This year’s Church Facilities Conference and Expo (CFX) was held last week in Dallas, and by all standards was a great success. As before, CFX offered seminars on three learning tracks – Production and Technology, Facilities and Operations, and Leadership and Management, but this year for the first time, there were a number of seminars available in the area of Church Security, and they proved to be very popular.
Security as a hot topic
One of the seminars was a pre-conference masterclass hosted by security expert Bobby Brasher. The masterclasses, held the day before the conference officially began, were a new addition themselves, with the masterclasses on streaming and security being the most popular, but all three were well attended.
Security also played prominently on the expo floor, where for the first time, there was a “security pavilion” for vendors offering a variety of products and services to houses of worship ranging from cybersecurity to weapons detectors.
Keynote address and performance
Preceded by a truly excellent worship service, the keynote address by pastor, author, and speaker Stephen Brewster was both touching and poignant. Brewster discussed struggles he and his family had had, and how they led to periods where he displayed symptoms of burnout. He then provided the Mayo Clinic’s list of symptoms to help diagnose burnout, pointing out how common they were among pastors. He went on to provide steps to avoid burnout, or to recover from it if you’re already there. Key among them are the need to protect your creativity, which can be a fuel in our day-to-day life. Also, take time to pray.
“God is speaking to you,” Brewster said. “You’re just not taking the time to slow down and hear it.”
Special events
In addition to the seminars and the expo, there were a number of audio demo sponsored by Meyer Sound, Live Sound International, and Coherent Distribution, showing church techs what the latest in audio equipment could do.
There were many sources of learning throughout the conference, seemingly around every corner. Canon USA sponsored a hands-on training room, teaching church techs how to improve their use of cameras and related equipment, while in the lobby, near the registration area, CFX podcasts were being recorded for the entire length of the conference. These podcasts featured interviews with conference speakers, and could be attended for free by anyone registered for the conference. Each podcast included a Q&A session allowing attendees to pose questions to the experts.
Feedback from attendees, speakers, and vendors was overwhelmingly positive, with many saying they were looking forward to coming back again next year. The conference will be held once again in Dallas, October 9-11. If you register now and use promo code “2023” you can register for only $150. To register, click here
