Unsung Heroes of the Pandemic
Unsung Heroes of the Pandemic (but they listen to a lot of singing!)
Just about two years ago now, some of us scrambled during the week to figure out how we might record a Sunday service for broadcast in order to keep folks safe during the pandemic. I wish I had photos of those early days of streaming Sunday church. An iPhone, a step stool, an altar more than a few microphones that never worked perfectly. I’m feeling the stress again as I type.
Since those early and squirrelly days, we’ve now live-streamed over a hundred services, and I’m happy to say thousands of people have had access to what we consider to be so special and so important for so many years—worship at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
None of this hard and important work would’ve been accomplished without the help of our A/V Team here at St. John’s. Robyn Reed, Lonnie Brown, Rob Kass, JR Dalby, Haley Ross, and Annie Sampson have spent the last two years learning new skills, sitting through hours of training, practicing operating cameras, switches, and microphones. This particular volunteer opportunity at St. John’s is not easy. I have watched this team troubleshoot problems I never even imagined we might have. “Live TV” is fraught with challenges. Everything has to go right. Everything doesn’t always go right. And, they find a way to fix it. I can see the stress on their faces when things aren’t going as planned. And, I know why they’re stressed. It’s not because this camera or that microphone or the other switch isn’t functioning. It’s because they know that you and whoever else are at home aren’t able to fully access what’s so important to us—church, our spiritual community of love-spreading difference-makers.
If you run into one of these St. John’s heroes, please look them in the eye, and thank them. They kept us together in the most challenging time of most of our lives. Thank you team. We know we’re better together, and you’ve allowed us to stay that way.
And, just you wait, another team of video volunteers—John Millar, Ann Thayer, Larry Veit, and Doug Ayers—have been working hard, learning video techniques and software and lighting down in the basement, as we build out a study downstairs, so that we might be able to share more of our church’s thought and heart to a wider audience. Stay tuned!
