Project: Our Redeemer Lutheran Church

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church is a congregation of the La Crosse Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), located on the south side of the city of La Crosse, WI. Founded in 1950, Our Redeemer has contributed to the spiritual life of the La Crosse area for nearly 75 years.

The Hearing Challenge

Our Redeemer had an assistive listening system installed in the sanctuary. However, the older analog system wasn’t working well, and parishioners complained about the sound quality. When church leaders heard grumblings of worshippers looking at changing churches to access better assistive listening systems so they could hear worship services, they knew they needed to find a new assistive listening solution.

The Wi-Fi Assistive Listening Solution

Congregant, Ed Klein spent his career installing VOIP systems for the local phone company and volunteered to help find a solution for the church. He turned to Tri-State Sound and Light, who recommended the Listen Technologies Listen EVERYWHERE audio over Wi-Fi assistive listening system.

Ed installed the LWS-10 two-channel Listen EVERYWHERE server and, during testing, discovered the wireless router located in a closet some distance away from the sanctuary was not reaching the front of the elongated sanctuary. With a simple installation of an extender, there’s a strong Wi-Fi signal throughout the sanctuary. Now everyone can access the assistive listening system through the Listen EVERYWHERE app. Congregants who want to borrow a receiver instead of using their device to access the app can check one out before worship services.

Results

One gentleman with severe hearing loss came up to me after worship service and said he could hear everything during the service, the pastor, and the music. He thanked me for installing the new system and helping everyone learn about it and commented that he hadn’t been able to hear that well for more than 11 years.  Curt Bakkum, a 70-year-old member of ORLC.

Another congregant using the Listen EVERYWHERE app to access the audio during services, commented, “In this beautiful sanctuary, it is nice to finally be able to hear the word of God, the hymns, and the prayers with crystal clear clarity.” Marilyn Foss, a 71-year-old member at ORLC.

Ed said, “You guys have an awesome, awesome product. Everything was really intuitive. Being someone who has worked in technology for years, it’s nice to use easy, intuitive products.”