Technology moves quickly, but not everyone in your church may be ready for the fast lane. Smart churches are planning their technology with both traditional and new media users in mind.

A recent Barna Group study on recorded church media shows that CD ministries are as important and popular as ever. Even in the age of Podcasts, MP3 players, and streaming video, 61 percent of churchgoers want to take a physical recording with them—preferably on CD—directly after a service.

Why Churchgoers Still Love CDs
First of all, CDs are easy to use and players are widely available. And, according to the nationwide research, people strongly prefer physical media over e-mailing for sharing teachings. In fact, 65 percent of churchgoers in the survey prefer to share a sermon with friends and family by giving it to them in person.

"We get many requests for CDs and DVDs—more than for our Web downloads," said Laure Adaro of New Hope Christian Fellowship, a church of about 12,000 members on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.

"Our members want their recordings right after the service, and they want to listen while they are driving or at home doing the dishes," said Adaro. "Not everyone has a DVD or MP3 player, but it is very easy to find a CD player. Our cars have them, and they're in most home computers too."

Adaro added that New Hope started phasing out cassettes after car makers stopped putting tape players in cars.

"But the generation that had to give up cassettes is not interested in moving away from CDs anytime soon," she said.

At a typical Sunday service, she and her volunteers will duplicate up to 100 CDs and 250 DVDs. That number climbs to 500 DVDs when senior pastor Wayne Cordeiro speaks on popular topics.

It's not unusual for a single person to order multiple copies of a recording through New Hope's online bookstore.

"I think when God really speaks to people through a teaching—especially for the first time—they want to share it with many people who are dealing with something similar," Adaro said.

Variety Is Critical for Inclusive Outreach
Churches with outreach and evangelism as their focus are advancing their technology with multiple live and recorded formats in mind. This means more choices for worldwide audiences, as well as anyone with mobility restrictions, income limitations, language barriers, or varying familiarity with technology.

At Calvary Community Church in Phoenix, Arizona, the variety of media offered (traditional live services, television broadcasts, radio re-broadcasts, Web streaming, downloadable recordings, and CD recordings) means there is a format available to put everyone at ease, no matter their technology comfort level.

Calvary started in 1982 with a study group of 11 people. Now, 10,000 members later and in its third decade, the church is duplicating more than CDs; senior pastor Mark Martin has figured out how to be in two places at once.

"With the launch of our second campus, our senior pastor felt very strongly about being visible and available to both locations for both Sunday services," said Calvary's Al Kerbey. "To achieve this, we're doing something that I think is fairly unique: a two-way live video feed between our two campuses."

He continued, "Pastor Mark will preach live from our original site at 9:00. He'll then drive to our second church to preach live at 11:00. Both sites will hear and see him in real time for each service. What's unique is the interaction allowed by the two-way broadcast. We're designing our worship services for active participation between the two sites—it's no longer a passive, one-way broadcast of the program."

Kerbey is pleased that his ministry leadership team pushes the technology envelope.

"They are very plugged in and constantly bringing me new ideas for using technology in outreach," he said. "But we haven't lost anyone to these changes over the years because they have been gradual and organic. We get members involved in making decisions. There will always be a place in the room and a medium for the more traditional folks."

Planning for the Right Technology
With the recent surge in digital audio technology, today's equipment offers more functionality and higher quality at less cost. Editing and CD-duplicating products are also simpler for volunteers and amateur recording techs to use. So it's no surprise that more churches and musicians are choosing equipment that lets them create recordings quickly and use them with great flexibility.

The most important thing churches can ask when considering new recording and duplicating equipment is how their members want to use the end product. Do the national trends in the Barna recording study align with your needs? There could be strong preferences in your church that will surprise you. Knowing for sure will help you invest in the right technology.

Here are some important questions to ask:

How many people are you serving with recordings every week?
Counting heads and what medium they prefer will help you decide what combination of CD and Web-based recordings to offer.

How long are your members willing to wait for their recording?
The Barna study showed most people are willing to wait about 10 to 20 minutes for their copy of the service. After 30 minutes, they're headed for the parking lot.

Will the recording need to endure repeat listening?
Not all recordable CDs are equally durable or reliable.

Are members likely to share recordings?
If person-to-person outreach is an important part of your church mission, give your members the tools they are most comfortable using.

Ronald L. Simonson, P.E. is president and chief executive officer of CCI Solutions, a nationally recognized AV solutions firm located in Olympia, Washington. CCI Solutions is a leader in the duplication, replication, and media industry and has supplied more than 100 million tapes and CDs to ministry and business organizations in the past 30 years, www.ccisolutions.com.

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Equipment List to Get CDs Ready in 10 Minutes