Creation of Our Online Services: If You Want To Know How the Sausage Is Made….(click here)
My sister said this week, “I feel like I’m starting my profession all over again.” She’s been a speech and language pathologist for 30 years, and superb at helping very young children with multiple special needs learn to say sounds and talk. It’s a lot of hands-on care and encouragement, playing with toys, helping the infants and toddlers mimic her sounds, having them feel the shape of her mouth. Now my sister has to try to teach through a zoom call, with children darting on and off screen. In the past, she could serve 40 children each week. Now she is relieved if she can spend “zoom” time with 10. To prepare for the new sessions, my sister is watching and re-watching the webinars distributed by other speech and language pathologists; “I only can absorb a certain amount with each viewing,” she told me. This was one of the best conversations I’ve had recently, because my sister put in words what I’ve been feeling: it’s as if I’m starting my profession all over again. For Heinrich, David and me, offering you worship over the web has meant developing new skills, trying new experiments, jerry-rigging fixes on the fly, and last weekend, an unexpected car ride up to Lowell where our videographer lives. For our 3/29/20 worship services, our music director Heinrich reached out to various choir members about their availability, because none of the choral and organ pieces he’d originally selected could be performed. Emily Bieber offered to sing, so Heinrich arranged with her and the ministers the songs she could perform from her apartment that would fit into the sermon themes. Emily and her husband recorded four pieces, but Heinrich’s home computer could not open the “zip file” in which they arrived. Later in the day I was able to do that, and one by one sent copies to Heinrich. Heinrich also brainstormed about the discs of his past recordings that could be found in his office at the parish house. I retrieved them and my husband Bob “ripped” digital files of these and sent them to Heinrich and Alex, our videographer. I worked on my sermon, researching and praying about our message for the day, in this odd and difficult time. I needed to set aside my original plans for Lent. On Saturday morning, David and I met – 6 feet apart – in the Little Chapel, because we can no longer videotape at the church. The Little Chapel is under my livingroom and adjoining the parish house where David lives, so it’s part of the “home” in which he and I are sheltering. At 9 AM we began reviewing our portions of the service and shoving around the pews in the Little Chapel, trying to clear space for the video shots we expected to need. By 10 AM my dear husband Bob had arrived; he gamely set up the church’s video recorder, and then taped the two Sunday worship services. It might be – maybe- that David and I required more than one “take” of a few items! Our 2-year-old granddaughter needed Bob’s assistance with a nap at noon, but by mid-afternoon we were done with the video-taping, ready to transfer the files to Alex. David and I were thrilled to have finished the service so early. Sadly, for sweet Bob, his work had just begun. The internet informed us that the massive file transfer would be a ten hour process, then later blinked out the message that Alex might get the files in the wee hours of the morning. At 7 AM Sunday Alex called me to report that key segments of the worship services had never transferred, so I drove the two little postage sized chips that contained the videoed services up to Alex in Lowell. Alex and I did a drive-by handoff, and Alex then worked hard to splice and dice in the music portions of the service. As you may know, the services were not posted timely on Sunday – we’re so sorry. But they did get up on our website by afternoon, blessedly. Thanks to all who contributed so much to their creation. Slowly we’re learning new things about creating a patchwork service for you all, and this week have instituted several new fixes, including a solution for a faster internet transfer. Whew! This little story is a microcosm of what we’re all grappling with: we’re all in a season of disruption. For some, it’s also a dangerous season of grave illness when we wonder if the ultimate disruption may be upon us. For all with these questions on your hearts, we hold you in tender prayer. However you find yourself, may you know that our God of Love is with you every single step of this journey. So are your staff here at King’s Chapel. Let us know if we can help in any way. Blessings to you all, now and always, Joy Comments are closed.
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