Stories From the Pews of Faith
Members of Faith share personal experiences that highlight God's love, mercy and guidance.
Rich Daugherty
Rich Daugherty knows a thing or two about technology, and Faith Lutheran Church has been a huge beneficiary of his vast degree of knowledge. Since the early days of the pandemic, the digital specialist has been the leader of the team that provides live streaming, allowing congregants to view weekly church services in real time from their home computers or anywhere else with their mobile devices.
The emergence of COVID-19 changed everything, prompting new ways of thinking and new ways of making things work for the largest number of people. Enter Daugherty, a man who came with loads of experience gained as life took him from Chicago to DeKalb to Dallas and back to Chicagoland. He had gone to the Art Institute of Dallas, focusing on art, specifically visual communication, including print, paint, clay and video. Afterward, he returned to the Chicago area looking for work in his field of study but ended up working at a sporting goods company, selling skis and camping equipment until he finally got an opportunity in video production at Video Impressions in Aurora. There, he was a graphic designer who worked on all the Luna Flooring Gallery carpet commercials and Budget Rent a Car promotions.
Those efforts led to a 10-year-plus stint at McDonald’s Creative & Digital Services in Oak Brook, where he was involved in graphics for all areas of McDonald’s’ business. His wide-ranging responsibilities included graphic design, concept design, storyboard creation and DVD production (creating training videos and websites).
Daugherty’s life took another turn during the 2007-2009 recession when he enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Art in Schaumburg, where he focused on web design and other digital activities. That led to a position at AVI-SPL to do graphics for digital signage. At the company of global experts in communications and audio-visual technology, he excelled and shifted to pre-sales of all digital media, which included streaming. Now the self-described “easygoing” digital expert, who loves helping and educating kids, has moved up to work as AVI-SPL’s solutions architect, which includes determining a client’s needs from a digital media perspective.
It was that kind of experience that was at the forefront during a conversation with Pastor Shelly about the possibility of streaming church services. “I was all on board because I know the benefits based on what we had done with other clients,” says Daugherty. “So the solution that was installed is incredible. We have two cameras, and each has nine different angles.”
The church’s live stream began in March 2021, replacing a two-year-old, more time-consuming recorded presentation that required hours of video editing. The live stream, Daugherty says, is “light years better.” But like the older process, preparations still include the pastors submitting a basic outline of how the services will flow and indications where participating individuals will be positioned throughout the proceedings.
That said, the only problem with live stream, observers say, is the fact that it is live, and there also is the problem of unpredictability. “In the middle of one service, the system crashed and wouldn’t record or stream,” Daugherty remembers. “Recently, it [equipment] stopped recording a few minutes into Pastor Wende’s sermon, so I had to restart [the system] but lost only five minutes. As a result, that service’s presentation was broken into two parts. There are things that happen that you simply can’t foresee or predict.”
Despite the occasional pitfalls, providing this service, Rich says, gives him complete satisfaction, especially when he receives notes from those who can’t attend in person or choose not to be among the crowd due to COVID concerns. All of that is considered during streaming, right down to camera angles that bring viewers up close and personal to the people they share the pews with each week.
Like many of those members, Rich has been in Faith’s pews since 1997 and a member since 2009. At one point in his life, as a youngster, he was a practicing Catholic, attending an all-boys school and even entertained the idea of becoming a priest. That idea vanished quickly after he enrolled at a boys-and-girls school in DeKalb. He and his wife, Tammy (the daughter of longtime Faith members Tom and Jean Pfaff), were married in 2003. They have two daughters, Elise, 16, and Liana, 14. The girls’ participation in church activities has given Rich the opportunity to serve in other arenas. He’s been an adult leader for both confirmation and FLY, and he has been a fixture on many mission trips.
Now, the digital expert has taken things further with his creation and focus on the church’s so-called Studio 56. It’s an outlet for fifth- and sixth-graders to take a deeper look at Bible stories and bring them to life. Under Daugherty’s direction, the kids, in costume and all, make videos based on today’s retelling of various Bible stories they learn. Not only do they get a new appreciation for the stories, but they also get the invaluable opportunity to learn a bit about video production and what it entails. In reality, though, it’s not just the kids who benefit. The process also gives Daugherty another outlet for his creativity.
On several fronts, Rich Daugherty and his skills have been a major blessing for Faith in a variety of ways. But perhaps it’s the streaming that has changed or enhanced members’ lives the most. And Rich is thrilled about it. “I try to get camera angles to show all the people in the pews,” he says. “It means a lot to viewers to see their friends and family in church, making it feel almost like they are there. For me, this is a journey of faith. I feel like I have a responsibility of doing this [streaming], and I enjoy every bit of it.”
NOTE: On March 27, Rich Daugherty begins a new job as a sales support engineer at Diversified, a global, full-service systems and media technology integration company.
