Most churches begin planning for their Christmas service in April or May. Some start even earlier. Brian Caple, Minister of Music of the 4,500-member First Baptist Church of Ocala, Florida, says he’ll start thinking about Christmas 2003 as soon as the church wraps up this year’s Christmas Celebration show. "I begin preliminary planning a year ahead," Caple explains. "For instance, as I am planning Christmas, I am also kicking around broad, general ideas about our 2003 Patriotic Celebration. There is always some overlap happening in my head."
No small task, putting together a Christmas service of any size means bringing together additional volunteers, extra seating, and, newly purchased or rented lighting, sound and video equipment.
Don DePew, Media Ministries Director at First Baptist Church (FBC), Ocala, FL says, "In order to achieve the level of production expected from a church of our size, we have to make major changes to both the stage, itself, and the lighting, sound and video systems. The biggest challenge for us is to make all of this happen quickly, as inexpensively as possible, without making unsightly, permanent design changes [that will] impact us throughout the year. Another large challenge is to physically make everything fit into the space available, again, without destroying or changing the beauty of our facility."
In the past four years, the FBC of Ocala has presented four different Christmas productions. "We start over each year," DePew says. "The program is different, the stage is different, and therefore, everything is unknown as far as lighting design, microphone needs, video design, etc."
With a stage design in place, DePew has started using CAD to design the lighting truss, video screen suspensions and monitor and speaker placement. This year he’s also seeking estimates for 10 Martin MAC 2000, seven Martin MAC 500s moving light fixtures and the hardware necessary for the new lighting.
And on the 120th Day…
The Idlewild Baptist Church of Tampa, FL will also be in the market for additional audio and lighting consoles to supplement the existing Colortran dimming and control and the ETC and Colortran lighting instrumentation, according to Minister thru Technical Ministries, Jimmy Moore. In the past, the church has added moving lights for its dramatic, musical presentation, and Moore said it will probably do so again this year.
"The problem," he said, "is to be sure the [operators] can adequately adjust to something different in a timely manner."
He’s confident that a solid plan will result in a program in which the congregation can be proud. While he admitted that IBC is a bit behind schedule this year, Technical Planning meetings usually start four months before Christmas. Subsequent meetings are planned at 30 day intervals.
"Briefly," he explains, "the first meeting is for general information. The Presentation Director shares his vision for that particular presentation. We begin to dream about what needs to be done and what tools might be required to pull the event off. Meeting two (90 days out), less dreaming, more information about what is going to happen. We begin to create a list of specific tools required. The lighting plot is begun. Meeting three (60 days out) the script should be complete. From this information we should be able to complete the lighting plot and begin reserving any rental equipment required. Audio needs are discussed and noted. Meeting four (30 days out), final details solidified. Lock-in all rental equipment and make required purchases, if this hasn’t already been done. Make final plans for wireless needs and finalize spreadsheet-based matrix which will be used by the wireless world crew to administrate this need."
Moore stresses the importance of developing an organizational chart for any large-scale Christmas presentation. "Identify an appropriate individual to be the Technical Director," he says. "This person will become the liaison between the Presentation Director and the Technical Staff. Do not allow this individual to mix sound or program lights. Make sure this person remains unencumbered by those tasks and focuses only on the big picture. Be sure that the communication lines remain pure and that the Technical Director is allowed to be the "buffer" between Presentation Leadership/Staff and the Technical Ministry Team."
"Who Brought the Extension Cords?"
Darrell Cothran, Minister of Media at the First Baptist Church of North Spartanburg, South Carolina, agrees that planning remains the key to success for any size or type of production, with prayer as the guide. "Prayer and planning," he states simply. "We ask God to show us how He wishes us to proceed and then we plan, plan, plan. It’s the details that matter. Write down every area that needs attention - lighting, sound, video, costumes, orchestra, set design, ushers... you name it. Then assign someone to be in charge of that area. Create a countdown and deadlines for things that have to be done - even the small things like, "Who’s going to put lights on the orchestra stands?’ ‘Who’s going to get extension cords?’ ‘Do we have enough microphone cables?’ ‘Is the drummer going to bleed in the choir mics?’ You’d be surprised at how many details you will come up with."
