Does your Church have a policy for outside groups to come in and use the facilities? If so, then does it include clear guidelines for the use of all technical equipment, or do you require them to bring their own? It seems logical to expect that a group that rents a room at the Church would expect to have access to the technology in that room. The question then becomes how do you know that they will take good care of it?

If the room only contains a TV and a DVD player, then there is not much concern. Most people know how to run a DVD player, or they can figure it out. But what about the sanctuary, with audio and video systems? For a wedding, lighting might also enter into the picture. No doubt some Churches require that one of their staff be on site for the event given by the outside group, just to make sure that the technology is not abused.

Those outside the Roman Catholic denomination probably have little appreciation for November 1st – i.e. All Saints Day. Yet it is a Church tradition dating back to the writing of Hebrews 11. It has been celebrated on November 1st since the time of Charlemagne. At it’s best, it recognizes the Christians that have gone before us. They form the great cloud of witnesses spoken of in scripture. At it’s worst, it can become another form of idolatry, with patron saints taking the place of God in our lives.

How should we celebrate this day? Should we have videos and sermons on the subject, or just a few songs that mention it? Can we celebrate it as protestants without subscribing to the corpus of catholic saints? Is there a patron saint for all things technical in ministry? Good questions to ask as this day rolls around again.