We first worked with the church in providing a specialized new speaker, amplifier, and processing system to make the best of the very difficult acoustics of that building. That beginning led to further partnerships aimed at addressing acoustical issues and stage lighting, with new equipment and systems.

In 2008, Stonecrest moved into and completely renovated a 40,000-square-foot former industrial facility and warehouse in a different part of town. This new building had tremendous potential, but many challenges of its own.

With the challenges of their former building in mind, the leadership of Stonecrest set out to do things right, but to dynamically balance cost and capability in solutions that truly facilitated the ministry of the church. Using new and existing equipment from the former building, we outfitted four separate gathering venues in the new facility: main auditorium, student ministry space, children’s ministry space, and café- as well as distributed video and audio throughout other parts of the building.

The main auditorium received the most detailed attention. A powder-coated black open ceiling replaced the former low acoustical tile ceiling. A full acoustical treatment package was designed, much of it uniquely constructed and installed by church volunteers. A Yamaha M7CL-48 digital mixing console with an Aviom personal digital monitor mixing system became the centerpiece of the new sound system, while (8) Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers and (2) powered subwoofers formed an exploded, distributed system in this challenging wide, low-ceilinged room. New wireless microphones and in-ear monitoring systems and a complete microphone package were provided. The entire sound system, including the remotely located self-powered Meyer speakers, is switched via a Furman power conditioning and sequencing system for one-button control. A unique aspect of the sound system is the use of stage risers with integrated connectivity and snakes running to duplicate patch panels in the wings. To completely reconfigure the stage, one simply moves the various risers around rather than disconnecting dozens of cables and disassembling equipment. The electrical power for all production sound, video, and lighting equipment is transformer-isolated from the rest of the building to minimize noise and interference.

We approached the video projection system creatively. Because of the lack of ambient light in the room, we elected to create environment and atmosphere using multiple low-cost widescreen video projectors and projected content. There are a total of (6) Panasonic video projectors in the room, including (2) main projectors, (1) confidence monitor projector in the rear of the room, and up to (3) stage projectors, which may be easily moved and repositioned along with their screens. Because of the challenging sightlines of the room, we provided and installed (2) Canon XL-series cameras, used for image magnification and manned by operators. These cameras feed a Kramer video switcher and matrix switcher also fed by (2) Apple computers, used for computer graphics and video content display on the various screens. The whole system feeds video displays throughout the building as well as a projector in an overflow seating area in the lounge outside the main auditorium.

The lighting system re-uses much existing stock to minimize costs, but we added LED color wash lighting in the form of Martin StageBars and some miscellaneous LED fixtures to create a warm, dynamic environment conducive to worship. The whole lighting system is controlled by a Leviton MC48/96 lighting console. The house architectural lighting system is completely controllable as part of the overall lighting system, using an ETC Unison architectural dimming system and wall control panels for general daily use.

As a whole, the systems are operated by volunteer production staff. With this in mind, one of our primary goals was creating systems which were easy to use and which multiply the efforts of ministry volunteers, creating a true “win” all around.

The other gathering venues in the building all incorporate their own sound, video, and lighting systems geared toward their specific uses. In these other spaces, we endeavored to combine new equipment with as much equipment as possible already owned by the church to maximize their investment and to minimize cost, while providing the maximum in flexible, capable performance.