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If your church is looking for a ministry that supports your members and can reach seekers, then a duplicating service might be the answer. Producing cassettes and cds of sermons and church presentations is relatively easy and cheap. But, you ask, is it effective?

It certainly works for the Evangelical Free Church in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Pastor Kirk Belmont has only glowing things to say about the church's tape ministry: "We produce a couple hundred tapes each week. People really appreciate the ability to walk away from a sermon and pick up a tape to hand to a friend. Or they listen to it throughout the week and reflect on it."

Belmont says the church receives a lot of positive feedback on the tape ministry, especially from the 90 missionaries supported by the church. "They really appreciate the tapes," he says. "It lets them know we are remembering them, and they're challenged by the Word as well."

Leo Clukey, owner of Recording Products, further praises the audio cassette: "There is no other medium that has been so effectively involved in spreading the Word since the invention of the printing press. Our biggest customers are the denominations that are recording the greatest growth."

Churches often initiate a tape ministry by simply making a single library copy of sermons, which members can borrow. They then begin producing multiple copies for shut-ins and members requesting sermons they missed or want to review. Once word spreads, increased demand spawns a full-fledged ministry. Tapes of sermons or services can be used as an evangelistic tool—to expose seekers to the church's message—and/or as a point of continued contact with overseas missionaries, those in the military, and former members. The possibilities are endless.

Before you get too carried away, though, take note of these pointers from industry experts.

• Get an idea of what you want to do before you buy duplication equipment. "Determine how you want to use the product: Is it just for shut-ins? Will you have the cassettes for people when they leave the worship service?" asks Sue Arrington, duplication products sales director for Telex. The answers to these types of questions determine what equipment you should buy. For instance, if you'll be recording music, you'll want to consider a stereo duplicating system; if you're just taping sermons, a mono system is OK, Arrington says.
• Know what's out there. From one master, 1-1 duplicators make one tape, 1-3 duplicators make three tapes, and 1-3 expandable duplicators can be chain-linked to four-position machines to make more copies simultaneously, says Vince Stone of CLW Electronics.
  
  Then there's the issue of speed. "Most duplicators make tapes at 16x (16 times recorded speed), copying two monaural (mono) tracks or four stereo tracks simultaneously," Stone says. "Copying an hour service takes about two minutes."
  
  You'll also need to consider the type of heads you want your duplicating equipment to have.
  
  "When making a choice, one prime consideration is frequency of use," says Stella Derum, Sony's marketing manager for audio duplication products. "Our models have normal wear heads for typical use and extended wear heads for more extensive duplication."
  
  Stone notes, "Ferrite heads yield four to five times as many passes as standard heads but cost $500 to $600 extra."
  
  Regular cleaning is a must if you want to maintain your new tool's high performance.

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