We present from the voice of two end users, how audiovisual technology has favored religious services and transmitted the message of faith to its parishioners.
Richard Santa
One of the segments of the audiovisual industry with the greatest growth in terms of market and integration of the different solutions is that of churches and houses of worship. This responds to the need to reach more parishioners with the message of faith and to be able to connect more easily with them. Even in times of pandemic, technology became essential to keep in touch.
In this segment, Christian and Protestant churches have been pioneers in the use of audiovisual technology for their ceremonies, turning their remnants into spaces to receive thousands of people with scenarios equipped with the latest in audiovisual technology and equipment for production and transmission via streaming. While the Catholic church, predominant in Latin America, has been more timid in the use of these technologies, it has an increase in its use and implementation.
On this occasion we wanted to address the issue from the end users, to know what are the technologies they use the most, their needs, as well as the impact on their parishioners and the implementations made during the pandemic to continue taking the message of faith to their parishioners. That's why AVI Latin America spoke with Álvaro Pardo Duque, director of Communications at the World Revival Center and Sebastián Arias, producer of the Archdiocese of Manizales.
World Revival Center
Pastors Ricardo and María Patricia Rodríguez founded the World Revival Center 31 years ago, going from doing religious services in the living room of their apartment to having 60 venues distributed throughout Colombia, Venezuela, the United States, Honduras, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Spain. Today audiovisual technology is its great ally both on the stage of its main headquarters in Bogotá, and to connect all the venues and broadcast live the religious service to each one. In addition, they have a channel that is transmitted by closed television and streaming, as well as AM stations in Colombia and online.
Álvaro Pardo Duque, stressed that "today it is perhaps the Spanish-speaking Church with the greatest impact and growth in the Continent. Its main auditorium for about 20,000 seats that are occupied almost entirely at each Friday meeting and two more on Sundays; 60 locations in 9 countries, and the reach of its media and dissemination confirm this. In addition, each year the world revival Congress holds the largest event of pastors and Christian leaders (up to 20,000 pastors and leaders from 52 countries); and for more than 10 years, on the last Saturday of the year, it has filled in its entirety the Plazoleta de Eventos of the Simón Bolivar Park, where hundreds of thousands of people gather looking for God in prayer."
For the technological operation of a church of these dimensions and connect all its headquarters, the World Revival Center has in the main auditorium in Bogotá two AVID consoles of the latest technology, one for the main sound and another for the complex sound of the orchestra and direction. For the entire TV area a high-quality console and several additional equipment, complement an independent mix of music and voices; and three others support the other work that takes place live, which includes, in addition to the transmission by various media, simultaneous translation into six languages.
"The objectives when looking for audiovisual technology for both the main headquarters and the remote headquarters, is that the message arrives in the best possible quality, so that the attendee can feel at home, regardless of whether they are in Bogotá, Buenos Aires, New York or Barcelona. From Avivamiento is broadcast via streaming in several formats, one of them, developed in house, allows us to transmit with less than a second of delay to all the venues simultaneously, so that we are all at the same time watching and listening to what happens in the main auditorium, "said Álvaro Pardo Duque.
Impact on parishioners
For the World Revival Center, every technological apparatus is meant to support the message. The sound, the lights, the giant screen that accompanies the live production, etc., makes the meeting participant receive the biblical teaching, worship with the music, or be informed in a correct, effective and inspiring way.
Even this has allowed them to stay in touch since the pandemic began in March 2021. "Thank God, we had been using remote broadcasts for years, the headquarters have had Comrex teams in the headquarters of Medellín, New York and Miami, and for the live broadcast by Enlace, the largest Hispanic Christian channel in the world. For several years we were refining a low-cost transmission system developed by our engineers to cover all the venues with a high quality performance, and we have transmitted our meetings via the Internet in HD for years on our avivamiento.com page, as well as through all social networks: YouTube, Facebook, Instragram, Twitter, Periscope (when I was). So we were able to move forward with a minimum of people accompanying Pastors Ricardo and Ma. Patricia, without missing even a weekend," said the Director of Communications of Revival.
He recalled that even when the pastors had Covid, they set up a chroma studio in their apartment, in such a way that the audience present in the auditorium and everyone else in the venues that could meet or in their homes, could receive the Preached Word without many noticing that they were not in the auditorium. "It was a very special experience, and a really motivating effort in the midst of so much pain, sadness and crying that this pandemic has left."
Migration to 4K
For the choice of audiovisual technology, the World Revival Center has a multidisciplinary team that includes electronic and sound engineers; composers and musicians; directors of production, photography and technology; and external consultants when necessary. But in the end they focus all that experience at home, in such a way that they can operate as efficiently as possible, being autonomous, but with the support of the best in each area.
Achieving this technological integration has not been easy. Uniting audio and video with destinations as diverse as the audience, the attendees at each revival venue, satellite transmission for more than 200 cable TV systems in Colombia alone, streaming to YouTube, Facebook, the closed system that feeds the screens and monitors throughout the building, etc., makes you deal with many problems and difficulties in each meeting. That is why the technical team they have formed is so important.
Finally, on medium-term projects, he mentioned that "at the moment we are migrating to 4K the whole system starting with the cameras, we use TriCaster for live broadcasting and the NDI has given us very good results. In editing, we are testing DaVinci Resolve and it has been very interesting for ease of programs and use of formats, integration, collaborative work and costs."
