An elderly worshiper at Frazer United Methodist Church said he could hear a recent sermon the best he had in a long time since the church added new sound equipment in the main sanctuary as part of a technology upgrade that also impacted the Frazer television ministry.

Frazer’s Kim Hendrix said the sound and lighting improvements were part of making worship in the main sanctuary better as well as programming on television where shut-ins and others are reached weekly.

The project had been a need for years, and the church’s debt-free condition reached in January created an ideal time to move forward, Hendrix said. Several benefits have been already noticed.

“The choir doesn’t heat up like they did under the old lighting,” Hendrix said, adding that the sanctuary’s lighting was not installed with TV broadcasting in mind.

New retractable video screens will make hosting special events more convenient, and will be used to post words and videos.

The TV broadcast is now in high definition and the television station control room has new equipment. The importance of the TV ministry is easily measured, Hendrix said.

“A 98-year-old woman told me over the phone that ‘(Frazer) are my church,’” Hendrix said. “She said, ‘If it wasn’t for Frazer, I don’t know who I would worship with.’ We are providing 24-hour Christian programming.”

The technology overhaul took four weeks to complete and represents a sizeable investment for the church, Hendrix said.

“People couldn’t hear in certain areas of the sanctuary,” Hendrix said. “An elderly man said he could hear clearly on a recent Sunday for the first time in 15 years.”

She added that although the church is adding a Pike Road location, the Frazer team will invest all the same in the main campus on Atlanta Highway in east Montgomery. For more information on Frazer, visit http://frazerumc.org/.