APPLIED TECHNOLOGY MINISTRY

I Corinthians 3:9-11(NIV):   ⁹For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. ¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. ¹¹For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Our theme for 2006 is:

 

 “Establishing a Firm Foundation.”

 

New Hope’s technology infrastructure cannot be built upon a solid foundation unless we, the builders, are first willing to stand upon the solid foundation which is in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Our Vision:

To be a ministry, who’s members are dedicated to serving the Lord and are always willing to put their technical gifts and talents to work for in a way that will help the ministry of New Hope continue to be a blessing to the members of the church, the local community and the community abroad.

Out Mission:

To provide the church, its auxiliaries and its ministries with the guidance, training, resources and tools necessary to facilitate the use of current and advanced technology to support their ministry.

 

Our Goals:

 In order to achieve our mission we have identified the following primary objectives:

 

- To acquire, develop and then maintain the technical capabilities, processes, skill sets, infrastructure and working relationships (inside and outside the church) that are required to provide quality technical services and support to the church.

 

- To provide the tools necessary to connect the members of the church to one another and to connect the church to the surrounding community and the world in general.

 

- To empower and encourage the members of the church to approach and take advantage of present and future technologies within their ministries, their personal lives and their professional lives.  To provide them with the technical tools, skills and the encouragement they will need to not only be functional but also competitive in this ever-growing technology-oriented society.

 

- To provide sound system setup, operation, maintenance and management in a way that will ensure that the congregation is able to enjoy the worship experience and receive the spoken word without distraction.

 

- To capture the current and future teachings of the gospel and make them available to everyone both inside and outside of the walls of the physical sanctuary.

 

The late Rev. George M. Ray (pastor from 1993 to 2000) formed the Tape Ministry in 1998.  Its purpose was to place control of the sound system into the hands of a group of dedicated operators.  Until then the system was operated by Rev. Ray himself from behind the pulpit during the worship service.  Most parishioners did not even know he was doing so.  The ministry was also responsible for recording and distributing copies of worship service on audio cassette.

 

In 1999 Rev. Ray formed the Applied Technology (AT) Ministry which was charged with  keeping the church and its members on the leading edge of technology.  This mission included development of the church’s first website and establishment of an information technology infrastructure that would facilitate the rapid growth that the church was experiencing.  Over the years the scope of the AT Ministry’s responsibilities continued to broaden.  In 2004 the Tape Ministry which had been renamed the Media Ministry was combined with the AT Ministry, forming what would be the Multimedia Technology Division of the AT ministry.

 

We now provide the following services and support to the body of Christ at New Hope AME Church...

 

Information Technology

 

      - Infrastructure Planning, Design and Implementation

      - Local Area Network (LAN) Installation and Administration

      - Computer lab management

      - Help desk support

      - Communications management

 

Multimedia Technology

 

- Sound system operation

- Audio/video documentation and archival of church events

- Audio/video sales

- Digital still photography

- Multimedia distribution

 

Internet/Intranet

 

      - Web Site Design, Development and Administration

      - Content updates

 

Facilities

 

      - Sound room management

      - Multipurpose room management

                 - Conference room / Classroom

 

We thank God for giving Rev. Ray the vision to form our ministry, we thank the Ray family for the support they provided and we thank Pastor Young for continuing that vision.   To God be the Glory!