— With distant deployments as a fact of life for the many military members of this congregation, technology sourced and provided by the Seattle GC Pro location is able to help keep the church’s community intact remotely —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, June 23, 2009 — Whether in a battle zone like Iraq or Afghanistan or in the relative comfort of Germany or Japan, being stationed at a faraway military post is a hardship for any member of the U.S. military. Being cut off from their spiritual communities adds another layer of isolation for those many members of the Puyallup, Washington Foursquare Church congregation who are based at one of three military installations in the Seattle area and who have been posted to overseas duty stations. Thanks to the dedication and resourcefulness of the employees of Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, Foursquare Church’s members in uniform are always a few mouse clicks away from their worship family.
Over the past year, Puyallup Foursquare has purchased a wide range of technology products through GC Pro, including Digidesign Profile and D-Show digital consoles; a full Digidesign Pro Tools HD 3 recording system; JVC high-definition video cameras; Sennheiser wireless microphone systems, DPA and AKG wired microphones; and Dynacord and Meyer installed and portable P.A. systems, as the Church sought to expand the reach of its message even as it worked to give its members in the military overseas a sense of uninterrupted belonging.
“GC Pro took us from standard-definition technology into the next step of high-definition,� says Brent Todd, Technical Director and Staff Pastor at Puyallup Foursquare Church. “This is what we need to keep our message out there and to bring it to new places and people.� Todd was pleased with the broad array of technology and product solutions that GC Pro has access to, as well as their ability to help them choose the best combinations of solutions for each aspect of the Church’s campus, such as the Dynacord installed sound system they put into a new 20,000-squre-foot building that houses the Church school’s preschool through fifth grade classes.
Todd was also amazed at the lengths to which his GC Pro Account Manager, Steve Palermo, a long-time friend of the Church, and Palermo’s assistant Justin Friesen, went to find products not normally carried in GC Pro inventories, like the Barco Encore video switching system that manages the church’s new HD video network. “It was great that we could do all of this through a single source,� says Todd. “Steve, Justin and GC Pro took us from standard def to high definition, from audio and video to true multimedia and helped us spread our message and help keep our members in the military stay connected no matter where they in the world they are. In fact, thanks to our ability to reach out anywhere in the world, we actually have new members of the Church who were introduced to us by other members stationed in Iraq. GC Pro doesn’t just understand technology – it understands people.�
