It suffices to say that lighting the worship space isn’t an area of expertise for most pastors — yet, the final decision regarding what fixtures and elements to invest in often rests in their hands.

To help pastors navigate their choices, Church Executive spoke with a handful of church lighting experts: Duke DeJong, church relations director at Olympia, WA-based CCI Solutions; Douglas Hood, president of CSD Group, Inc. in Fort Wayne, IN; and

David Henry, Learnstagelighting.com creator and blogger.

Church Executive: What kinds of lighting fixtures are particularly popular in worship spaces? What kind of mood does each one create? And, how much can a pastor expect to spend?

Henry: Depending on the church’s style of worship, it may have (or need) any combination of conventional lights, LED lights and moving lights.

Conventional lights are non-moving, non-color-changing lights that have one attribute: They turn on and illuminate the stage.

These can be colored and have patterns, or gobos, inside of them; but, their color or pattern can’t be changed without getting out a ladder! The price is generally $20 to $200 per light, but they require a dimmer (about $100 for four lights) if the church doesn’t already have a dimmer pack or rack.

LED lights are the newer version of conventional lights in the sense that they don’t move. These color-changing lights use little power and are able to change colors from the console, during a service. However, because these lights don’t move, the church needs to get out the ladder if it wants them pointed somewhere else. Price ranges from $100 to $1,000 per light. Also, cheaper LED lights don’t look good on videotape.

Moving lights move and change colors and patterns. A church doesn’t have to get out a ladder for any re-pointing or re-coloring of these lights; it can do cool movements and effects during its worship service using these lights. They’re priced anywhere from $500 to $20,000 per light, but most cost less than $7,000 each.

All these lights can create the same types of looks or moods. From soft and dampened to bright, colorful and vibrant, they can do it all. The more expensive LED and moving lights can serve more purposes during a worship service, while a conventional light can only light one specific area at a time.

DeJong: Traditionally, the most common types of lights we see go into a house of worship are par can, ellipsoidal and house lights. [See page 16/Catalina Church North installation photos.] House lights come in all shapes, styles and power ratings, of course; but, the pendant-style fixture — which hangs down from a cord — has been more popular lately. What’s especially nice about pendant-style fixtures is, even if your ceiling has angles or is open-truss, you can drop all the pendant lights to any given level and whatever’s above them just sort of “disappears.”

For stage lighting, the norm in churches has been par can and ellipsoidal fixtures. Par cans create a softer, more diffused and even wash over any given field. Ellipsoidal fixtures are more of a spot-type light, giving the ability to light more strategically over a specific field. Par cans used to be the standard just about everywhere; but, with the rise of projection, creative stage design and color washing backdrops, we’ve found that par cans don’t always give us the amount of control we want over our lighting. When light is needed in one area, but not in another, an ellipsoidal fixture offers the best control with a tighter beam, as well as the ability to shutter off part of the beam.

In the last five to 10 years, LED fixtures have become increasingly popular as their prices have dropped. Trusted models range from $189 to $2,500 depending on brightness, size and so on. With their low power draw, low heat creation, increasing intensity — and with many having the ability to change to whatever color you want from a control surface — LED fixtures provide both energy savings and flexibility.

Intelligent lights — in other words, fixtures that move (priced between $2,000 and $20,000 each) — are also gaining popularity as they become more affordable. With most intelligent fixtures being incredibly flexible and feature-rich, on top of being amiable from a control surface, more and more churches are incorporating intelligent lights into their systems.

CE: Pastors might evaluate their lighting options in terms of longevity and versatility versus what might be the “flashiest” choices. What lighting elements would you recommend, with that criteria in mind — but that also offer some “flash”?

Hood: When talking about longevity and versatility, LED quickly pops up in any conversation. We’ve all heard of it, and we’ve all seen LEDs in use in churches, retail environments and outdoor lighting.

I love to include LEDs in our church designs because their colors can easily be changed — which is almost always on a church’s wish list, but which used to be complicated. At one time, it involved putting a gel frame holder on a theatrical light, and then putting a gel on that fixture. And even if you did all that, you still only had one color on that light. Beyond that, if you wanted to move the light, you had to get out a ladder, scaffolding or a motorized lift.

Now, churches can consider not only a LED light, but a moving-head LED light; so, the process is way easier. And, by using LED fixtures, the church doesn’t need a dimmer rack — no six-feet-tall racks of dimmers creating a big heat source in a back room, somewhere, and no special cooling system to cool that big dimmer rack.

DeJong: For many reasons, LED house and stage lighting is making more sense than ever — especially for new facilities. While they’re definitely a bigger upfront investment, LED lighting pays for itself in power and cooling savings. Plus, a church isn’t replacing lamps in its fixtures every year, which saves lamp cost and man hours. And, with many fixtures’ color flexibility, churches not only get a highly efficient and effective fixture, but they have flexibility to create ambience and mood with color.

CE: How does a pastor or business administrator know it’s time to upgrade the church’s lighting?

Henry: It’s time to upgrade when (a) you want it to do more than it can handle, or (b) it’s in a state of disrepair, and the cost of fixing it doesn’t make sense.

Pastors shouldn’t make major decisions without weighing the costs and work involved. And, they should keep in mind that upgrading to the latest technology is by no means required.

DeJong: It’s time to upgrade when the church is replacing lamps more often than it wants to; is looking to decrease its power consumption and cooling costs; sees an existing dimming system is beginning to fail; needs increased control of its lighting coverage; wants to add significant color to its lighting; wants to add effects lighting; and/or realizes its lighting controller no longer meets its needs.

Hood: If a pastor looks at his church’s platform/stage and would describe it as “underwhelming,” it might be time for an upgrade.

Ironically, it might also be time to upgrade if the worship environment is characterized by lots of plain white or beige walls. While those elements might be pretty boring to look at, adding a new LED lighting system really brings them to life. Imagine: If you shine a red light at a black surface, you’ll see red, to some degree. But, if you shine a red light at a plain white wall, the light really pops. That simple example helps paint the picture of what a professionally designed lighting system can do for even the most “blah” stage.

CE: Are there certain types of fixtures that stand the test of time and could be integrated into a (partially) new lighting scheme?

Henry: Yes!  In fact, anything that’s in good, working condition and uses modern DMX protocol to communicate can become a part of a new system. The great thing about lighting is that the data and power standards have been in place for more than 25 years. So, many pieces of older equipment will seamlessly integrate with a new setup.

DeJong: Because most LED lighting fixtures last tens and even hundreds of thousands of hours, a church can feel pretty good about investing in LED fixtures. Although fans and dimmers built into those fixtures can fail, I believe LED fixtures offer the most bang for the buck, long-term. (Also, they’re incredibly flexible. So, if you no longer need them in one facility, you can always redeploy them to another venue.)

Par cans have also stood the test of time and are a great, basic lighting fixture. Ellipsoidal fixtures, too, have been a long-time standard in theatrical venues.

Hood: For most of our church clients, we still use a balance of incandescent (standard dimmable lights) and LED lights.

Typically, an incandescent system gives us the best general wash for the stage. We then supplement that base system with LED lights and intelligent lights for key light, back light, uplight, stage accents and architectural accents.

For most church clients, if the house lights are currently “doing the job” in terms of light output, we can reuse those. A new control system might be needed just so the overall system can be controlled easily, but a church can most likely keep the house fixtures. Many times, a church replaces its house fixtures because they’re dated, not because they don’t work.

Faith comes by hearing – but what if they can’t hear you?

The most important criteria for a church sound reinforcement system are that it is loud enough and that it is intelligible. When your congregation is straining to understand what is being said – even unconsciously – it interferes with learning and one’s ability to ponder your sermon. Your congregation also becomes fatigued, which can lead to frustration and disinterest.

Designing a sound system that is loud enough is pretty straightforward, but designing a system that is intelligible requires implementation of several principles, along with proper operation. Intelligibility is a principle that is often not understood, and thus overlooked. Make sure your sound engineer understands intelligibility and will implement all the criteria required. There is a complete and more technical commentary on intelligibility on www.clearsoundcorp.com that your operator and sound engineer can review.

Hardest to correct
Room environment with its acoustics, the location of the presenter, and the presenter are criteria affecting intelligibility, whether there is a sound reinforcement system or not. If there is sound reinforcement, the system components – including microphone choice and placement, speaker choice and implementation, and audio processors such as mixers, equalizers and compressor limiters – all affect intelligibility.

The correct lighting, setting, appropriate lectern and presentation aids will help you, the presenter, be comfortable and confident. You are best understood if the people can see you well. Body language, especially facial expressions, is a part of the whole in communication.

Room acoustics affect intelligibility more than most things, yet the one hardest to correct. When the sound that is being reinforced bounces off walls, floors and ceilings, the initial sound ends up traveling at different distances reaching people’s ears at different time intervals destroying intelligibility. So what will work?

• Avoid hard reflective surfaces (including empty pews) and odd- or round-shaped rooms.
• Rooms that are rectangular in shape, where the presentation is on the short-width end, work well.
• The thicker the carpet the more sound it will absorb.
• Walls and ceilings that are broken up architecturally or have acoustic absorption panels will help reduce the reverberant sound, making the room more intelligible.

Intelligibility issues
Few microphones are designed specifically for intelligibility. Look for a microphone that is designed specifically for intelligible speech. It limits the frequency response to just the vocal range and does not boost intelligibility-busting frequencies so the voice sounds natural and intelligible. The microphone should be placed close enough so the voice can be reinforced adequately without producing feedback, yet far enough away so that mouth noises, “P” popping and bass boost are not a problem. This is usually about 6 inches with the microphone aimed directly at the mouth. An adequate pop filter will also help.

We had some intelligibility issues in a church where the microphone was emphasizing the bass and high frequencies. When the pastor was speaking, it sounded muffled because of too much bass, and it was distracting to hear the mouth noises. The congregation was frustrated because the volume seemed plenty loud, but the people often could not understand what was being said. There were also issues with the connection, which made the microphone pop once in a while.

We replaced the microphone with an Intelligibility MI-90 gooseneck microphone and a locking connector, and for years now the congregation can easily understand what is said without the distraction of the mouth noises. Often, the problem was that the operator was boosting the bass and treble on the mixer. Educating the operator took care of most of the problem, but the microphone replacement made speech intelligibility even better. With the microphone eliminating the problem frequencies, it ensured that even if later someone changed the frequencies on the mixer, he or she cannot boost frequencies that are not there.

The lure of the sizzle
We are so used to hearing ourselves with the bass and treble boosted on the sound system that when it is corrected, we think the sound seems thin and we wonder where the sizzle is. Remember, it is more important that people understand what you are saying than for the sound to be bigger than life. Be patient and soon your congregation will get used to it, and then realize how natural and personal the system sounds, and how pleasant it is to be able to understand every word.

I have seen this same problem with televised services. Most televisions will not reproduce the accented bass unless they are equipped with a surround sound system – but almost all TVs will reproduce the mouth noises, which are annoying. I was able to talk to a seasoned engineer at one of the largest international televised services about how the services were not as intelligible as they could be, because on TVs with surround sound systems the bass was interfering with intelligibility, and the mouth noises were so loud they not only affected the intelligibility, they were annoying. They have not corrected the situation; I assume because they are so used to hearing the accented bass and sizzle of the “big production.”

Choosing a speaker system
In choosing a speaker system look for one that provides intelligibility by providing sufficient sound pressure levels (so it is loud enough), low distortion (so the sound is clear), control of the projected sound (so echo is reduced), and a flat frequency response (so frequencies that improve intelligibility are not missing, and frequencies that reduce intelligibility are not increased). A distributed ceiling system is often a good choice. Many times you will be using the sound reinforcement for music also. If so, make sure the frequency response is extended, but still maintains a flat response. Speakers like the Clear Sound Corp. “Intelligibility Series” are a good choice for this. Now with an intelligible speaker system, ensure the speakers are placed so that the projected sound covers only the congregation and not onto walls, floors, ceilings or open vacant areas.

Audio processors
The easiest to fix and the most common intelligibility buster are the equalizer knobs on the mixer. Any sound below 80 hertz is not in the vocal range and will interfere with intelligibility. Engage the high-pass filter if available and turn down the low-frequency knob without making the voice sound too thin and unnatural. Consonances are in the mid-frequency range and are the key to intelligibility. Boosting the mid-frequencies a little provides an edge to intelligibility. Attenuate the high frequency to avoid too much sibilance. Too much “sss” in the letter “s” and mouth noises are distracting.

If you are only reinforcing voice, the main system equalizer can be equalized specifically for the voice, but if you are reinforcing music also, equalize the system to a flat response. Then the mixer can be used to individually equalize the instruments, singers and speakers.

Effects such as reverb, delay, etc. can destroy intelligibility and should never be used for the spoken word; however, a compressor limiter can be used to improve intelligibility by keeping the volume at the correct level.

Imagine offering an environment that will enable the congregation to effortlessly understand every word that is said, allowing them to ponder and learn without being fatigued.

Dan James is the CEO of Audio Systems Group, Chicago, IL, manufacturer of Clear Sound products and the patented Summit Lecterns. [www.clearsound.us]

As churches across the nation continue to embrace new technologies, Bobby Dennis sought to keep The Heights Baptist Church ahead of the curve. Dennis, technical director at the Richardson, TX, megachurch wanted to embrace not just technology, but the sort of thing that would impress, inform and entertain the congregation.

Dennis wanted a way to disseminate information – to share the week’s happenings, promote local events and support members of the congregation as they made a difference in the parish. What the Heights church needed was a way to do it so people would take notice.

Like many churches, The Heights determined the most appropriate way to do so would be through digital signage, a technology Dennis says has been working its way into houses of worship over the past few years.

“Today’s congregants are increasingly aware of and surrounded by technology used to create excitement and demand their attention – they now expect it,” says Dennis.

“Digital signage is actually a natural extension of technological support – the ability to deliver content in a presentation format that is visually striking, coupled with the ease of keeping the content current, increases the effectiveness of delivering information to the end-user,” says Dennis.

Churches are continuously improving the way they deliver messages, incorporating live presentations, pre-recorded videos, concert-grade sound systems, even lighting effects to immerse congregants in the worship experience. For The Heights and its thousands of members, digital signage pulls that technology-enhanced worship into the rest of the facility’s services, like youth ministries, music programs and community outreach. Dennis sought to upgrade The Heights’ use of low-tech posters, printed flyers and handouts to easy-to-create, appealing and up-to-date content on digital signage.

The church also needed to make sure each department would be able to use the new technology to support their efforts, so he needed something that could be updated locally and simply.

The church is using LG’s EzSign TV, a turnkey solution he chose primarily for its “ease of use, allowing each department to be self-sustaining.” After installing the first EzSign in the children’s area, he and the administrative assistant downloaded the software provided online and were freely creating signboards within a half hour. Each department would now be able to promote upcoming events, share campus-wide news and post photos and videos from recent activities themselves.

In only a few months, the display has already become an integral part of the children’s ministry. “The display has proved an invaluable tool when new prospects visit the children’s area in our church,” says Dennis.

Useful not only for its ability to attract attention, the new displays are also helping Dennis and his team to support parish programming. “The display is exciting, and with new content changes weekly, everyone who walks past the area becomes aware of the exciting things happening in the children’s program. It has enhanced program support — we’re getting more volunteers.”

The Heights Church has since made plans to incorporate the devices throughout all departments. Dennis wanted to share not just information, but photos, slide shows, promotions and video content – a ­tall order when budget is a concern. Because the software has been so easy to update, The Heights has been able to reduce costs for producing paper posters and flyers, but he says, “The most important gain is the efficiency, effectiveness and outcome” of the upgrade to digital signage. “Digital signage is a better way.”

Don Smith is director of Digital Signage, LG Electronics USA, Lincolnshire, IL. www.LGsolutions.com

Gateway Church, Southlake, TX

“I just need someone popular, cool or paid to operate the technical gear! I need new or cool tech gear! This will create or fix my worship atmosphere problem.” In visiting churches, many times I have heard these statements, says David Leuschner, executive director of technical arts at Gateway Church. “They strike me as odd if interesting,” he says.

After working and managing technical areas for more than 20 years, I have come to realize that we never say, “We need a good preacher, Christian or not a Christian, anyone will do; they just need to be a good communicator. They don’t even need to go here, let’s just pay them to teach us on the weekends.” We never grab people off the street, put them on the platform and say, “Sing, go for it.” We don’t do that for these areas. In these areas we look for people who are committed to the church, invested, believe, ready to serve, willing and helpful.

Yet, for some reason, in technical areas, we think popular, cool or paid secular engineers will fix everything. I have seen larger churches fall into the trap of buying newer, cooler gear in hopes that coolness or polish will create a worship atmosphere.

How does Gateway Church use its technical areas to create a great environment of worship? Is it a polished look with experienced secular engineers and awesomely cool and expensive gear?

“Out of the clutter, find simplicity,” Albert Einstein said. Inside the clutter of the secular world trying to tell us how, why, when and what will create a great environment of worship, there is a simple answer. People. Yes, it is all about people.

People are the reason why Gateway’s technical areas help facilitate a great worship environment. Be sure to think of your tech areas as a ministry department and not a service department. This will help you remember to spiritually and technically invest in your people. Look for great people with helpful and willing hearts, then teach them and grow them. Don’t just look for or pay for someone who has a great resume for sound, lights or video. Go beyond that.

You must train your people on how to worship God through their sound consoles, lighting boards or video gear. Invest in your tech areas the same way you invest in those who are on the platform. Teach your techs how to scripturally lay the foundation of worship which allows the Lord to move in your services.

We need our tech teams to be fully invested in the DNA of the church while understanding that their God-given technical talents are fulfilling the Great Commission. Technicians who have this concept will help allow for awesome worship atmospheres and they will do it with very minimal tech gear. The timing, accuracy, quality and efficiency of tech will excel. It’s not about how much tech gear or cool stuff you have, it’s about taking what you have been given and using it to worship the Lord.

[Source: David Leuschner, executive director of technical arts]

Austin Stone Community Church, Austin, TX

Stories have always been a part of the church. In the time of Jesus, stories were primarily used orally to teach and encourage. Today we use cameras to continue this tradition. The Austin Stone Community Church has created a ministry called The Story Team to use essays, photos and films to tell stories about the ways God is at work in the church, the city and around the world. The effect has been powerful.

When people see a story unfolding in front of their eyes, there is a tangible impact that lasts much longer and runs much deeper than if they simply listen to a pastor explain a sermon.

