Give in or stand my ground

[JoeTech]

First let me say thank you to you guys and the ministry. I need this site and your advice more than anytime in my past 6 years of media ministry. Let me also state that this is not a debate for mac vs. pc or media shout vs. propresenter by any means. I am just asking for educated opinions on my situation and looking for advice. Here is my situation...sorry if too detailed.
I run the two screens/projectors for our services. I create the content at home and present it at church using Media Shout 4.0 and a PC. I have done this for 6 yrs. (well previously MS3.0). My computer has been crashing/freezing mid-service lately and has been a disruption and is killing me. Including this past sunday firing a video I had spent hours creating, only to skip then freeze before the message was given. A promo for our mens retreat. I have seen this coming and have presented an upgrade/rebuild estimate of $600 to my Pastor and Elders. I have one elder who bought a Mac a couple of years ago and has recently convinced the church to purchase the music director a MacBook Pro and also convinced another leader to purchase one. This Elder, who I might add is a close friend, told me he is the hold-up for me getting the approval of the $600 to upgrade my presentation computer. He has for months now been trying to convince me that the church would be better off buying a Mac for presentation and purchasing Pro Presenter. I am a techy. Big time. I can take my PC apart and put it back together. I want a Mac, but the Lord hasnt opened that door yet as I am sure He will in His time. But I still have a PC at home, which is where 98% of the creation of our services happen. I feel as if I am being forced to use a computer that I am not ready for, and I have to make it presentable to our congregation without being a distraction.
It is just causing such tension between my friend and I and I am not sure if I should stand my ground or give in and agree to the church purchasing a Mac and me sticking with my PC and learning to make the two computers communicate correctly for services. Please guys, part of me says throw all the tech crap at me so I can make a educated decision, but I truly need some Godly counsel here.
Oh, by the way, did I mention we are building a church? Our steel is up and the building should be completed soon. I know its none of my business, but the monies to purchase a Mac would come out of our new church media/sound budget and it just seems wise to spend $600 versus $2500+ (for what an IMac?) when the money could be used better for now elsewhere. My spiritual gift is teaching which means I like details. Sorry if I've written too much here. Mabe just getting this off my chest helped. I'm in tears here thanking you for listening and for any advice. I thank God for all of you. Volunteering for Christ,
Joe Killion

P.S. The current presentation computer is AMD 64 bit processor, single core, sorry dont know the speed, 2G memory, and running XP pro. I know i know but it's 6 yrs old and I need another computer lol.

[katanna]

It doesn't matter if you use a Mac or a PC, they are just tools. I am a huge Mac fan myself, but I have always said "Buy what is better for YOU." Sounds like a PC is better for you!

Also sounds like this one guy is holding you back from upgrading the PC because HE wants you to use a Mac. IMO, tell this guy "If you want us to spend $2500 on new hardware AND software, pay for it yourself. Else, let me buy what I am comfortable with."

Sure, it is easy for me to say because I don't have the personal attachments that you do in this case, but really, if the Media Ministry is better off with a PC, don't let one Mac fan get in your way!

Now that I have rambled on for a moment, let me put the above into a more rational comment. What I would do is ask him: "Which is the Media Ministry better off doing, sticking with PC which is cheaper and we already have the workflow for, or spending more on a Mac that disrupts the entire workflow that we have established for six years?" Get him to see that his Mac Ministry is getting in the way of your Media Ministry! =: >

Matthew

[cmchamp]

Get what is going to work for you in your situation.
Our pastor went out and bought an iMac for the media team because he wanted to keep us happy (me happy). Prior to the purchase, i told him we didn't need an iMac to run a powerpoint loop. Needless to say, he bought an iMac. We wound up adding Parallels so we could put our license of XP and Office2003 on it because he didn't understand.
Needless to say, the "media" team we had has dwindled down to just me.
C.

[petereit]

Three years ago my pastor finally got tired of dealing with our PCs locking up at the most inopportune times and issued a decree, "I will never again buy another PC!!" From that moment on, we have only bought Macs.

It's now three years later and we're down to 4 PCs. We now have 8 iMacs, 2 MacBook Pros, a G4 Mac Pro (iTunes server), an 8-core Mac Pro, two Mac Minis, 3 Apple TVs, and as soon as they're available, we'll be adding a new 12-core Mac Pro.

In those 3 years, I have only had to access the inside of the two Mac Pros and then, only to install larger hard drives and broadcast video cards. Though we always buy AppleCare coverage when we buy a new Mac, we've never had to use it.

Since we switched to ProPresenter on our Mac Pro, we've never had a single lockup or glitch during a service. We run ProRes 422 720p HD video from the Mac Pro during the service and for before and after video announcements and the video runs silky smooth and jitter-free.

We just haven't had any problems since we went Mac. It was really hard for me in the first few months because I'm just stubborn and hard-headed. But last month, I finally decided it was time for me to retire my PC at home. I bought a new 27" 4-core iMac. And I'm not even going to install Boot Camp or run Parallels on it. No need.

[dmot]

I would just give them all options. In the mac option I would explain your work flow and what you can do and what you can't do at home and what it would take to address those issues. Give them all the options and let them deal with the money issue. I think you have to trust them to prayerfully consider all the details and make the decision they feel led to make.

[Paris MkVI]

What dmot said.

Explain the process so your elder understands how things are done. This needs to be a "5% conversation." That means you actually say the "5%" you normally wouldn't say, because you are thinking, "I don't have to tell him that. I am sure he understands that."

Do not assume that.

