Images courtesy of Harman Professional Solutions.
Church of the Highlands, Birmingham, AL
Founded 17 years ago by Senior Pastor Chris Hodges, The Church of the Highlands boasts the largest congregation of any church in the state of Alabama. It has 16 satellite campuses spanning the state. And on an even larger scale, It's second overall in the United States.
When church staff realized it needed an upgrade to the lighting in its Birmingham headquarters and worship space, it contracted Harman Professional Solutions.The idea was to craft an environment where attendees can worship, free from distractions, and provide a crisp look for people in any one of its worship venues, representing thousands of members across the satellite locations.
Choices + vendor partnership
Patrick Hentz, lighting director for the church, took on the job and decided to utilize Martin fixtures exclusively.
“There were many reasons behind the upgrade, but the greatest benefits we gained from the new Martin fixtures are brightness, reliability and versatility,” Hentz says. “With 80% of our congregation watching the sermon via the video simulcast, it’s very important that we deliver excellent video quality, and that requires powerful and consistent lighting.”
“With 80% of our congregation watching the sermon via the video simulcast, it’s very important that we deliver excellent video quality, and that requires powerful and consistent lighting.” Patrick Hentz, Lighting Director, The Church of the Highlands, Birmingham, AL
The Martin fixtures, he notes, provided a strong deal of balance and control over accenting and highlighting the most important aspects of the weekly services without “going over the top or blinding our guests.”
On the other hand, he adds, "When we host youth group events and special concerts, the lighting rig enables us to deliver a stunning visual show [that] enhances the live music experience with excitement and intensity.
Fixture selection
Among the Martin fixtures utilized are an array of 12 MAC Encore Wash fixtures that are reported to offer excellent key light across the entire stage, resulting in rich color and highly accurate white light on camera. Viper Profile, Quantum Wash and Quantum Profile fixtures for front wash and spot applications are also in play.
MAC Encore Wash fixtures
The MAC Aura and RUSH MH6CT fixtures are reported to improve the general wash by adding textural backlight from upstage, and the MAC 101 fixtures are utilized when an engaging crowd wash is needed.
Because the lighting rig is in constant use and each fixture fulfills different roles, reliable performance and longevity are among the most important factors considered by Hentz when designing the new system, he says.
“Martin’s ... fixtures tend to last five times as long as other manufacturers’ products,” Hentz finds.
LED video wall element
A few years back, the church added a 60-feet by 40-feet LED video wall, and the video panels offered a native color temperature of 56k--so the church’s previous rig wasn’t bright enough to compete. The new Martin fixtures allow the church to increase its maximum levels from 65 foot-candles to 80 foot-candles, yielding a much greater depth of field and improved color accuracy.
Hentz notes another plus of the system: the flexibility to make lighting changes on the fly.
“If a guest speaker wanders too far to the side, or goes off script and moves from the stage and onto the floor, we can take advantage of the Martin fixtures’ incredible range of motion to follow them,” he says. “There was even one recent event in which we lost our conventional spotlights at a key moment due to an equipment failure, but we were able to quickly bring up the MAC Encore Wash fixtures and pick up the slack without missing a beat.”
He explains that before bringing in the Martin rig, the church ran its older fixtures at 100% brightness to achieve the desired output--and that usually created maintenance issues, with as many as five lamps a week needing to be replaced.
Church of the Highlands, Birmingham, Ala., aerial view
With the new system, Hentz says there won’t be the same need for buying replacements and conducting extensive repairs.
And he closes, "... the Martin team has been extremely helpful when it comes to providing training resources and educating our team about preventative maintenance.”
