UDLC Stories: Asher Jacob
Asher Jacob is UDLC’s keeper of the keys—the hotkeys, that is.
On Sunday mornings before 10:30am, the 17-year-old climbs the stairs to his tricked out corner of the choir loft. He sits before a wide, blinking soundboard and two computer screens—all connected to a video camera aimed down at the chancel.
From this perch, Asher has a lot of responsibility. He runs the PowerPoint slides that project the prayers, readings, and music onto the screens. He makes sure all the mics are at the right volume. He also controls the camera that lets people worship with us on the livestream. And he’s usually doing all these things at once!
That where his liturgical hotkeys come in—a preset combination of keys Asher hits on the keyboard that tell the mics, camera, and computer exactly what to do for each parr of worship.
“Its kind of cool seeing how much goes into actually just running a Sunday. It just seems so simple when you’re just sitting in the congregation, but there’s a lot behind it.”
“Its kind of like the bulletin, but more detailed,” he said. “What’s going to happen next, like, what camera needs to turn on, what mic needs to get muted.”
Asher has been serving behind the scenes since Easter 2024. While part of him misses being able to just sit and enjoy the service, he’s also discovered a new appreciation for the work of worship.
“Its kind of cool seeing how much goes into actually just running a Sunday,” Asher said. “It just seems so simple when you’re just sitting in the congregation, but there’s a lot behind it.”
It’s also been a good way for the graduating high school senior to flex his tech muscles as he plans to study mechanical engineering at Michigan Technological University this fall.
While his Sunday morning post keeps him aloft, Asher’s tied to the UDLC community still run deep. And as he prepares to leave for college, Asher reflects on the unexpected connections he’s made while growing up here: ringing bells with the children’s choir, hiking with friends on youth retreats, or joining his dad and the other men who take Moose Ott out to dinner at Fireside every month.
“It’s definitely brought me closer with a lot of people I wouldn’t normally really talk to…,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to be part of a welcoming community.”