2024 began with a focus on visual communication and technology.
Systems that were built well before Covid needed to be upgraded,
and costs for those systems needed to come down. Legacy software
was re-evaluated for better, more cost-effective products, and
automated processes like online forms to save on phone calls were developed.
The year wasn’t just a back-room effort. Grace Church said it was time
to create a new website that reflected the personality of the church.
That meant more photos and videos were needed to show the love, happiness,
and community togetherness that came into the sanctuary and Grace House
each week. Time to put the creative on!
In January, the new website began, while the existing website remained. This
allowed parishioners to keep interacting with the church as they had always done.
We also vetted out and eventually bought a new software for the Cemetery called CemSites. This is a
remarkable product that allows the administrators to know exactly what they needs to know when
parishioners request a burial site. The Cemetery Committee helped tremendously with
the data entries that we eventually put into the software system as digital records.
In February, videos and photos began around the church as
content was added to the growing new website. A graphic called the Grace Eco-System
was developed to better understand how all of the ministries and committees of Grace worked together.
In March, an SSL Certificate was set up for the new site and the
website with all of the components above continued to be built.
In April, a section to the website called Seasons of Grace was added. This was designed to
share pictures and information about the seasons of the liturgical year. Forms were also
added to the website to allow information to go directly to the Parish Admin for the church and
the key point person for the Yard Sale. Photos were taken for the Water Mission, and a Concert was organized.
In May, we found a great system for Streaming Video at the 10:30 service – Dacast.
The Dacast software was installed and, also, the OBS virtual encoder. This officially began the changeover from the prior Streaming service.
The May Celtic Service was recorded and posted.
In June, Grace Church’s Homecoming at Historic Christ Church was recorded with
photos and videos added to the Happenings Page of the website.
In July, discussions began with the Finance Committee regarding creating a new Ministry involving
Audio / Video / Tech. Also, photos were taken at the 8:00 service at Historic Christ Church
for the website.
In August, the new Server with Backups was further developed. The website was pretty much complete now. More policies, etc., were added
to the Yard Sale section to help them automate information to customers. All of the keys for the
church were also tested with each door, identified and labeled, so that the door keys process would be easier.
In September, we filmed Miriam MacCarthy’s Organ Dedication at Historic Christ Church,
and, in working with the Rector and Stewardship Chair, a new Stewardship section was added to the Website.
In October, an Audio / Video / Tech requirements list was put together for the Finance Committee and a
future budget for that ministry was discussed. The Celtic Service was also filmed and posted.
In November, the new position for A / V / T was made official thanks to the Finance Committee’s efforts and Grace Trust agreeing to fund a pilot year to test the importance and efficacy of that new department.
In December, the gracechurchkilmarnock.com domain name was pointed to the new
website, so the old site could be released and people would land on the new site
when they entered that same name. The big addition was to get the Rector & Parish Admin’s approval
to upgrade the 2013 routers for Internet in the church to 2025 routers. We did that
on the last week in December! As soon as Breezeline installed the routers to be
consistent across the building, the Internet was faster! Yay! and seemed to be
more reliable. Luke Rawls (bless him!) and I worked for 2 days to make sure the
Soundcraft sound system was integrated with the new routers. Everything worked fine.
Once a month, the gathering at Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury was filmed, edited
and posted in the eTimes.
A small team to step in and learn the systems in the event Susan travels or need a Sunday off. A few pages of script
(which has been revised with all the new changes) was written to show how to stream the video and work the tablet for sound.
The printed version will be on the table near the equipment in the balcony of the Sanctuary.
It promises to be another good year at Grace for Audio / Video / Tech.
I SO appreciate your trusting me with these tasks, and I’m SO grateful to the Finance Committee
and Grace Trust and Rev. Kim and the Vestry for all your efforts to make this position a reality.
I look forward to showing the love, happiness, and community togetherness of
Grace Episcopal Church even more this year! Susan Taylor
