As Calvary Renewal continued to roll along, it became apparent that the equipment for the audio/visual system was being damage by the Renewal activities. The antenna for one of the microphone receivers got busted off, a CD recorder quit working and a camera was damaged. All and all, there was probably about $5,000 worth of damage caused by Calvary Renewal.

While I was given a yearly budget of $1,000 plus special collections, a new microphone was $800, a new camera was $2,000 and a new CD recorder was $300. I certainly didn’t have the funds to fix everything that needed repair.

So, I asked the minister if my budget was also to cover repairs. He told me “no” and said that if I needed anything repaired, I should get it repaired and give the invoice to the deacons. They would, in turn, credit the sound account. So, I proceeded to purchase a new CD recorder to replace the defective one as it is cheaper to replace the equipment than to repair it.

The next Sunday when I saw the chairman of the deacons, I presented him with a copy of the invoice for the replacement equipment. That is when I got that deer in the headlights look. He had no idea what I was talking about so I explained to him what the minister had told me. He said, “oh, OK, I’ll take care of it.”

Week after week went by and still no reimbursement from the deacons. Finally after a month went by, I again approached the chairmen of the deacons. He didn’t remember the conversation so I reexplained the problem. I also presented him with another copy of the invoice and again he said that he would take care of it.

Well, apparently “taking care of it” meant that he threw it into the waste basket as that money never materialized. Oh well. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

I could see that asking the deacons for help was going to be a total waste of time. So, I came up with the idea of donating my own money to the cause.

While I was still receiving the $1,000 plus special collections as my yearly allotment, I also started saving money from my bi-weekly allowance so that I could donate it to the sound booth when needed. Soon, I matched their $1,000 with another $1,000 that I had saved up by not buying a cup of coffee during my coffee breaks.

With $2,000, I could finally start addressing some of the critical Calvary Renewal damage done to the sound booth. I didn’t need to bother the deacon with bills and I didn’t have to beg for money to fix the equipment. The deacons didn’t seem to object and the system worked smoothly. I donated the money, the deacons deposited it, I received a tax credit and the defective equipment got repaired or replaced. What could be simpler.

Down on sound – the empire strikes back. The dirty tricks the deacons play.