Austin Stone’s Story Team creates documentaries about normal people facing various challenges in their walk with Christ, and the team’s task is to tell the story that the Lord is weaving in their lives. Filmmaking is a powerful tool that can breathe life into the local and global body — not to become more insulated or flashy, but as a way to motivate, mobilize, reconcile, redeem and renew the dark places in our hearts and in our world.

[Source: Jeremy Rodgers, film production manager]

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More Good Stewards

WORSHIP ARTS
• Southeast Christian Church Louisville, KY

Many modern churches have similar architectural designs: square or rectangular spaces. This may be ideal from an architectural standpoint, but it is not ideal for acoustics. In a recording studio, where the structure is built specifically to satisfy acoustical needs, rooms are built with angled walls, no parallel walls, and the hard, reflective surfaces are “treated” with absorbent materials to reduce sound wave reflections.

Sound waves gradually lose strength as they travel distance and eventually die out, like water waves do after a stone is thrown into a pond. If a wave encounters a hard surface before it dies out, it will be bounced off and be sent in a different direction. Imagine slapping water against the wall of a bath tub.

A troublesome room
Parallel walls create what are called standing waves. Standing waves occur when a sound wave gets trapped between the parallel walls and bounces back and forth repeatedly, cycling once each time, until it eventually dies out. The resulting sound is displeasing to the ear. Compound that with other excessive reflections off of the hard walls and you are left with a troublesome room for performance audio. Since knocking down the walls and reconstructing the room is not an option for most churches, acoustical treatment can be a great solution.

Grace Church in Longwood, FL, is located at the corner of a strip mall. Like many of today’s churches, the sanctuary is a giant square room with three sets of hard, highly reflective parallel walls. Grace Church smartly plays to the corners of the room — the stage is set diagonally in the corner on one side, therefore facing the opposing corner, not a flat wall, reducing slap back.

Abby Dolbear, music pastor at Grace Church, contacted our firm to assess the room. She explained that even when the system was loud, people were still complaining that they could not understand the vocals. Even speaking without mics or speakers turned on, the room was very noticeably “live” with a lot of reverberation (the repetitive reflection of sound waves) and slap back echo. You can imagine the impact when the pastor was mic’ed for a sermon. Dolbear knew acoustics were the problem and wanted to make it right.

Reverb is an important part of the worship service, when it is used effectively. The room cannot be completely deadened by acoustical treatment or the members of the congregation will feel isolated, negatively impacting the worship experience, but it cannot be so lively that it degrades the intelligibility of spoken word and sung lyrics coming from the stage.

Keeping this in mind, our firm suggested a room treatment with fiberboard panels covered in fabric, fire treated and rated, scientifically placed so that sound is absorbed and diffused by the proper amount and so that the room still remains aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Other improvements
After the acoustical treatment was complete, Grace Church decided that they would proceed with an improvement of the electronics. Acoustics should be addressed first, before taking a look at the electronic equipment. You can have great equipment in a bad room and the room will still sound bad; put great equipment in a great room and the results will be fantastic.

A small line of carefully placed dB Technologies speakers were flown on either side of the stage, paired with Turbosound sub woofers. Special attention must be given to the directionality of all speakers in a space in order to avoid over exposure or dead spots. Matching the dispersion pattern of the speaker system to the area occupied by the congregation is always desirable.

An Allen & Heath iLive digital console was also installed. With effective use of dynamic processors such as gates and compression, an engineer can have complete control of the sound, further improving upon the room acoustics.

After the install was completed, Dolbear notes that the congregation was satisfied with the noticeable differences. “The dispersion of the sound has been amazing. You can walk the entire auditorium and it is the same,” she says.

Bobbie Bennett works in sales and marketing for Atlantic Professional Audio, Altamonte Springs, FL. www.atlanticproaudio.com

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Avoid sound ‘leaks’ into the church’s neighborhood

Today, new environmental noise pollution laws are impacting churches, as well as clubs and concert venues, and as Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) are being implemented in worship settings, “sound is ‘leaking out’ into the neighborhood,” says Donnie Haulk, president and CEO of AE Global Media, Charlotte, NC.

“In some cities and states this leakage is called noise pollution and ordinances are starting to be written and enforced. Designing your building to be able to both absorb and keep your worship in your building is becoming a great consideration during the design process.  And for existing spaces, acoustic remodels are being required to keep the worship in the building,” Haulk says.

Leakages can occur within the church building as well, as when a dynamic youth service elsewhere in the facility bleeds into the main service.

“The use of acoustic blocking walls in the worship facility along with being mindful of people flow and ministry programming can be used to assure this isn’t an issue for your ministry,” Haulk says. “The location and design of these rooms need to be mindful of the ministry application and relative location to the main worship space.” AE Global Media works extensively with churches around the world with live productions, broadcasting, webcasting, performance acoustics and media technologies.

Haulk says that another consideration is the “noise floor” in the worship space and the impact of the HVAC system on worship. “HVAC has major impact on how quiet a room can ultimately be,” he says. “The lower the noise floor in a worship space, the higher the dynamic range can be without having to be too loud or approach the threshold of pain to achieve great dynamics.”

A church’s acoustics can be redone to allow for greater ministry impact, says Haulk. “Often as worship styles change, you are required to re-address the architecture needed to implement the new worship music or art. Most buildings are capable of being upgraded.” Haulk gets many questions on acoustics:

Can we modify our acoustic environment to enhance the worship experience?

It is possible to “re-tune” a room with either mechanical or electrical acoustic treatments. Your required worship style and desired sound pressure level will determine how and where the room should be treated. It is recommended that the style of worship and SPL be determined before the building is built and then design the appropriate worship space for the ministry.

What impact do acoustics have on intimacy?

Intimacy, as defined in worship, is the ability for the parishioner to be able to feel as if the minister is able to make a direct connection to him or her during the ministry time. To design an effective worship environment takes a clear understanding of the type/style of ministry being delivered and is impacted greatly by architecture style, volume of space, natural and generated light, color, amplified sound and acoustics.

To achieve intimacy between the minister and the congregant one must be able to achieve a 1.2 to 1.4 second delay time in the vocal frequencies.

And have the sound to listener be perceived that the minister is physically close to the listener.

