Now that your Christmas mass or pageant is over, whether it was a simple service, a living Christmas tree or a Broadway-style event, you may have noticed a few bugs in your church audio and video systems. Sit down with your church technical team, including your sound engineer, key volunteers, and your praise leader, and get ready to answer the following questions.

If your tech team is a party-of-one or if you can’t coordinate everyone’s schedules for a sit-down meeting, don’t worry. Grab a pen and paper or open your Notepad app and get ready to do a deep dive into your church technology systems. Then you can share your notes and get feedback from decision-makers or the rest of your team.

The answers to these questions will provide insight about which parts of your church audio visual systems need upgrades and what components you can squeeze a few more years out of.

Did any components fail during rehearsal or services?
If you had to make a late-night call to your audio visual integrator to replace an amp or find out why a sub wasn’t working, that’s a sure sign your church is ready for a sound system upgrade. Make a note of parts that failed, and then talk to a church sound professional to determine if it’s time to replace these components — or maybe the whole system.

What parts of your AV systems gave you the most stress?
Maybe nothing failed the night of your Christmas pageant, but a few components brought you to your knees, saying prayers that they would turn on for midnight mass. Even if those prayers were answered, it’s time to consider replacing that older system so you can leave the big requests for other matters.

Or maybe it wasn’t equipment failure that stressed you out, but your analog sound board that made it so challenging to switch from midnight mass to your next service. Or a projector that didn’t give you the image quality you wanted. There’s nothing like having a packed house to open your eyes to flaws and imperfections in a service — even if you’re the only one who noticed.

Did you have to rent any equipment to accomplish your theatrical objectives? How much did it cost? How many times have you rented this same type of gear?
Sometimes churches in New York try to save money by renting the audio visual equipment they need for special events like Christmas and Easter. If it’s a one-and-done deal, AV rentals can represent significant long-term savings.

But if you continue renting similar components – for Easter, Christmas, and maybe community events – it’s time to look into purchasing the set up. You might find that if you have more, you can do more, maybe by hosting community theater programs or producing additional special services to reach the unchurched. And a permanently installed system may cost less than you imagined.

What would you like to have done that seemed cost-prohibitive?
The initial planning meetings for special events are so much fun; everyone tosses around creative ideas without thinking about the technical execution of those ideas. It seems the sky’s the limit – until you consider your New York area church’s limited budget.

JD Pro AV might be able to help you with affordable audio video systems that will allow you to realize your vision and achieve your goals for less than you expected. You’ll never know unless you ask.

We’re here to help New York Tri-state area churches reach more people in their community while saving money on the technology that’s become expected during the worship experience today. If the answers to the questions above have gotten you thinking about a church audio video upgrade, give us a call.