Reprinted from the June 2008 issue of Church Production Magazine

NorthRidge, Kim Graf, Luke DeMoss, Martin Pro

A church strives for excellence through technology, creativity, and teamwork

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.”

Audio in the main auditorium was recently upgraded to be completely digital in anticipation of the church’s expansion into live broadcasts and the operation of a new satellite campus. The heart of the upgrade is two DiGiCo D5 41 fader/128-channel work surfaces. NorthRidge employs the two D5 surfaces at front-of-house (FOH) to facilitate operation by two people simultaneously and provide console redundancy. Also available at FOH is the ability to record up to 112 tracks of audio for rehearsals and soundchecks. The front-of-house, monitor and broadcast consoles all share two remote DiGiRacks at the stage end. Each DigiRack contains 56 A/D and eight D/A converters and are connected to the consoles via optical fiber. An additional DiGiRack sits next to the control surfaces—with 56 external I/Os for inserts, effect sends, local monitoring, and playback. The stage DiGiRacks also send audio to a recording suite that was upgraded to handle all 128 channels of digital audio with ProTools HD. For the live broadcast mix, a 33 fader DiGiCo DS00B control surface provides up to 160 channels of digital audio, as well as transport control for ProTools. The DS00B also shares the two remote DiGiRacks at the stage end. An SSL XLogic Delta-Link MADI HD interface provides the I/O to ProTools, and allows connectivity to the DiGiCo stage racks and the DS00. Two Live Plug-in and Effects systems (one at FOH and one in the recording suite) from ADK Pro Audio of Alexandria, Kentucky, are incorporated into the system as well. An additional D5 worksurface with redundant engine is used for the monitor system. The Houses of Worship Division of OSA International, Chicago, Illinois, and Reinforcement Inc of Farmington Hills, Michigan, Thunder Audio of Taylor, Michigan, and ProMedia Marketing of Ann Arbor, Michigan, provided technical assistance for the upgrade to digital.

The ability to provide comprehensive system redundancy was key concerning the choice of DiGiCo as the cornerstone of their all-digital system. Mike Austin who heads up the audio team says, “We looked carefully at what the top four companies could do to meet the needs of our church and DiGiCo clearly won out.” In addition to regular services, the church opens the auditorium to several outside events every year including appearances by prominent Christian music artists on national tours. “We measure our productions and our facilities by professional standards,” says Austin. With over 10 years in the concert production industry, he knows that touring acts will find everything they need at the church. “Traveling acts get to leave most of their sound equipment in the truck,” he says, “because we have it ready to go.”

Digital Upgrade
NorthRidge’s digital upgrade supports the main auditorium’s existing sound system, consisting of L-Acoustics line arrays, subs, and fill speakers. A configuration of five dV-DOSC cover the balcony, and six V-DOSC with five dV-DOSC aligned as downfill hang on either side of the stage, while four L-Acoustics ARCS cabinets, in a two-over-two configuration, provide outfill. In addition, eight L-Acoustics SB-218s fly over the stage with another 10 SB-118s built into the stage to provide low frequencies. Monitors are handled off a stage-side D5 worksurface to 12 Shure PSM 700 in-ear mixes configured for stereo, to various floor wedges, and made available to 16 Aviom mixers on stage. The technical team credits Vance Breshears of Sound Technology Consultants in San Diego, California, and Neil Schaeffer of Audio by Neil of Grand Rapids, Michigan, for their work to acoustically model and engineer the main auditorium.

For video, a Sony DVS-9000 switcher with four Multi-Effects Modules processes signals from five Sony DVP-10W cameras, three of which remain static with two used hand-held to roam the stage. Projection is designed to be easily reconfigurable with two Christie X-5 projectors and three Christy Roadsters. The main auditorium also has seven Eiki model 4500s that can be used as needed. “Screens are rarely in the same place,” says Norm Sobieralski, who heads up the video department. Their massive Da-Lite 40-foot by 20-foot screen isn’t used for every service, but is often featured in combination with their 20-foot by15-foot, 16-foot by12-foot, and six-foot by eight-foot screens. In addition to enhancing the presentation, each service is recorded using four Sony DDRs, and a post-production team packages the service for sale at the church’s bookstore.

In addition to NorthRidge’s main stage where four weekly services are held, two on Saturday evening and two on Sunday morning, the congregation enjoys three other fully equipped theaters: two that seat 300-400 in an area called

“Discovery Island” for youth at the second/third and fourth/fifth grade levels, respectively, and “The Underground,” a 500-seat multi-purpose theatre for teens that can be reconfigured to seat 700. These performing and worship spaces can also be adjusted to accommodate adult events. For lighting, these theatres use a combination of Altman PAR cans and ETC Source Four instruments controlled by Leprecon dimmer rack and the company’s LP-X series consoles. “The Underground” is scheduled to be upgraded in the near future to Martin MAC 250 Series lights with eight MAC 250 Kryptons and eight MAC 250 Washes.

Youth Accoutrements & Volunteer Support
The youth stages are generously equipped with audio and video technology. “The Underground” gives teens what they need sonically with d&b audiotechnik Q-series speakers (five per side) and three B2 subs in a cardioid configuration under the stage. Additional Q-series speakers provide fills with d&b D12 digital power amps driven from a Yamaha M7CL 48-channel mixer. An Aviom system distributes monitor feeds to six personal mixers at the stage and four EAW SM-122 stage monitors. The video system is configured around a TV One C2-7200 Switcher with CORIO console and Sony preview monitors. Projection needs are handled by three Eiki EIP-4500 projectors trained on two 7.5-foot by 10-foot screens at each side of the stage and one 9x12-foot screen above. Screens are Da-Lite Cosmopolitan Electrol models, and an infrared repeater system was added to control projectors from the sound booth.

The technical teams at NorthRidge, including some 500 volunteers, put all of their creativity and technology to work for the church’s annual Christmas show. A big event for the church and the surrounding area, the show is renowned for its elaborate production with full orchestra, 120-voice choir, and complex script. The event requires many months of preparation from concept through set design and fabrication to final production and performance. More than 30,000 people attended last year’s show over two weekends. The widely anticipated event has become an important tradition for the community and the church. “The Christmas show is a critical event for us—one of our most important. It’s a ticketed event that provides most of the funding for our technology,” says Holowicki.

From conception to design, through fabrication and into production, all activities at NorthRidge are run by teams with the guidance of Roxanne Powell, who is director of creative arts for the facility and wife of Senior Pastor Brad Powell. As to how they get it all done, Lance Croy, the drama director, says, “For us, it’s not a competition, we simply use the talents that God has given us—ultimately, the productions are His.” The creative teams say they are guided by the words: “Excellence honors God and inspires people.” It’s clearly working for them with their hard-hitting themed services, a spectacular Christmas show that reaches out to the surrounding communities, and a growing congregation anxious to experience what the creative teams deliver next.

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.