With an audio system design that lets the minister be able to communicate at vocal levels that would be normally used in a small room. In other words, the system must allow the minister to have the option to speak at a normal or low speech level, not raising his or her voice, while still achieving clarity in all vocal frequencies.
www.aeglobalmedia.com

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A sound system saga about longevity
A common question Richard A. Honeycutt is asked when designing a sound system for a church is how long the system will last. Dr. Honeycutt is principal consultant with EDC Sound Services, Lexington, NC. “Let’s examine this question by using a real-life example,” he suggests.

The First Baptist Church of Lexington, NC, founded in the late 1800s, moved into its current building in 1954. At that time, pastors prided themselves on projecting their speech so well, and enunciating so clearly, that no sound system was needed, so none was installed, except for two pulpit mics feeding a line amplifier for the local radio station broadcast.

However, after two years, the first sound system was installed: a four-channel mixer-amplifier, a compressor, two speakers built into the front walls, and two dynamic mics. The electronics for this entire Altec Lansing system were mounted in a closet external to the sanctuary, he says.
“This system served well for speech amplification, but in the 1970s, the music director wanted to amplify soloists and sometimes the choir; and the percentage of hearing-challenged listeners had increased. A new sound system was mounted in a custom-made roll-top cabinet in the balcony. It consisted of a 12-channel Electro Voice mixer, a Sunn power amplifier, a custom-built center speaker cluster, and new Electro Voice microphones,” Honeycutt says.

Unintrusive arrangement
Choir pickup was accomplished using two E-V RE10 mics, each mounted in a foam “mouse,” a device allowing the mic to be placed on the floor in front of the choir, isolated from floor thumps. The resulting mic arrangement was not visually intrusive, and was free from the midrange frequency response irregularities caused by floor reflections.

Replacing the left-and-right pulpit mics by a single central one improved gain-before-feedback. The central speaker evened out sound coverage throughout the sanctuary.

During a major sanctuary renovation, the sound system was upgraded again. This happened in two stages over a period of about five years.
A computer was added to provide digital recording capability of major events. The old telephone-line transmission system that sent the signal to the radio station was replaced, reducing lightning vulnerability.

Into modern times
Late in 2011, in order to improve intelligibility in the sanctuary, the graphic equalizer and compressor were replaced. The wireless mics were replaced; the cassette recorder was retired — all services began to be digitally recored — and a new EZDupe CD duplicator was purchased.
Throughout these chronicles, the sound system was never replaced because of failure or being “worn out.” All changes were upgrades needed because of changing requirements to support an evolving worship style, and in order to take advantage of new technology.

So the answer to “How long will my new sound system last?” is probably “It doesn’t matter,” Honeycutt says. “Your needs and technology improvements will most likely dictate an upgrade before your new system fails.”
www.edcsound.com

Audio speakers, lighting fixtures, banners, a cross, even a flying angel in a pageant – these are things that may be suspended high above the heads of the congregants in a house of worship. Each of these elements, whether static or moving, is hung from rope, chain or wire rope.

The suspension medium is attached to the structure of the building or to devices that allow planned movement of the piece. The equipment with which any of these elements is suspended is known as “rigging.”

Rigging is used to suspend and move anything, whether lighting, scenery, ecclesiastical equipment, or props for a worship production. Dynamic rigging can raise or lower lighting fixtures into position for maintenance (the replacement of burnt out lamps or faded gels). Scenery can be lowered into a performance area to create a background or raised out of the way to reveal a new setting. Rigging can be done manually or by motorization.

Safety standards
Concerned with safety and efficiency, churches require the same caliber of rigging equipment that theaters use. This equipment is governed by strict safety standards published by the PLASA and ANSI organizations.

These standards determine the appropriate suspension medium. For example, if you are going to suspend a stationary cross on galvanized utility cable (GUC) – formerly known as galvanized aircraft cable – you must apply a safety factor of 5:1.

Nothing should ever be suspended above people on a single supporting line, no matter what the material. Rigging requires redundancy. Heavy objects, such as a large crucifix should be supported on at least two lines. Three are preferable. Suppose this is a cross that weighs 500 pounds. Because there are two supporting lines, each line must support half the weight, at least 250 pounds.

This load can be supported by 1/8-inch diameter 7 x 19 GUC, with an ultimate rated breaking strength of 2,000 pounds. To determine the maximum strength of the wire rope, divide 2,000 pounds by the safety factor of five (2,000 pounds divided by five equals 400 pounds). In this case, each lift line will be capable of safely supporting 400 pounds. Two lift lines will safely support a load of 800 pounds if they are in good condition, properly terminated and properly installed. (If this were a moving load, the minimum  safety factor would be 8:1.)

Motorized rigging
The best and safest choice for moving such loads above an audience is motorized rigging with safety features built into its hoists and controls. These machines are typically installed by professional riggers. Not all motorized hoists or hoist controls are equal.

A rigging system, at a minimum, must (1) locate hoist controls in the line-of-sight of the moving objects and (2) include a “hold-to-operate” button so that the lifted load only moves when attended by a person. (3) “End-of-travel” and “over-travel” limit switches must be part of the system to ensure the lifted objects will not crash into the overhead structure or slam into the floor. (4) The hoisting system should include load-profiling capability to ensure that a hoist will stop moving if unexpected excess weight (such as an unintentionally lifted curtain) is placed on the machine, or if normal weight is reduced (if scenery unintentionally were to catch on a ladder or platform).

Additional functionality that should be provided by a motorized system would include preset positioning of battens, speed control of battens, and slack-line detection. Control modes such as automatic cycling of cues, automatic timing between cues, and the moving of multiple line sets at the same time are also very beneficial. The best system provides feedback information (“diagnostics”) from each of the hoists to the controller.

Easy handling
Finally, you should not need a Ph.D. in engineering to operate your motorized hoist controls. While a manual rigging system (raising, lowering and manipulating stage elements by hand) may seem simpler, it requires several qualified persons operating with a high awareness of safety and in a very coordinated way.

Motorized rigging requires only one responsible operator who understands the workings and safety features of the system. Motorized rigging reduces the manpower necessary to run a show.

Automated stage hoists make great worship-production artistry possible – adding energy, diversity and excitement. Churches rely on this technology not only for signature seasonal pageants and special services but simply for their busy facility’s daily needs. Motorized rigging saves time, labor and money, while – most importantly – being safer.

