We have heard from so many users over the years that we thought, “Why don’t we share some of their stories?” So, we are going to start doing more User Spotlights. We’ve highlighted some in the past on our blog (check out this story of a missionary that uses MediaShout) as well as emails that we have sent. But we want to make this more of a regular post. At our best count, we have over 80,000 churches and ministries all over the world that use MediaShout. Some of them are less than 50 people. Others are over 5,000 people. Hearing stories from each of them can be encouraging for all of us. So, let’s start with Calvary Baptist Church from Byesville, OH.
About Calvary Baptist Church
Calvary is one of a few churches in the Byesville, OH area, a town of only about 2,500 people located halfway between Wheeling and Columbus, OH. The church was founded in 1946 and runs around 90 people each week in service. Their Senior Pastor, Dennis Rost, has been there almost 20 years. 
Calvary Baptist Church (Byesville, OH)
What is their story?
We’ve had the opportunity to get to know Chris Bergerson, the Director of Technical Services, over the last few years through the Worship 4:24 Conference in Cedarville, OH. Chris came to one of our classes at the Worship 4:24 Conference and was intrigued by Visual Worship and MediaShout. After talking with him a few times and hearing their story, we realized that they were facing challenges in the area of technology. They had some older antiquated gear and cabling that was causing issues and creating distractions on Sunday morning during service. They decided to plan some technology updates and upgrades and talked through some ideas with us around how MediaShout could help meet their needs.
Inside the Tech Booth
What did they do?
Chris created a detailed cabling plan himself that would update them to digital video and allow them to continue to grow and expand as needed. They also replaced a number of pieces of gear including their computer and audio console. They have added the ability to take and send multiple display sources seamlessly, set up a quality live stream of their services, be able to integrate PowerPoint smoothly when guest speakers come in, and much more. However, the changes didn’t come without some growing pains. Chris knew that he had to do his due diligence and research and test on a small scale to make sure his ideas would work. He also reached out to other church and tech people for information and suggestions (a great resource are various Facebook groups on Church Tech, such as the Visual Church Media group). But the most important thing he learned was, “if it is worth doing, it is worth spending the time and money to do it right.” That’s a great point as it helps us to be good stewards of what we have been given and to work and serve with excellence. Check out some of the pictures of their setup:
The Tech Booth
Their custom-built computer for MediaShout.
Their Audio Console and Video Matrix
The Video Matrix and Splitters (including colored HDMI cables)
Want to be in a User Spotlight?
We love hearing user stories and sharing those with our users. Do you want to tell us your story? We may even share it with our users like we did with Chris and Calvary Baptist Church (don’t worry, we won’t share without your permission). Simply fill out this form and answer a few questions to send us your story. Maybe we will spotlight you next!