The leaders of FBC, North Spartanburg have enlisted the help of more than 1,000 people this year to produce the Twin Living Christmas Trees, a Broadway-style musical presentation. Cothran describes the show as a "blend of secular and traditional music featuring a parade of lifesize toy soldiers, dancing bears (a scene from The Nutcracker), Frosty the Snowman, men’s handbell choir, and much more."
The two Christmas trees will be filled with more than 350 choir members, accompanied by an orchestra of 75. A crew of professional riggers comes in to fly scrims, lighting trusses and backdrops designed by White Dove Productions of Dallas and Peter Wolf of New York.
Through 12 television broadcasts, the show will reach 30,000 people across the U.S. Taping for television, Cothran said, presents unique technical challenges, as well. "One of the challenges this year," Cothran said, "is to find the balance between lighting for ‘theatre’ and lighting for ‘television.’ Television cameras love more light than the person sitting in the audience would prefer. This is a delicate dance that requires much more thought and experimentation. Even now, we are looking at camera angles and potential lighting needs."
In fact, whether a service is aired on television or not, lighting can make or break the production, according to Cothran. "Lighting is truly an art-form…that can cause the audience to feel the joy of a festive song or experience the emotion of a dramatic scene."
He advises that churches, which don’t have qualified lighting people within their congregation hire a professional lighting designer, or contact the local theatre or playhouse for volunteers.
Cothran pays equally careful attention to the audio aspects of the show. "We use a combination of Yamaha PM1800 and 3000 series consoles. We also use more than 20 Shure UHF wireless mics and Neumann microphones on the choir. Our main cluster features Electro-Voice and JBL components powered by Yamaha amplifiers and controlled by BSS SoundWeb processors. Our goal is for every seat to hear and see everything that is presented on stage."
People-based Management
Even with such a massive sound system, Cothran says the secret to a successful Christmas service lies in the people behind it. He said that he often prays for qualified volunteers to come forth, even if they might not be regular church-goers. "The key is to place qualified people in leadership, have them recruit people to help them and stay in frequent contact."
Tampa-based Moore agreed. "The one thing I hear most often are stories of struggle regarding personnel concerns. Feelings being hurt about mis-communications, or no communication. One of my primary purposes…is to create an environment where things go smoothly. Assemble the proper personnel and then give them the information needed to do their job and then let them do it!"
Dave Kalahar of Highview Baptist Church in Texas agrees that technical considerations play a significant role, but it’s the people that help a great show come together. "You can have all the technical facilities in the world," he says, "but if the message is not clear cut, and direct, and well-written and performed, it does nothing."
This year, HBC has gone to a more musical-based production. "In the past," Kalahar says, "it’s been dramatic in nature, choir and heavy drama. We hate to do the same thing more than three times in a row though. We decided just to let the choir shine this year. I think people are more in a music mood."
Of course, technology will continue to help people perform their tasks flawlessly. For instance, HBC’s show will integrate video-based vignettes with live actors. An Avid Xpress 3D system will help make sure that the video matches with the live performance. "By playing the video directly from the Avid," Kalahar says, "it eliminates many tape cueing problems. Cueing tapes is always a problem with non-professional tech people, with volunteers. This way, you simply hit and button and you’ve got confidence it’s going to play back."
Commenting on the importance of each element of a Christmas service, he says, "Productions always need to be up to standards, but the rest of it does, too. If the choir doesn’t do its job, it does nothing. If the actors don’t do their jobs, it means nothing. If it’s not a clear-cut message, we can have the most visually impressive look, it still means nothing. If the message isn’t there, that doesn’t do you any good."