Harvey Sweet is senior product manager with ETC Rigging (Electronic Theatre Controls Inc.), Middletown, WI. [www.etcconnect.com]

Many modern churches are making the leap to a more theatrical approach to ministry. Instead of using flowers and ficus to decorate their stages, they are creating environments that more closely match Broadway musicals or U2 concerts.

This trend seems to be growing; in fact, many churches are creating job positions for this type of artist. The position requirements usually involve lighting, scenic design and even graphic design.

Many churches have found that stage design helps their congregations more easily engage with the services. Church workers are seeing stage design as an opportunity to create a visual atmosphere that mirrors what happens with the music and message on the church platform.

ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com is the leading repository for church staging from congregations all over the world. When you look at the stage designs displayed on the site, you’ll notice two trends in modern church stage design. The first is scenic or literal design. The second is atmospheric or abstract design.

Scenic design
Scenic design is largely influenced by the theater. When you go to a play or musical, you see literal sets. These sets are intended to transport you to a physical location. This might be a forest or a pirate ship.

Many churches are using styrofoam, fabrics and lumber to create these literal scenes. The literal scene is intended to transport the congregation to a location that typically ties in with a sermon series or special event at the church.

Atmospheric design
While many churches are inspired by the theater, others (and a growing number) are inspired by U2 and Coldplay concerts.

These sorts of stage designs are more about the light show and digital projection. Instead of a literal scene, these types of stages use lighting colors and projected images to create an environment that can be changed dynamically to match the mood or emotions on the stage.

Churches are using things like shapes made from corrugated plastic, towers of painted wood, or even string sculptures to create these abstract designs. Then they use lighting or digital projection to “paint” these structures dynamically. Instead of one scene like a forest or pirate ship, the atmospheric stage designer can change the look of the stage multiple times during a church service.

Atmospheric or abstract stage design is often the less expensive and less involved option for churches. Instead of pouring time and money into elaborate sets, churches are using inexpensive materials to create their abstract structures. Some of the inexpensive materials churches use includes packing tape, bubble wrap, newspaper, aluminum screening material, Styrofoam and lumber.

Churches leading the way
South Hills Church in Corona, CA, has created some very innovative designs using newspaper and bubble wrap. Van Metschke, the church’s technical director, describes stage design in the church like this: “We want to draw our audience’s eyes to the stage to help focus on what we are presenting. Like God, we are creative beings – not only creating, but responding to creativity. It can help show that we care about what we are presenting and who we are presenting to.”

Andrew Hunt from Blue Ridge Community Church in Forest, VA, sees stage design as an opportunity to help their congregation “lower their guard” and engage with the service. Hunt uses materials like foam insulation and corrugated plastic – the material used for real estate signage.

Finally, Denny Weinman at Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, SC, uses stage design as a way to accomplish what architects accomplished in old cathedrals – add an aesthetic element to buildings. Denny has used materials like string sculptures, small bits of lumber, and even paper mache in his stage designs.

Because modern church stage design is a somewhat new art, there aren’t many classes or degree plans to help you start. But the leading churches employ construction workers, graphic designers and lighting designers who are willing to experiment with materials to create the stage designs. It’s an exciting new field, and though there may be very few “rules” to this new trend, all churches agree with these two: be creative and be safe.

Jonathan Malm writes and speaks about the creative process. He created and edits ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com and Sunday magazine [www.sundaymag.tv], a free online magazine about the creative side of Sunday mornings at church.

Featured photos: Designed by Denny Weinman for Sugar Creek Baptist Church, Sugar Land, TX. (Photo courtesy of Denny Weinman.)
Designed by Andrew Hunt for Blue Ridge Community Church, Forest, VA. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Hunt.)
Designed by Van Metschke for South Hills Church, Corona, CA. (Photo courtesy of Marvin Sinson.)

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What value does stage design bring to corporate worship?

Andy Bentley
Tech Director/Lighting Designer
Elevation Church,
Charlotte, NC
abentley@elevationchurch.org
One of our responsibilities as church leaders is to create a physical atmosphere of worship that is both excellent and distraction free. When people come to our church, everything they see from the moment they pull in the parking lot is a representation of Christ to them, and they see the stage for 90 percent of their time with us. If we have a stage that is cluttered, messy or designed poorly, it can give people the perception that we don’t care about their experience, and that doesn’t give us a good platform to share Christ with them.

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Joel Wyant
Worship Lighting and Scenic Designer
Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY
JWyant@secc.org
As a scenic designer in a church, I strive to create an environment for a corporate worship service that allows people to focus on biblical teaching and engage in authentic worship. While God doesn’t need cool staging or high-tech lighting, it can be used to help lead people into His presence. A good stage design is often the first thing that the congregation sees. It should be something that allows people to put distractions and worries aside and prepare their heart even before the first song or sermon begins.

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Mark Allen
Assistant Production Director
First Assembly of God,
Cedar Rapids, IA
mark@lovethischurch.com
I think of stage design and lighting as ways to tie in more senses with auditory during worship. If a stage and lighting design can reel an individual in and help them by forgetting about whatever they would otherwise focus on, I think that’s a win. In the corporate sense, it is a way to attempt to bring a common mood within a congregation.

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Steve Kent
Stage Manager
First Assembly of God,
Cedar Rapids, IA
steve@lovethischurch.com
We use stage designs to create a more subdued, warm and comfortable worship atmosphere, which can be a more inviting experience for the church body. Newcomers have often commented that they enjoyed the design and lighting, and that it wasn’t the “church” atmosphere they had expected. It helped them feel comfortable here.

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How to keep the costs of church stage design reasonable?

Stage designs can be as simple or complex as your church budget will allow. Something as simple as a colored par can aimed at a wall can achieve your desired look. Some of our favorite design materials are fabrics that take light well. Coroplast and truss are both extremely versatile. However, most of our designs are nontraditional set pieces.