Rich Daugherty knows a thing or two about technology, and Faith Lutheran Church has been a huge beneficiary of his vast degree of knowledge. Since the early days of the pandemic, the digital specialist has been the leader of the team that provides live streaming, allowing congregants to view weekly church services in real time from their home computers or anywhere else with their mobile devices.
The emergence of COVID-19 changed everything, prompting new ways of thinking and new ways of making things work for the largest number of people. Enter Daugherty, a man who came with loads of experience gained as life took him from Chicago to DeKalb to Dallas and back to Chicagoland. He had gone to the Art Institute of Dallas, focusing on art, specifically visual communication, including print, paint, clay and video. Afterward, he returned to the Chicago area looking for work in his field of study but ended up working at a sporting goods company, selling skis and camping equipment until he finally got an opportunity in video production at Video Impressions in Aurora. There, he was a graphic designer who worked on all the Luna Flooring Gallery carpet commercials and Budget Rent a Car promotions.
Those efforts led to a 10-year-plus stint at McDonald’s Creative & Digital Services in Oak Brook, where he was involved in graphics for all areas of McDonald’s’ business. His wide-ranging responsibilities included graphic design, concept design, storyboard creation and DVD production (creating training videos and websites).
Daugherty’s life took another turn during the 2007-2009 recession when he enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Art in Schaumburg, where he focused on web design and other digital activities. That led to a position at AVI-SPL to do graphics for digital signage. At the company of global experts in communications and audio-visual technology, he excelled and shifted to pre-sales of all digital media, which included streaming. Now the self-described “easygoing” digital expert, who loves helping and educating kids, has moved up to work as AVI-SPL’s solutions architect, which includes determining a client’s needs from a digital media perspective.
It was that kind of experience that was at the forefront during a conversation with Pastor Shelly about the possibility of streaming church services. “I was all on board because I know the benefits based on what we had done with other clients,” says Daugherty. “So the solution that was installed is incredible. We have two cameras, and each has nine different angles.”
The church’s live stream began in March 2021, replacing a two-year-old, more time-consuming recorded presentation that required hours of video editing. The live stream, Daugherty says, is “light years better.” But like the older process, preparations still include the pastors submitting a basic outline of how the services will flow and indications where participating individuals will be positioned throughout the proceedings.
That said, the only problem with live stream, observers say, is the fact that it is live, and there also is the problem of unpredictability. “In the middle of one service, the system crashed and wouldn’t record or stream,” Daugherty remembers. “Recently, it [equipment] stopped recording a few minutes into Pastor Wende’s sermon, so I had to restart [the system] but lost only five minutes. As a result, that service’s presentation was broken into two parts. There are things that happen that you simply can’t foresee or predict.”
Despite the occasional pitfalls, providing this service, Rich says, gives him complete satisfaction, especially when he receives notes from those who can’t attend in person or choose not to be among the crowd due to COVID concerns. All of that is considered during streaming, right down to camera angles that bring viewers up close and personal to the people they share the pews with each week.
Like many of those members, Rich has been in Faith’s pews since 1997 and a member since 2009. At one point in his life, as a youngster, he was a practicing Catholic, attending an all-boys school and even entertained the idea of becoming a priest. That idea vanished quickly after he enrolled at a boys-and-girls school in DeKalb. He and his wife, Tammy (the daughter of longtime Faith members Tom and Jean Pfaff), were married in 2003. They have two daughters, Elise, 16, and Liana, 14. The girls’ participation in church activities has given Rich the opportunity to serve in other arenas. He’s been an adult leader for both confirmation and FLY, and he has been a fixture on many mission trips.
Now, the digital expert has taken things further with his creation and focus on the church’s so-called Studio 56. It’s an outlet for fifth- and sixth-graders to take a deeper look at Bible stories and bring them to life. Under Daugherty’s direction, the kids, in costume and all, make videos based on today’s retelling of various Bible stories they learn. Not only do they get a new appreciation for the stories, but they also get the invaluable opportunity to learn a bit about video production and what it entails. In reality, though, it’s not just the kids who benefit. The process also gives Daugherty another outlet for his creativity.
On several fronts, Rich Daugherty and his skills have been a major blessing for Faith in a variety of ways. But perhaps it’s the streaming that has changed or enhanced members’ lives the most. And Rich is thrilled about it. “I try to get camera angles to show all the people in the pews,” he says. “It means a lot to viewers to see their friends and family in church, making it feel almost like they are there. For me, this is a journey of faith. I feel like I have a responsibility of doing this [streaming], and I enjoy every bit of it.”
NOTE: On March 27, Rich Daugherty begins a new job as a sales support engineer at Diversified, a global, full-service systems and media technology integration company.
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