The vestry of Holy Trinity Dunfermline are pleased to announce that we have come to an agreement with a preferred supplier for a new installation of permanent broadcast equipment.
Many of us have joined together online for our Live Streams on our YouTube Channel. The communications team have worked tirelessly each week putting together online services, editing videos and procuring equipment. It’s hard to define how many hours are put in every week to bring you live streaming. Thanks to all those who have volunteered so much of their own time to making it a success. Thanks need to go to our Rector for being patient and learning the new skill of online worship. Thanks also to those who produced DVDs of the services for those who didn’t have online access, a vital service to keep those most vulnerable connected to us at Holy Trinity Dunfermline.
Thanks to our organist traveling each week and recording Hymns, we were also able to bring you music, which can all be found online. We would like to thank Beth and Rachel who over the past 12 months have typed up and created the videos to go with that music so you can sing along at home. It’s hours of work and is very appreciated by us all.
Those who have followed us throughout the pandemic will know whilst we produce a wonderful amount of online content we are doing so with a range of equipment that is not suited to the full return to in person worship. We are also reliant on a very small amount of people who, if they are not available, we can’t run without. We have asked a lot of our volunteers so far and we would like to thank them but also acknowledge this needs to change.
Online streaming of services is now something we do at Holy Trinity Dunfermline. Very early on in the pandemic we made the commitment to live stream and committed to continue this going forward. It is now part of our church community and will remain so going forward. We also appreciate some of our online congregation live across the globe and won’t often travel to Holy Trinity (although they are always welcome), others will no longer watch with us online and will only attend in person. For many of us we will find a balance between attending as often as we can and then catching up or watching live online when we can’t for whatever reason. For this to happen we need a permanent solution.
The vestry has approved a new set-up of cameras and broadcast equipment that is flexible, high quality and will improve the church technically for years to come. A lot of rewiring needs to take place and it is hoped the work will be completed in early April. To capture images at the alter table, pulpit and lectern created a challenge, a balance had to be taken between one expensive high quality camera and multiple more cost effective ones. We have chosen to go with three cameras all of which are adjustable and can cover a range of locations. Two will be in the main sanctuary of the church covering the majority of our service with another on top of the Rectors’ stall which will cover the alter and the church organ. A new tech booth will be created at the back of the church to run all of the new equipment.
A new broadcast centre which is simple to use will also be installed meaning more of us can be trained to push the couple key buttons to live stream, with the capability to plug in more equipment to add more videos and captions into the service when we wish. The recent Wi-Fi install whilst successful has struggled to cope with the large thick walls and requires modification, it will be re-sighted which should bring fast free Wi-Fi to everyone in the church. We have also purchased new high quality mics to ensure those in the church and at home can hear everything clearly and reliably.
We are looking for volunteers (no prior experience required) to be trained up on how to use the equipment once it is up and running. If you would like to volunteer please get in touch with us on messenger or email our communications team. It is hoped with a wide team and a user friendly interface we can continue to broadcast and connect with many more people at home.
It is hoped we can look at utilising online service sheets, we are all used to from our online worships, in church to cut down on the paper we print. We would encourage those attending to bring along tablets or phones and use them to follow the service. We hope this will help those find a font size to suit them and this provide the flexibility should any of those attending find our usual service sheets harder to use. If you need any help please let us know.
The Vestry chose not to join many other churches and take the opportunity to install screens to show the same pictures we are streaming online to the congregation in person. The benefit would be we could also use them to show the words to hymns, liturgy, notices and other videos, cutting down on our printing costs and better protecting the environment. It is hoped this is something the vestry will consider again in the future, once the current instal is complete. However the system that will be installed will be designed to be ‘fit to receive’ screens so a vestry at any time can decide to invest and the installation can be easily linked back into the system.
Whilst grants will be sought we always welcome your donations to the work of our church. Get in touch to find out how. If you know of any grants please feel to get in touch with the vestry.