NorthRidge, Kim Graf, Luke DeMoss, Martin Pro
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A church strives for excellence through technology, creativity, and teamwork
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A jungle set built to support a themed sermon, “It’s a Jungle Out There,” featured a 16-foot-high waterfall. (NorthRidge, Kim Graf, Luke DeMoss, Martin Pro)
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Along with controlling video support for the services, each service is recorded and, after post production, is made available for sale in the church book store. (NorthRidge, Kim Graf, Luke DeMoss, Martin Pro)
Those who arrive late will have to reach the church on shuttle buses from the overflow parking provided by the church’s industrial neighbors, because NorthRidge is well known both in the Ann Arbor area and by the church community for the technical excellence of their elaborate and ever-changing themed services.
Today’s theme is entitled Vent, with a stage set-up to emulate the Broadway hit, Rent. The talk will explore dealing with the stress and anger in everyday living, and the look of the stage supports it. Produced by the church’s Creative Programming Teams, these themes can take eight weeks to design and build. To say that the sets at NorthRidge can get elaborate doesn’t begin to do them justice. Recently, the team recreated a jungle setting for the theme, “It’s a Jungle Out There,” that dealt with learning about relationships. “By creating a jungle atmosphere on stage with the lighting, a waterfall, Jeep, vines, etc., we were able to tie the talk and the theme together and really put people ‘in the jungle’ per se,” says Lighting Director and Scenic Designer Josh Holowicki. He and Art Director Kim Graf designed a jungle set where, in addition to thousands of gallons of water pouring over a 16-foot-high waterfall and recreating overgrown Mayan ruins on stage, the team used creative lighting, music, even bird sounds and an occasional thunderstorm to make the jungle come alive.
Atomic strobes created the lightning effects, while glaciators and hazers enveloped the set in an eerie jungle fog. It’s no wonder more and more people show up to services at NorthRidge. As Holowicki puts it, “They don’t know what to expect.”
“Some people see what we have here and think we hit the Lotto or that it all sprang from the ground, but it’s really something that many people have worked very hard to achieve,” says Holowiki. He’s been with the church since the mid-1980s, well before it found its current direction with dynamic Senior Pastor Brad Powell. “We’re thankful for what we have, but also happy to share what we know with teams [from] other churches,” he says. “We want to help the church, not just our own church.” To that end, NorthRidge hosts a yearly conference for other churches where they provide hands-on help and guidance for everything from how to make ministries more culturally relevant to insights into NorthRidge’s teams concept and technical training.
The Inside Setup
To illuminate the varied productions, the main auditorium features a fully professional and flexible lighting plan. Rigged over the stage are eight Martin MAC 2000 Washes and eight MAC 2000 Profiles along with six Atomic 3000 strobes and two Wizard Extreme effect lights. In addition, three Colortran ENR 96 channel dimmer racks provide control from a Wholehog II console from Flying Pig Systems with Expansion Wing. A pair of Martin Jem Glaciators are used for low lying fog effects with additional haze from two Martin Jem ZR24/7 hazers and a large mounted hazer. Six FiberSource QFX150 fiber optic illuminators power a 60-foot by 30-foot fiber curtain with an additional three FiberSource QFXs powering a 24-foot by 12-foot portable fiber curtain. A motor control system with R&M Stagemaker motors and show control modules supports lighting instruments on a flying truss, so the whole rig will be able to move. “The reason for that is flexibility,” says Holowicki. “We change our stage design often, yet our ceiling grid stays the same. From a maintenance standpoint it’s easier to bring the whole truss down and it also allows us to do truss moves during services and shows.”
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Andy McDonough is a freelance writer, photographer, musician, educator and consulting engineer based in Middletown, New Jersey. Among his favorite topics are the application of technology and music in houses of worship. He welcomes email at andymcd@comcast.net.
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