An enjoyable worship service is a form of entertainment, only the content is worship directed. For churches to continue to grow the intent of the message needs to be strong and rich in worship and praise, and the delivery method needs to be dynamic.” Joel Brazy, Director of International Sales, AVIOM, states during a rare free moment at the Technologies for Worship Pavilion® at PAL/MIAC, which ran August 26-27, 2007 in Toronto.

For the second year in a row, TFWM showcased the interactive Technologies for Worship Pavilion® in the PAL (Pro Audio and Lighting) hall, attracting visitors from across Canada.

“We’re committed to introducing Houses of Worship to today’s technologies,” Shelagh Rogers, founder of TFWM and the Technologies for Worship Conferences, explains. “Education is the key –anyone can visit our Worship Pavilion and see the latest products in action, which better helps them determine what they could be doing with their own worship team. Our sponsors not only provide us the equipment we need in order to put together our in-depth workshops and run the Quiet Stage®, quite often they also send product specialists to answer questions and offer suggestions to our attendees before their church goes out and spends money on something that won’t work for them.”

The Worship Pavilion® consists of a working stage and features a variety of different companies. Audio, video, broadcast and lighting products are showcased both on the stage and hanging from the professional rigging. The stage also has several large flat screen LCD monitors supplied by JVC, which broadcasts Christian artist Amber Lee and her band as they perform. The front of the stage features five Aviom A16-II Personal Mixers, which attendees can sample during their set. “You’re part of the band now,” Lee tells one happy attendee at the end of a song, “You know how to mix live events!”

To the left of the Quiet Stage®, Yamaha has supplied five M7CL Digital Mixers for the digital mixing workshop, which allows attendees to actually learn about them via hands-on experimentation.

“Participating in the Yamaha Digital Mixer Workshop gave me hands-on experience and a new understanding of the new technologies available. The challenge is to integrate these technologies into our worship service to make the experience more relevant and meaningful. It’s amazing what is possible today,” states Tony Den Bok, pastor for Clearview Church in Stayner, ON. Den Bok brought five members of his youth A/V team to the Digital Mixing Workshop.

He also attended the popular Video Mixing & Visual Performance in Worship workshop. “The Video Mixer workshop was a real eye-opener. To see that moving into the video age in the church is now doable is very exciting. The opportunities for outreach provided by this new technology are incredible. I look forward to finding more ways to make this work for us.”

Darin Esnard, a Video Production Specialist with Roland, was responsible for presenting the video mixing workshop. “The best thing about the Technologies for Worship Conferences is having an interactive display with all the products available and working together. People tend to get intimidated with the equipment that’s available, believing that years of technical skill are required, only to find out after using the products that they were easy and fun to use.”

Esnard explains further, “We had two JVC cameras set up with a comm system that attendees could try out. They would hear instructions from the director and were able to film the live event direct to DVD.”

Donnie Haulk, President of Audio Ethics, oversees the stage production and is a technical advisor for the Worship Pavilion®. “We enjoy participating in the Technologies for Worship Conferences because TFWM brings top quality educators from the sound, light, and video industry together in one place, where they are available to help Houses of Worship understand exactly how exciting and dynamic a worship service can really be. The message that the church has is the strongest message in the world today and should be delivered with the most effective methods and tools available –the church should be leading the way.”

Karl Cartwright, who is responsible for new product development at Westone, agrees. “So much is possible today, and there are various technologies that can be used to make worship more exciting and dynamic. Churches need to realize they are competing with the world.”

Other companies with products showcased at the Worship Pavilion® include d&b Audiotechnik, EV, Eiki, QSC, Corevalus, and Telex.

Dan Garrett, TFWM’s Director of Trade Shows and Conferences, summed the show up this way. “This year at MIAC/PAL, the Worship Pavilion® showcased several new video and broadcast products, as well as offering classes on their use and application. By bringing together trusted partners from disciplines in audio, video, lighting, broadcast and other areas, we show our attendees how they can grow their ministries and improve their messaging.”

The LDI Tradeshow, coming up November 15-18, 2007, in Orlando, FL, will showcase not only the Worship Pavilion® and Quiet Stage®, TFWM will also be running 10 education seminars over the course of the event. Seminar topics include Video Serving: Real-time Visual Performance in Worship; Lighting for the Video Camera; Psycho-Acoustic Speaker Design and Developing a Worship Manager, to name just a few. Garrett believes it will be the best yet. “With each new show the TFWM Conferences and Pavilion grows and expands its presentation of available Technologies used by Houses of Worship in their ministries.” To learn more about TFWM’s participation at LDI, please visit our website, www.tfwm.com/conferences-LDI2007