!), and have no further involvement from that day forward. He also dissolved the HVAC Team ending a ten-year stint of a volunteer licensed boiler engineer.
In one fell swoop the achievements and legacy of these two teams evaporated.
The next day an email went out to all leadership announcing the change without a scintilla of explanation. Leaders were reminded that they are not to assume anything or engage in gossip. So much for open and direct communication.
Command and Control leadership continues to preserve itself by the same culture of blaming and shaming that has plagued this organization for decades.
Spin. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Even though technology permeates the entire organization it is not always well understood by all those leading the organization. As church technology became more advanced so did the spread of misinformation in decision making. The Tech Team was increasingly called upon to educate and advise members of the Board of Directors when they had questions related to technology.
Unfortunately the status quo at the church is more powerful than simple verifiable facts so some decision makers relied upon personalities, weasel words, and sales pitches rather than the Tech Team. This was difficult to witness but was not ours to judge.