Wow, it seems like 2016 just flew by, and yet, it seems like at times, it just crept through. It is this time of year, that we tend to look back on the previous year and see just what we accomplished (or didn’t accomplish)!
For me, there were a few changes, such as joining the Indiana Guard Reserve (IGR) and putting on the uniform once again. This wasn’t a real fantastic change for the Ministry, except that there are a few times throughout the year, that will mean that I will not be conducting a Worship Service, as I will be on an exercise or drill with the IGR.
The Ministry saw a few changes during 2016. We moved our TuneIn Radio Station to “the Cloud” instead of hosting it on a local PC. We had replaced the local PC at least a couple of times and when it died again, we went to the Cloud, so that we didn’t have to worry about hardware failure.
We updated our Internet service, to allow us to broadcast and upload our videos faster. This also allows us to use technologies like Facebook Live and stream faster and smoother.
We updated our Web Site to allow for adding more functionality and interactivity.
Speaking of the Web Site, we also took on some sponsors to bring in some extra income as we go along. We will continue to add more to the Web Site as we go along too!
This next bit didn’t happen in 2016, but the planning for it did. We have added an SSL Secure Certificate to our site and are now hosting secure transactions on the entire site.
Over the course of the past year, we have tried several different themes on our site and have finally found a theme that will expand as we expand and grow as we grow.
We added Facebook Live streaming to our Worship Services as well as continuing to post our audio and video podcasts to the site every week. We are constantly adding more music videos too. For this reason, we continually update our CCLI Licensing, so that we are compliant with the copyright laws. We try not to post any videos or music that we do not have the licensing for.
We added a Bluetooth enabled amplifier to our services and purchased the music that goes along with the song books that we use at the Nursing Home, so that the residents have some background music and don’t have to sing A Capella all the time!
All in all, it has been a good year for our Ministry. We have seen lots of great people go to be with the Lord, and we are sad about it, yet glad at the same time. That’s one of the downfalls of having a Nursing Home Ministry.
Overall, 2016 seen lots of changes, some new, others just updated and we are looking forward to 2017 being another great year too!
So, as we say goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017, just remember…Be a Blessing and you will Be Blessed!
From the Pastoral Staff at Athens Universal Life Church, have a Safe and Happy New Year!
