New Sound and Lighting Equipment for Church

Like any non-profit organisation, Midstream Methodist Church (MMC) has been adversely affected by the financial devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are trying to raise about R27,000 for the replacement of old recording and music equipment.

For us, true worship is a heartfelt expression of love, admiration, wonder and celebration of our living God. It is ultimately something that draws us closer to our Creator. The experience of losing oneself in worship is heightened through using an adequate sound system.

There are various components that form part of the sound and data system at our church. These include microphones, cameras, computers, a sound desk and much more. In the past, Midstream Methodist Church has invested a significant amount of money into this system, not only to expand it but also to maintain it.

Sadly, this has become more difficult in the last 2 years and the church is now in serious need of some of the components. We have decided to improve the church sound system by doing the following:

1. Buying a New Camera for Video Streaming

During the COVID-19 lockdown, the church scrambled to borrow a camera to continue to bring the uncompromised Word of God to the people. Recordings were then streamed online. There was a need for ongoing online streaming as our congregation includes a large number of high-risk senior citizens.

The task team has identified the Nikon D3100 as the most cost-effective way to fulfil this need. This camera allows for the recording of high definition video and good quality sound.

2. Enclosure of the Drum Area

Midstream Methodist Church has a relatively small church hall. A drum screen is used to eliminate the problem of the drum sound overwhelming the other instruments as well as the singers. The current screen used did not sufficiently reduce the sound.

3. Replacement of Equipment

The microphones are also earmarked as key components for replacement through this fundraising project. The church uses two types of microphones; hand-held vocal microphones and head-worn microphones. The head-worn microphone includes a built-in earpiece and is also used by the preacher when conducting services. The current 6 hand-held microphones as well as the 3 head-worn microphones are completely worn out.

The Midstream Methodist Church team has opted for the Shure SM58 head-worn microphone and the Shure handheld cordless microphones for their reliability, quality and durability.

4. Fixing of the Existing Equipment

MMC currently makes use of the X32 Behringer sound desk. This sound desk delivers good quality sound and includes all the required features for the church. The X32 was recently repaired and serviced after a lightning strike damaged both the sound desk and stage-lighting system. The church urgently needs to hire a professional to re-route and reconfigure this system.

The DMX lighting system used by the church is a fairly basic system which assists in lighting up the stage and for focused attention. The need is to replace damaged controllers and hire professional technicians for further fault finding and repairs.

5. Training

All individuals operating the sound desk are volunteers. Each volunteer is comfortable in operating the sound desk, however there is a void in that volunteers are not familiar with the advanced features of the system. Volunteers will thus need to be re-trained to ensure the optimum usage of the reconfigured system.

RELATED SUPPORTED COURSE

We intend to donate about R500 for every R7,500 that we will raise to a Non Profit Organisation called Kingdom Kids. Some of their programmes include Prison Ministry for incarcerated juveniles at Emthonjeni Youth Centre at Baviaanspoort Correctional Centre in Pretoria.