Perhaps it means, if they purchase a Mac, that you can no longer prep materials because the Mac would be at the church and you will not have reasonable time access to it during the week. They would have to find someone else in-house to take it over. I do not know if that is the case at all; it's just an example.

It is not reasonable for anyone to require you to spend your money on a computer you do not want. It is OK to decline that. It is OK to say no.

I have no issues with Petereit's church family going Mac. They are generally good machines. But ultimately, they are just another tool. We're a PC church, and everything pretty much runs smoothly. No crashes and burns in service, etc.

The tech answer is different for almost every church in one way or another. Ultimately, the elder as a spiritual leader would have the final call. My thought is, if the decision goes against your desires, accept the decision, and let it go. If the elder is a friend of yours, it isn't a hill worth dying on. You can always graciously step back from serving in that area.

Perhaps it isn't an issue of standing your ground or giving in. Maybe deeper communication and understanding will reveal a place where you can come together in unity, or amicably agree to disagree.

[sempei13]

Full disclosure: I'm a Mac guy.

Look at it from your friend's perspective. He feels like you're asking to patch a system that might require more maintenance in the future. Why do that when you can have a system that's more reliable?

I see your point, too. Creation is a big deal when you're a volunteer. If you make it at home, will it play at church?

The question shouldn't be "Should I stick to my guns?". It should be "what's best for the church?".

As such, talk to him and hash it out with the plan of going in "open-handed", not with your own agenda. It's a win-win. If you get a Mac with Propresenter, you get a system that's more powerful than you were looking at (multi-core and all). If you get the PC, you're getting something you know backward and forward.

It could be that this will foster a dialogue that will create an opportunity to increase your team and provide you some relief. This is a team effort. You both want what's best for the Kingdom. You just aren't sure what that is. Correct?

Paul

[[Director] Joseph B]

I recently switched to a MAC from a PC - I put a windows partition in it and windows 7.
Windows runs better on the MAC then on the PC. When I boot up in PC mode, I use MS4 with no problems. I set up the presentation at home then upload it on the church PC. I run Photoshop and adobe software on the MAC platform and publisher and Live Mail on the Windows Platform.
I have heard that in order to do video projection you can't have Win & Mac running at the same time so I didn't even try.
Plus Media Shout is coming out with a MAC version (hopefully soon - I asked to beta test it).
As for your "hold up", I'd tell him as tactfully as possible that you will gladly take the MAC but need Windows partition on it and that you are offended that he would put his personal preferences above what the people actually doing the work want especially when it could be done much cheaper on a PC platform. You might point out that after 6 years of service you just might know what works and might not want to retrain people (and in spite of what they tell you - you will have to relearn things on the MAC) to learn a totally new system. Then ask when your iMAC will be in.

Good luck, I'll be praying.

[[Director] Joseph B]

Originally Posted by dmot

I would just give them all options. In the mac option I would explain your work flow and what you can do and what you can't do at home and what it would take to address those issues. Give them all the options and let them deal with the money issue. I think you have to trust them to prayerfully consider all the details and make the decision they feel led to make.

Just thought of it but tell them it will be more then the $2,500 they have budgeted since you do most of the work at home, they'll need to get you a MAC Book Pro or iMAC (or at least a MAC Mini) to ensure they get things done in time for Sunday - or just move the schedule 3 or 4 weeks farther in advance so you'll have time to do the work at church.

[dmot]

Originally Posted by Joseph B

Just thought of it but tell them it will be more then the $2,500 they have budgeted since you do most of the work at home, they'll need to get you a MAC Book Pro or iMAC (or at least a MAC Mini) to ensure they get things done in time for Sunday - or just move the schedule 3 or 4 weeks farther in advance so you'll have time to do the work at church.

Okay, so Joe said part of what I was implying. I just think you need to be open minded too. It sounds like you are looking ahead toward the next few years. Your church might be asking themselves about things much further down the road and may really believe it is worth it to spend the money now and switch to mac and PP. So while you are talking $2,500 they may be thinking more.

One thing I do is try to think of kids that are 5 years old right now. In 10-20 years what are they going to think of the decisions I am making right now? I want them to be thankful for the decisions I make and not cursing my existence. If you think about it, in less than 10 years those 5 year olds could very easily be doing your job. What will they think of the decisions you are making now?

I'm still not suggesting going to a Mac. I'm a PC myself. But I think you should give your leadership all the information and options you can think of and I wouldn't hesitate to give them names of other people they can consult too. Then leave it up to God.

[prochlea]

If this is your projection computer, I think ultimately the decision is what projection software do you want to use. My advice would be to try out all of the projection software platforms and decide which one you want to use, and then make your mac vs pc decision on that.

[jameshorsley197]

Each of us are gifted by God with particular talents. My caliing is as a small bivocational pastor but over the years I have fortunately at times been able to hand the media part over to someone else but now because of the size and age of the congregation I pretty much have to handle that too. The elder is called as an elder and not a media person. He may have a mac or a pc or whatever and can only turn it on and get his email. He also does not have to use the equipment that is being chosen the media person does.. How would he feel if you had the power too stop the items necessary to do his ministry. Also how can 1 person in a church stop something good from happening because he or she does not want it that way. Five years down the road you will be buying another computer. The software will be 3 or 4 versions down the road with bigger and better bells and whistles. Who knows all computers may be obsolete by then. Personally if you are called by God to handle the media ministry at your church the church within the financial well being of the church should listen more to the input of the person that God has called than to someone who may have no knowledge of church media at all. Just my 2 cents worth.