Archdiocese of Manizales
Whether it is the tradition of its religious ceremonies or the patromonial protection of many of its temples, the Catholic Church has not been the most dynamic when it comes to implementing audiovisual technology. That is why the case of the Archdiocese of Manizales and its technological implementation has become a regional example for churches that want to make use of technology.
Sebastián Arias told AVI Latin America that since 2016 they began to realize the dream of a television channel for the Archdiocese of the then Archbishop of Manizales, Monsignor Gonzalo Restrepo Restrepo. The project had previously been scrapped because of high costs.
"That year, the new radio and television studios of the Archdiocese began to be built as an alternative to produce multiplatform evangelizing content in the face of the rise of Social Networks and the transformations of modern communications. Taking advantage of unused spaces of the Archbishop's Curia, administrative headquarters of the Archdiocese, the studios are completed in 2017. Since then, the Archdiocese of Manizales has been a pioneer and standard-bearer in the use of information and communication technologies for evangelization," recalled Sebastián Arias.
He added that from Rome the use of technology has been promoted decades ago and several Popes have spoken about it. Pope Paul VI affirmed that the Church would feel guilty before God, if it stopped using the media for evangelization." Evangelii Nuntiandi, n. 45. Pope John Paul II defined the media as "the first areopagus of the modern age." Redemptoris Missio, n. 37. Pope Benedict XVI often highlighted social networks as instruments of evangelization. And Pope Francis is a friend of everything that serves to fill hearts with hope and the Gospel. And because of that, he has shown himself as a great communicator. It is worth noting that Pope Francis reorganized communications in the Vatican under the new trends and technologies of information dissemination.
NDI-based system
Currently the Archdiocese of Manizales has an integrated television production system through NDI with Robotic Cameras PTZ NDI-HX of NewTek controlled from the TriCaster 410 also of NewTek that allow to interconnect the Archbishop's Curia with the Cathedral Basilica of Manizales located 300 meters from the studio and the Minor Basilica Immaculate Conception of Manizales located 1,200 meters from the studio. Thanks to this technology, live broadcasts are made for the channels TeleVid, Cristovisión, Telecafé and the social networks of the Archdiocese. With this system the productions are made by a single person remotely from the studio of the Archbishop's Curia.
The objectives when looking for audiovisual technology for the church are: practicality, economy, quality. "Under the principle of for God only the best, we seek state-of-the-art technology that allows us to produce high-quality television in a practical way to reach the faithful in the best way with a clear and forceful message," said the Producer of the Archdiocese.
The process of choosing technology in the Archdiocese of Manizales starts from the need. NDI, TriCaster and the integrator AVTech Ltda has allowed them to facilitate the work, cover more, manage to overcome challenges previously unthinkable and with the quality and at the height of any channel that has invested great sums of money impossible to invest on their part. "I could ensure that with the resources invested and with the equipment installed, we achieve results that we can present inside and outside the country without any qualms and at the level of any competition. This is extremely achievable for all those who wish to reach higher standards, to get out of the traditional and monotonous way as productions are sometimes executed and performed," he added.
For operation, the structured network that supports the entire NDI signal must be very robust. The integration achieved today has allowed the wireless links between the headquarters to work very well. They have not had major difficulties in implementing. Even in the Cathedral, which is more than 100 meters high, they have an antenna that allows them to have internet within a radius of 12 kilometers.
On the medium-term projects, he said that the main one is to migrate to 4K, renew state-of-the-art equipment to continue promoting social networks and arrive with more and better content. "We certainly look forward to 5G internet that will allow us to reach levels that we have not yet imagined in virtuality."
Impact achieved
Thanks to the use of technology, the Archdiocese of Manizales is currently the most viewed Archdiocese on YouTube in Colombia surpassing the Episcopal Conference. It has 144,000 subscribers and more than 15,000,000 views on YouTube. 35,000 followers on Facebook and 4,000 followers on Instagram. These figures lead the Archdiocese to evangelize thousands of faithful from different countries from where they receive daily reports of harmony.
"The Pandemic has led many priests of the Archdiocese of Manizales to venture into digital evangelization where the YouTube channels of Father Gabriel Quintero with 230,000 subscribers and Father Rubén Darío García with 76,000 stand out. We highlight the joint work and mutual support between the different channels."
The Archbishop's Delegation of Media of the Archdiocese of Manizales has not stopped for a day during the entire pandemic, it broadcasts from Sunday to Sunday accompanying the faithful virtually on a path of faith, many of them achieving great impact, among others: the Urbi et Orbi Blessing of Pope Francis "to the city of Rome and the world" of Friday, March 27, 2020 had 97,245 views; Holy Week 2020 had more than 300,000 views; the Christmas Novenas of 2020 had more than 150,000 views. The most watched video on the channel is the Testimony of Fernando Casanova, former Protestant pastor converted to Catholicism 335,874 views.
In addition, the press conference with the new Archbishop-elect of the Archdiocese of Manizales, the Canonical Possession of His Excellency Mr. José Miguel Gómez Rodríguez, Archbishop of Manizales, which was broadcast on the channels TeleVid, Cristovisión and Radio María, as well as the protocol and welcome acts, also had a high impact and number of views.
Sebastián Arias concluded that "Our mission and only objective is to evangelize, to make the gospel reach all people by illuminating and transforming each of the realities. Go to everyone by all means. Our desire is to grow more to evangelize more by making Church. To link more priests and pastoral workers to this wonderful tool that has become one of the most impactful pastoral initiatives of the Archdiocese of Manizales."
