Last month, I attended the Church Facilities Expo (CFX) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, making my annual pilgrimage from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to present at the security conference. Whenever I have the opportunity to stand before an audience eager to learn about church...
CFX Community
Resources and articles from leading presenters and contributors to Worship Facility and who are part of CFX events and the broader CFX Community.
What If You Could Unify All Your Security Systems?
In May this year, a Minneapolis teenager was sentenced to more than 30 years for a fatal shooting that shut down the Mall of America (MOA) in Bloomington, Minnesota during the holiday shopping rush in 2022. Nineteen-year-old Taeshawn Adams-Wright pleaded guilty to...
Keep Calm and Cue the Camel: Surviving Christmas in Church Production
It’s that time of year again—the season that comes around with clockwork precision, yet somehow always feels like it sneaks up on us. For those of us in church production, the question looms: are we ready? Does the thought of another Christmas season conjure up the...
Day Three of CFX 2024!
This year's Church Facilities Expo draws to a close today in Chattanooga, TN, but if you can make it in, you should. Conference sessions covering a wide variety of topics in the areas of Leadership, Tech Arts, Security, Facility Management, and Church Building will be...
Day Two of CFX 2024
Today is the first full day of Church Facilities Expo 2024 in Chattanooga, TN. Attendees can register on-site from 7:00 - 3:00. Attendees can register for just the Expo, or for any of the 4 conferences. Anyone registering for a conference will also gain admission to...
Virtual Soundcheck: Band You’re Dismissed, I’ll Take It From Here.
If you ask a church audio team what would help them the most, the answer is usually more time. I covered this in a previous article on the ever-shrinking soundcheck time churches are willing to allot. To be fair, some engineers pushed back, arguing that their churches...
CFX 2024 Begins!
This year's Church Facilities Expo starts today in Chattanooga, TN with one of the most popular features: Pre-conference masterclasses. Taking place from 1-5 PM, these sessions provide a deep dive into audio mixing, church security, leadership, and video storytelling....
Chik-fil-A to Host Special Session on Facility Stewardship at CFX 2024
The management team of Chik-fil-A, including VP of Restaurant Development David Millican, Services, Director of Facilities Management Jessica Hart, and Ruth Fowler, founder of Creative Director of Sense Makery, will be presenting a special general session at CFX 2024...
Worship Facility Podcast: Recruiting and Training Volunteers
David Leuschner talks to Stephanie Lippi, Manager of Church Facilities Expo, to learn what makes CFX 2024 different and better than ever, such as more sessions and hands-on training. Then David discusses church volunteers with Justin Firesheets of Church of the...
How to Build a Trustworthy Church Security Team
On October 6, 2024, an unfortunate incident unfolded at the Church at the Epicenter in Burnet, Texas. Jacob Wayne Tarver, a 45-year-old member of the church's volunteer security team, reported that two armed men were attempting to enter the church during the Sunday...
Ask the Editor: How Do I Get Better Engagement for My Church Safety Training?
This Week’s Question from Matthew Evans at Calvary Lutheran Church, California "One of the struggles we have each fall is getting our team together for safety training. Someone is always committed elsewhere or missing. How do we get better engagement?" Matthew, you're...
Hurricane Helene Has Not Affected CFX 2024 in Chattanooga
While much of the Southeast, including Eastern Tennessee, sustained heavy damage during Hurricane Helene a week ago, Chattanooga did not experience damage, and the Chattanooga Convention Center, and downtown areas are open and functioning normally. Rest assured, CFX...
Preventing Lighting Console Failures
Recently, I was working on a brand new professional lighting console, which will remain nameless, I had numerous issues from the start, and a few calls had to be made to customer support to get things resolved. While this was happening, in my mind I just really wanted...
Getting the Right Aspect Ratio
In the video display world, getting your image right is key. Whether you're working on a large-scale video wall, projection screen, a video monitor, or just editing or streaming, you know getting the resolution and aspect ratios right is a major part of displaying....
The Liturgy of Your Production
You may not consider your church to be liturgical, but every church has a liturgy that they follow. You may have certain ways your services typically flow, when and how you baptize people, how you partake in communion, and even how you start and end your services....
Trusting Your Team During Vacations
Taking time to unplug during vacations is vital for the success of yourself and your team. Much has been written about the personal benefits during vacation weeks. But there isn’t the same level of attention paid to the benefits others receive while we are away. When...
Exploring the Masterclasses at CFX 2024
Responding to popular demand, CFX will again be offering special masterclass sessions in the areas of Audio, Video, Security, and Leadership. These sessions take place on October 21, the day before the expo and general sessions, and require separate registration. The...
Discover the Church Safety Conference at CFX
This year, the Church Facilities Conference and Expo, held in Chattanooga, TN October 21-23, will consist of four separate conferences at one location, with attendees of each conference having access to the Expo, with more than 160 exhibitors. The Church Safety...
Navigating Election Day Tensions: How Churches Can Prepare as Voting Stations
In today's polarized climate, where a simple difference of opinion can spark conflict, how does a church, especially one serving as a federal voting station, prepare for the heightened tensions that accompany a presidential election? A few weeks ago, I was assisting a...
So You Had a Bad Day
Whether you're a church audio engineer—Broadcast, Front of House, professional, or volunteer—this article is for you. I know my content occasionally stirs up controversy; after all, I’m just one voice sharing my experience. Disagreement is fine, but here’s one thing...
Say Goodbye to Audio Tech Shortages
Why is it that so many people are eager to participate in the worship band, yet skilled audio technicians are so difficult to find? I've observed a trend in medium to small churches where there is often a shortage of experienced audio techs. In many cases, the audio...