We have to get creative, and usually start from scratch and make everything ourselves from the ground up. It takes more time and planning, but it is more cost-effective in the end. We also store and reuse a lot of materials, which helps keep cost down.
— Steve Kent and Mark Allen, First Assembly of God, Cedar Rapids, IA

I think creativity is the key element to keep stage design costs reasonable. It’s important to get creative when dreaming up a set by thinking ahead. Like planning on how the set can be reused in the future. Also, it’s handy to find people that enjoy set design and have them help. They will often help you think outside the box. Doing so can save money, not to mention time and effort too.
— Joel Wyant, Southeast, Christian Church, Louisville, KY

Because we have multiple campuses we try to purchase different backdrops for each of them. That allows us to rotate them around to different campuses periodically to keep things fresh. As a lighting designer I also try to rearrange my lighting plot every few months to create different looks on stage without buying more stuff. Another thing we do is use TVs on stage as backdrop elements because we can swap out imagery cheaply and have a customized backdrop based on whatever sermon series we’re in. We try to be good stewards of what God has given us by using everything to its fullest potential.  CE
— Andy Bentley, Elevation, Church, Charlotte, NC

For years we’ve known that good sound is critical to creating an atmosphere for worship. But in the past 15 years, the technological age has come along and developed our need for multisensory engagement. We’ve not only been conditioned to crave multisensory engagement, but people are actually picky about what they see.

The popularity of stores like IKEA and Pier 1 reminds us that people care about good design. Cable networks like HGTV, TLC and DIY let us know that good design matters.

So what does this mean for churches?  It’s not enough anymore that the paint in your church isn’t peeling; people actually expect some thought, character and multimedia to show up in worship spaces today. The great news is engaging worship spaces don’t have to be about spending large amounts of money.

Your budget will certainly have an impact on the end quality of what you do, but you don’t necessarily have to drop tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring visual interest to your space. It’s not about adding expensive technology or visual elements, but about finding a style that engages your target demographic and using strategic media, color and contrast to enhance what is happening in the room.

Accompanying this article are pictures of the first church where I was on staff, First Assembly of God in Cedar Rapids, IA. We undertook a dramatic transformation by painting the walls a darker color (for contrast) and then lighting various materials that became our set. Pastors often see these types of before-and-after photos and ask me, “How can we get started in stage design?” Really, it’s a lot simpler than people think.

With a few strategic lights and a trip to Lowe’s or Fast Signs, you can be off and running. In fact one of the most viewed stage designs on www.churchstagedesignideas.com, a popular online gathering place of stage design ideas, is based entirely on lighting bubble wrap hung against a dark backdrop.

So to answer the question of how to get started, here are some tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years:

Build a small team for stage design. Creativity is better in collaboration. Our best ideas came from a small group of people who would refine ideas until they went from good to great.

Have diverse talents on your team. One of the most important people I had on my first team was not a lighting guy, but a skilled carpenter. When we threw ideas around, he’d take them and begin processing how to make them. He’d often come back with tweaks that made the design better.

Use the talents that are readily available. You don’t have to hire professional stage designers unless your situation demands it. If you have people skilled in metal work, carpentry or sewing, start with those skills. Use the talents that God has placed within your church and start in that direction.

Allow for a stage design budget. With a smaller stage, designs do not have to be expensive. However, make sure your team has a reasonable budget to work with. Most of our designs were between $250 and $750 for a stage that’s 40 feet wide by 30 feet deep by 20 feet tall. If your budget is tight, don’t cut the per-design budget, but decrease how often you change it.

Create contrast. Light is most obvious when it’s surrounded by darkness. Dark walls with well-lit materials create a dynamic contrast allowing your set to pop. Bright sets against a light-colored background can look OK, but usually not great. Use color to reflect the mood of what is happening. I love LED lighting and neutral-colored materials.

With a few strategic lights and light-able surfaces, I can lead people visually in the feel of what is taking place in our services. For example, light and bright colors are great for upbeat songs while darker, richer colors set the mood for more worshipful times.

Allow for learning experiences. Let your team’s creativity loose and while you need to be smart, empower your team to make mistakes. We didn’t love every design we did, and if we didn’t like it we changed it sooner. But we learned a lot in the process and it made future designs better.

Duke DeJong is the church relations director for CCI Solutions, a design/build, equipment and media company specializing in high-performance sound, video and lighting systems. [www.ccisolutions.com]

The principles of good lighting can help draw people deeper into worship.

Lighting for worship is as much artistic as it is technical. Crafting a lighting design in a church environment involves understanding the congregation to the same degree, if not more, than the layout of the space.

It is important to plan and prepare the technical aspects, including instrumentation (lights, also called fixtures), hanging placement, focus, color, etc. However, bringing the right brushes and canvas to a painter does not guarantee that they will create a painting that moves the viewer.  It is up to the lighting designer to use the tools available to enhance the worship environment.

Our culture has grown accustomed to a variety of entertainment lighting. Concert designers spend a great deal of resources on wowing their audiences with spectacle. Game shows have colorful lights covering the sets in an attempt to keep the audience visually interested in the show. Whether someone is going to a concert, watching a game show on TV, or attending the theater, lighting principles are being used to help captivate and draw in the audience.

Those same principles can help draw people deeper into worship. Lighting can create a variety of emotional responses and can be used to enhance the desired environment. Think about how much a sunset can change your mood on the drive home from work. Seeing the magnitude of the color pallete and the way the light shines through the trees has a way of melting away the stress from the day. That same concept allows the lighting designer to craft a wide array of environments such as celebration, reflection, praise, stillness and deep worship.

Reaching the emotions
The lighting designer can use color, texture and movement to create a captivating environment that taps into the emotions presented by the dynamics of the music or service element. For example, in a high energy and fast tempo song, yellows, ambers and other warm colors could be used to visually support the pace.

A slower more reflective song may call for blues, lavenders and other cool colors to match the mood of the music. If robotic lights are being used, the lighting designer will want to listen for dynamic changes within a song that justifies a movement of the lights. As an example, a slower pace verse of a song may transition into the full band chorus where energy is being built. In those moments, slowly moving the robotic lights can represent the energy that is increasing in the music.

Movement and energy can also be built with intensity. When the energy of the band builds, increasing the intensity of the lights can visually represent the change in the music. All lighting changes should reflect the dynamics of a song. Paying attention to subtleties and dynamics of the music can separate impactful lighting that is visually representative from seemingly random designs that distract the worshipper.

Lighting should also be intentional. Certain colors and angles complement each other like a painting. Blues and greens work well together as do reds and lavenders. Other color palletes may work against you, such as green and red, which may remind people of Christmas. In the same way using red, white and blue all together can remind people of patriotic themes.

