The Messenger - August 5, 2007
Pastor Neal's
NotesWorks in Progress: Sound Projection
One blessing of being a pastor is being "in the know" about several improvement efforts in the church. One challenge of being a pastor is to communicate this knowledge in a helpful way. Last week, I talked a bit about video projection during worship and some initial efforts there. This week, I thought I'd talk about sound projection.
We live in an interesting era when it comes to sound. On the one hand, there is great progress being made in speakers, hearing aids, and other sound equipment. On the other hand, there is very little consensus about how to do things "right" in a sanctuary like ours.
One consultant said that we needed to replace the 4 aging speakers in the transept with 4 speakers hung on a central "tree" well above our line of sight (near the ceiling). This would prevent the acoustic "shadows" that tend to blur clear speech and create (allegedly) the most natural sort of sound in our church. Some congregations have found this to be a wonderful solution, but others have struggled with it, and it's hard to know exactly why.
A second consultant recommended that we replace our 4 aging speakers with 4 new ones hung in a slightly different way. These new speakers would point down at a much steeper angle, and they would be synchronized electronically so that sound reaches the back of the sanctuary just a fraction of a second later than it reaches the front. The purpose, once again, is to both simulate and magnify a "natural" sort of sound, but it reminds me of cosmetics: it can be very, very hard to create a "natural" effect.
We know that we need to upgrade our speaker system, and we know that we need to upgrade our microphones as well (I'll talk more about that next week). The good news is that almost anything would be better than what we have right now. The bad news is that we may not be able to tell which choice is truly best until one choice is made. Erik Larson is directing this investigation on behalf of the Mission Facilitation Team. Please pray that God will guide them to make a helpful, punctual and prudent choice.
God bless you!
Neal
August Weekly Calendar Highlights
Most Commissions are Dark this month.
Monday 06 Office hours 8:30am - 12 noon and 1 - 4pm Contact Shirley Snow
Tuesday 07 Beachcomber Beta Group 2:30pm Contact: Rupert Loyd or Pastor Neal
Adult Discipleship Commission 7:30pm Contact Erik Larson
Wednesday 08 Breakfast Club Bible Study at Carrow's 7am Contact Rupert Loyd
No Voyagers this evening Contact The Larsons
Prayer Fellowship 7pm Contact Rupert Loyd
Jr. High Fellowship this evening 6 - 7:15pm Contact Randi Bender
Thursday 09 Office hours 8:30am - 12 noon and 1 - 4pm Contact Shirley Snow
Friday 10 Tennis & Breakfast 8:15am Contact: Rupert Loyd or Pastor Neal
Youth Hang-Out 7:30- 9:30pm Contact Randi Bender
Saturday 11 Final Co-ed Church League Softball game at El Nido Park in Torrance 7:30pm
Call or contact Gary Smith for ride share info.
Sunday 12 Worship 9:30am August is special music selections month. Prepare for surprises!
Remember these are just the Highlights... Call the church office if you need details 310-832-7597
Buy Groceries and Help Our Youth and Youth Choirs
By Lesley Sirianni
Grocery
Store Donations to Our Youth Programs
Did
you know that the youth ministries and the youth choirs share in the
Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons Community Card programs? And all you have
to do is register your card in the name of First Presbyterian Church of
San Pedro and every time you swipe your club card for in-store
savings, Ralphs, Vons, and/or Albertsons will donate a percentage to
our youth’s account. That's it, nothing else to do.
Current
members need to renew their registration every year
to Ralph’s in August and to Vons in November.
For
Ralphs:
Go to
www.ralphs.com
and in
the blue menu on the left click on "Community Contribution." Then click
on "Participant," then "I Agree" and fill out the form that appears. Our NPO Number is 83604. Then
"Submit."
For
Vons:
Go to
www.escrip.com (have your Vons
Club Card number available) and click on “YES RENEW”
For
Albertsons:
At this time annual
renewal is not required. Their website is www.albertsons.com/cp
New
card
holders can register their club card(s) in the name
of First Presbyterian Church of San Pedro at the same web sites.
That's it - nothing more except to swipe your Club Card every time you shop.
The
registration and renewal process needs to be completed by September 1st
for Ralphs so please don't delay. The youth ministries and youth choirs
will thank you!
All Church Picnic
By Betty and Rupert Loyd
The All Church Picnic will beheld at Ft. McArthur on Saturday the 8th of September from 11 AM till 4 PM.
We will have the usual Hot Dogs and it will be a pot luck with everyone bringing a salad or a desert.
More details will be forthcoming. Of course we will need all the help we can get.
Anyone interested in helping please contact Betty and Rupert Loyd (310 833 7972) or the Church (310 832 7597)
Help!
The Messenger needs your help.
If you know of, or are part of, an unofficial group of church members who gather for any reason on a regular basis (i.e. Bridge, Tennis, Walking, Book Discussion, etc.) and you are open to new people joining you, we'd like to know about your group.
Just send Eric an email with the vitals of your group:
- who your point
of
contact is,
- what you do,
- where
- when.
Thank you in advance!
Spotlight on:Nominating Committee
By The Messenger
This is a committee of Session and not a commission in the strictest sense. It reports directly to Session and its membership is elected and fixed once a year at the Church Annual Meeting. This is the only committee or commission where a church member can not volunteer to serve.
This commission seeks to discover the individuals that God is calling to be elders and deacons in our church. In making this decision, the commission prayerfully considers stewardship, attendance, giftedness, spiritual maturity, and willingness to serve. In a typical year, they seek at least 7 elders and 11 deacons. This process takes several months of work.
Chairperson: Rupert Loyd
Random Fact of the Week
- The Bible was divided into chapters by Stephen Langton about A.D. 1228.
- The Old Testament was divided into verses by R. Nathan in A.D. 1448 and
- the New Testament by Robert Stephanus in A.D. 1551.
- The entire Bible divided into chapters and verses first appeared in the Geneva Bible of 1560.
On-line Bible Helps
Bible -- Many translations available.
http://www.biblegateway.com/
Bible Dictionary -- What does that word mean?
http://www.online-dictionary.net/bible/index.php
Bible History -- Put scripture in historical and cultural context.
http://www.bible-history.com/isbe/
Mp3 Audio Bible -- Soak your brain in the Word.
http://www.audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html
Please send updates and you can help with the site
Page Last Updated: Mon Aug 27, 2007