Church Sound: When Our Tech World Is Turned Upside Down

Sometimes things can be going so well and then something goes wrong.

By Gary Zandstra • December 12, 2018

Most of us who have been involved in church production have had at least one mistake or failure during a service (I have many), where you just want to disappear in the booth.

One of my most egregious mistakes took place a number of years ago. It was so significant that I still wear the scars from it.

Back in “the day”—when video projection was almost nonexistent because of the huge cost of projectors—I was serving on staff at a large church that used 35-millimeter slides for the visual presentation elements of the service. All of our worship songs, hymns, and even the sermon notes were made into slides and projected on a large rear projection screen centered on the wall behind the worship platform (we didn’t dare call it a stage in those days).