Oops: Audio issues during service

In this morning’s service, the sound quality at the beginning of the service wasn’t up to our usual standard. This blog post takes a quick look at what happened, why it happened, why we didn’t catch it sooner, what we did to fix it, and how we’re making sure it doesn’t happen again.

What happened?

Just after the service started, some of our viewers reported that the sound was “choppy” or “bumpy”. Thanks to those who let us know – as you’ll read later without this feedback we wouldn’t have known there was a problem.

This problem only affected the service when we were using our wide-angle camera; when we switched to the lectern camera the problem disappeared.

Continue reading “Oops: Audio issues during service”

Weeknotes: 13 February 2021

Here’s what the technical team at Whitkirk has been up to in the past week.

Church audio system

We’ve been investigating how the audio system in the church is currently set up, and where we can make improvements. There are some quick wins, some tweaks which require a bit more work, and some long-term changes which we’ll need to add to our future plans.

In the short term, we’ll be making some small adjustments to how we mix the audio together to let us include external sources (like CD players or other music) in our online broadcasts. We’ll also be investigating ways we can reposition our ambient microphones to pick of more of the organ and the building itself, and less of the footsteps.

Cameras Project

We’ve done some planning for how we integrate the Cameras Project into our regular worship, particularly thinking about where we locate the camera operator and necessary equipment. We’ve also been thinking about later phases of the project and making sure whatever we do now is ready for the future.

Orders of service

We further refined some of the styles we use for orders of service, which make things easier to read on a wider range of screens.

On the physical front, we’ve done some more fine-tuning of the way we set up our pages to leave things more visually balanced.

Playbooks

We made a raft of improvements and clarifications to our playbook for streaming services, making sure we include a few things which got missed last week (a few eagle-eyed watchers noticed we were slow off the mark in turning the lights on at the start of the service). The list now includes almost double the number of preflight checks as well, particularly around making sure the audio is set as expected.

Our website

We’ve rearranged a couple of things on our home page after some feedback, making it easier to find our Midweek Musings.

Elsewhere

We offered a quick bit of advice to another church on accepting online donations and card payments.

An update on worship during the latest lockdown

Worshipping in-person

During this time of national lockdown we have temporarily suspended all acts of public worship at St Mary’s. We ask everyone to play their part in controlling this ongoing pandemic by following all official advice and remaining at home wherever possible.

This is not a choice we take lightly, and we will regularly review our decision and re-open to worship – with some restrictions – as soon as we believe it is safe to do so.

Join us for worship online

You can join us in worship online every Sunday from 10.00 am by visiting whitkirkchurch.org.uk/live, or catch up later at any time in the week. These services are streamed live from St Mary’s and include prayers, readings, hymns and a sermon.

If you can’t get online you can also call us on 0113 467 6777 to hear the services over the phone, or listen to our services by podcast, by searching for “St Mary’s Church, Whitkirk”. Services over the phone and podcast may be delayed by a few days.

Baptisms, weddings and funerals

We are able to hold services such as baptisms, weddings and funerals with limited attendance. If you want to speak to us about one of these services please email [email protected] or call 0113 264 5790.

Stay up to date

You can sign up for our weekly email newsletter at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/notices-email.

You can find us on social media – we’re /whitkirkchurch on Facebook, @stmaryschurch on Twitter, and @whitkirkchurch on Instagram.

For full details of what we’ve been doing during the Coronavirus outbreak you can see our website at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/coronavirus.

Get in touch

If you want to get in touch with us about anything we’re always here for you. You can email [email protected] or give us a ring on 0113 264 5790, or for more ways to get in touch see our website at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/contact.

An update on reopening our buildings

As businesses up and down the country begin to reopen, many churches are working towards doing the same. Here at St Mary’s we’re eager to open for worship, services and prayer once again, but our first concern is the safety of everyone who enters our buildings. For this reason taking things slower to make sure we’re doing them properly and at the right time.

At the moment we remain closed for all services – including weddings and funerals – as well as for private prayer. We are working hard to find ways to gradually reopen both our church building and Community Centre to as many people as possible, and we’ll be sharing our plans in due course.

We have no plans at the moment to stop providing our online and telephone services, meaning even after we begin to reopen you won’t need to attend in-person to join our worship. If you are currently shielding or self-isolating we continue to recommend you follow all official advice, and encourage you to get in touch if there are ways we can help.

Please continue to share your thoughts and comments with us, as well as join us online each Sunday and through the week.

The Coronavirus Management Team

Notices for 5 April 2020

Suspension of all public worship

To help prevent the spread of coronavirus all acts of public worship have been suspended until further notice. Please do not try to attend a service with us.

Videos for Holy Week

Throughout Holy Week we’re releasing videos with readings, prayer and more to help you worship. You can find all of these on our YouTube channel.

Join us for a live-streamed service

You can join us online for a small service streamed live from St Mary’s this morning at 10.00 am, at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/live. You can download or view the order of service for this from the same page.

If you can’t make the live service, you’ll be able to watch it in your own time once it’s finished.

Virtual coffee morning

After the Sunday service, we are planning to get together virtually for a chance to share a cup of tea or coffee and a chat. Please feel free to join us at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/meet/coffee.

Coronavirus update

You can always find the latest information on what we’re doing about the virus outbreak at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/coronavirus.

Notices for 29 March 2020

Suspension of all public worship

To help prevent the spread of coronavirus all acts of public worship have been suspended until further notice. Please do not try to attend a service with us.

Join us for a live-streamed service

You can join us online for a small service streamed live from St Mary’s this morning at 10.00 am, at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/live. You can download or view the order of service for this from the same page.

If you can’t make the live service, you’ll be able to watch it in your own time once it’s finished.

Virtual coffee morning

After the Sunday service, we are planning to get together virtually for a chance to share a cup of tea or coffee and a chat. Please feel free to join us at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/meet/coffee.

Coronavirus update

You can always find the latest information on what we’re doing about the virus outbreak at whitkirkchurch.org.uk/coronavirus.

The Church continues to be alive and active, but our buildings must close

We are seeing a huge increase in the number of people falling sick with COVID-19. We must distance ourselves from one another and prevent the spread of infection in order to save lives.

Therefore, as well as public worship being suspended, St Mary’s Church, Whitkirk and all church buildings in the Church of England are now closed for all services and prayer.

Our worship of God and our care for each other continue but cannot be done in the church building.

Our website contains details of how to join others online for prayer, worship, study, and community life.

The vicar can be contacted in an emergency by telephoning 0113 264 5790 or emailing [email protected]. Churchwardens may be contacted in an emergency on 07929 127190 or 07554 442788, or by emailing [email protected].

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

To protect the vulnerable amongst us, please do not leave your home except for essential trips.

Whitkirk goes live with service during coronavirus pandemic

Since the suspension of public worship by the Church of England earlier in the week, a small group at St Mary’s Church, Whitkirk have worked tirelessly to make sure the sense of community felt on a Sunday morning wasn’t lost. They did this by rolling out a live-streamed service to the entire parish and beyond, overcoming the challenges of broadcasting from an ancient church.

Vicar Matthew Peat prepared a service of the Word which followed many of the beats of the traditional Sunday morning eucharist, and with only five people in the church (all following strict hygiene and physical distancing measures) it provided four hymns, a sermon, two readings and intercessions.

Continue reading “Whitkirk goes live with service during coronavirus pandemic”