Since 1915, Harvard University’s Cruft Laboratory has played host to leading-edge research and historic innovations. The lab was used to research antennas and batteries in the early days. During WWII it was instrumental in the development of radar and sonar. In 1944, the first electromechanical computer was assembled in the basement of Cruft. It was utilized by the Navy to solve complex mathematical problems, and later by the Manhattan Project to calculate the effects of imploding the first atomic bomb.
From the street it was impossible for a casual passerby to recognize Cruft’s innovative legacy. What you could see from the street was the accumulation of random ‘techno-junk’ piling up in the windows.
As the legend goes, by the 1950s MIT students had adopted cruft as slang for the trash and debris that accumulates over time. Since then, the term has quickly spread as jargon for anything unwanted or poorly constructed. In software for example, cruft is code that is obsolete, redundant or poorly written.
Wherever the word came from, the reality is that our churches are full of it. Maybe cruft isn’t stacking up in your windowsills, but take a look at your sound booth, backstage, closets, offices, equipment racks, and even on stage. The importance of our mission makes it easy to become like the researchers of Cruft Lab—too focused on the work at hand to notice the swelling heap of yesterday’s tools.
In the long run, each church needs to build systems to proactively avoid cruft. We need to systematize our decision-making for retaining or replacing equipment based on cost analysis. We need to establish a process for upgrades, including steps for disposal or repurposing old gear.
But if you’re drowning right now, here are three steps to clear your church cruft:
- SORT—Make a pile of cruft that’s worth the effort to sell. Everything else goes straight to the dumpster. When in doubt, throw it out.
- SHARE—Before you sell anything, contact neighboring churches & ministries with a list of gear that you can give them. Make sure to explain that you don’t want to add to their cruft problem, but they’re welcome to anything that will immediately help. One church’s cruft is another church’s treasure.
- SELL—Use tools like Craigslist, eBay, Reverb, or Facebook Marketplace to list the remaining cruft. Decide if you will ship items or require local pickup. Use the proceeds to upgrade the seating in the sound booth or improve other spaces used by volunteers who serve your church. If the sound tech isn’t happy, nobody’s happy.
Source: Ministry Tech
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