Lighting for worship must be approached in a different manner than lighting for entertainment. If the goal is to facilitate an atmosphere that helps the congregation to engage in worship, they become an important element to consider. It is essential to understand the congregation so that you know what will enhance worship and what will distract from it.

Avoid distractions
For example, if a congregation has never seen robotic lights in a worship environment, it will be a distraction to them if the lighting designer crafts concert-style lighting from day one. If concert-style lighting is what is desired, it is going to take a gradual implementation plan to be effective. In this situation the lighting designer might start with just turning the robotic lights on in a particular color.

The lighting designer must remember that worship is not a show. If people walk away saying how amazing the lights were, the focus may have been more on wowing the audience than enhancing the atmosphere. Instead the lighting designer might ask, “How can I help lead people into worship?” If the congregation leaves the service knowing they were able to worship God, then the lighting designer can be proud of the looks they created, regardless of whether the congregation remembers any of them or not.

Will Sutliff is technical director at Mission Community Church, Gilbert, AZ. www.mission68.org

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Use new technology to solve an old problem

We all know about how popular LED lights are for the stage, and chances are your worship team has either acquired some for your facility or is looking into the possibility for the future. But what about the rest of the building? Are there places where the rest of the church can benefit from the same advanced technology that you use in the sanctuary?

Of course there are. There are plenty of ways that LED lighting can be used to cut down on operating expenses all over a worship campus, not just in the sanctuary. Just this spring Philips Lighting debuted the new L-Prize Lamp, winner of the U.S. Department of Energy competition to redesign the classic 60-watt bulb.

With more than 971 million 60-watt bulbs in use in the United States, the DOE anticipates huge reductions in energy cost, replacement cost, and waste across the country with this new technology. Think about it: a new lightbulb in every table lamp that can run for almost three and a half years constantly without ever being replaced — and drawing fewer than 10 watts!

You can get more light (the tested L-Prize Lamp put out light equivalent to a 75W bulb) for one-sixth the power, and it lasts for three years. How can you go wrong?

And it’s not just in regular lamps. Downlights in the sanctuary can benefit from LED replacement as well. We all know how difficult and time-consuming it can be to change out lights over seating, especially if you have pews that are bolted to the floor. The new LED fixtures feature extremely long life, so with the normal use cycle of a sanctuary, it might be decades before the lamps need to be replaced. That savings on lift rentals and time adds up pretty quickly.

The recent renovation of Catawba Heights Baptist Church in Belmont, NC, is a prime example of this kind of energy-conscious thinking. The church had Barbizon replace not only their stage lighting, but put in Solais LED PAR 38 replacement lamps in the fixtures over the seating area as well.

While slightly more expensive to install, the LED fixtures allowed the church to forego expensive catwalks and suspension apparatus, resulting in an overall savings for the church.

The savings will really start to rack up once the power bills come in, though, as the low-energy fixtures draw roughly 20 percent of the power of traditional sanctuary lighting.
Handy energy calculators are available online for you to determine how much money you could save by upgrading your current lighting.  They include:

• www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/financial-tool.html
• www.creeledlighting.com/Resources/Energy-Savings-Calculator.aspx
• bit.ly/simpcalc

There are lots of ways that this new technology can be used to save your facility money, labor and effort. Contact your local lighting company to see how moving to the future might save you cash.

John G. Hartness is systems manager in the Charlotte, N.C., office of Barbizon Inc. www.barbizon.com

By George Tsintzouras

Engaging and inspiring today’s congregations is increasingly difficult in a world saturated with corporate and secular images. The solution for many churches is to make each service more creative and interactive — specifically, to use large-screen projection to support the message each week. Bright and colorful images large enough to be seen from every seat serve to capture and hold the congregation’s attention, allowing the essential messages to be easily delivered and understood.

However, a single projector and screen may not be sufficient to meet this goal, especially in larger buildings and auditoriums. There is a limit to how large a screen a single projector of reasonable size and cost can properly illuminate.

The preferred solution is a multi-projector system, with a large, main screen displaying one image/message and possibly one or more, smaller satellite images on physically separate screens. The large, main image can be constructed of smaller, blended images, one from each projector in an array, with the edges of each image blended into the overlapping edges of adjacent images to form one seamless, wide aspect, display.

When choosing a projector, there are several key considerations. One factor is built-in support for warping and blending of the projected image. This is critical for combining images in either a tiled or stacked configuration, since each projector will typically be aimed at the screen from a slightly different angle.

Tiled array problems

The next important consideration, particularly for a tiled array, is the projector’s illumination system. It may be tempting to use lower-cost, commodity projectors with a high-gain screen to compensate for their lower typical light output.

However, the tiled nature of the composite image will be immediately obvious to any viewer not directly in front of the screen’s center. Low-gain screens are necessary to avoid this, which requires projectors with higher light output.

Another valuable feature, which makes setting up and maintaining a multi-projector system easier, particularly if it is necessary to physically move it to a new location, is an automatic blending and stacking system. This option, available for certain projectors equipped with the aforementioned image warping and blending functionality, requires very little training to operate and can completely automate the process of stacking and edge blending, saving time and resources.

Don’t compromise the image

There is also the option to create the images in stacked configurations, with each projector displaying the same image on the same screen, each adding its light to the total or providing redundancy to ensure the service continues if a projector fails. As well, a multi-lamp projector provides additional built-in redundancy (if a lamp fails) and ensures that the show goes on and the overall presentation is not compromised.

In today’s tough economic times, cost of ownership is likely the most important factor in the purchase of a projection system. Here too, careful selection pays dividends. The optical efficiency of the projector is likely the largest contributor.

The cost of replacement lamps is also a factor; the small lamps used in multi-lamp projectors usually last longer, provide redundancy and cost less to replace than the larger lamps used in single-lamp projectors to achieve the same light output. Air filters, which typically must be replaced regularly, are another ongoing expense; a projector that can operate without them provides an obvious advantage.

An effective church projection system, regardless of its size, must be bright, flexible, reliable, meet the needs of the church leaders and congregation, and all fit within a defined budget.

George Tsintzouras is director of product management, business products for Christie Digital Systems USA Inc., Cypress, CA. [www.christiedigital.com]