“We’ve seen very few churches adopt [true hybrid yet]. The people with the most innovation in this are in education and entertainment," says Idibri's Craig Janssen, designer of hybrid spaces. Yet church designers report that they are working incrementally toward this goal with their clients. Image: Idibri.
The way people worship was forever changed over the course of the past 18 months, as the pandemic forced people to attend church online, and many remain worshipping virtually as the delta variant of COVID continues to wreak havoc on communities.
Many churches, most perhaps, are operating in a hybrid manner right now, reaching their community for those that come in person and also for their online following. And this development has oftentimes required that changes be made to AV components and systems to help make up the communication slack.
Jacquelyn Block, AIA, church works studio director and associate principal for GFF Inc., a Dallas-based design firm, reports that there has been an increase in “worship shifting,” which is the tendency to rely on digital spiritual tools such as podcasts and streamed sermons instead of attending a church service at a set time, in person.
“Proximity to church has changed now that most churches can be accessed from your personal computer, TV, or phone,” she says. “Churches are seeing an opportunity for growth due to virtual services, with some churches now having new members that live in other countries.”
In addition to upgrading their worship spaces to support virtual services, Block has noticed the trend of more churches renovating vacant office space, since more employees are working from home, into podcast or broadcasting rooms.
Joshua Zinder, managing partner with Landau Zinder in Princeton, New Jersey, notes that while audiovisual, closed circuit, and other systems for streaming have already been a part of Reform congregations for many years, they're now a matter of survival.
“The pandemic fostered a recognition among congregations of other denominations that going remote may very well be essential to their survival, and failing to do so would be putting their future into question,” he says. “Remote access to services has been, and continues to be, a necessary part of any synagogue’s growth and sustainability. We are even helping put streaming technology into orthodox congregations, which would have been virtually unheard of just a short time ago.”
New directions
Craig Janssen, managing director of Idibri, Dallas-area consultants in theatre consulting, acoustics, and technology design, knows that what was once normative has changed.
"... every grandparent now knows how to use Zoom. A very tangible shift from the pandemic is that it accelerated technology adoption by 5-10 years.”
Craig Janssen, Managing Director, Idibri, Dallas, TX
“Prior to the pandemic, churches were limited because the digital fluency wasn’t there,” Janssen says. “We would sit in meetings where teams would have wildly creative ideas on how to use technology, but there was a very real barrier because digital adoption wasn’t at 100%. Now? Well, every grandparent now knows how to use Zoom. A very tangible shift from the pandemic is that it accelerated technology adoption by 5-10 years.”
And though churches have been broadcasting (now streaming) for decades, Janssen notes that streaming, in and of itself, isn’t actually "hybrid."
“True hybrid creates engagement of both remote participants and in-person participants in the room,” Janssen says. “We’ve seen very few churches adopt this. The people with the most innovation in this are in education and entertainment.”
Tips for broadcast design
When GFF designs with hybrid in mind, Block notes that it’s important to find a balance between lighting for cameras and lighting for live worship.
“Acoustics [too] continue to be a high priority for worship spaces,” she says. “It is critical to understand what kind of music, instruments, song, and spoken word will be used during the worship service before designing the space for acoustics.”
She adds that finishes for the platform backdrop are especially important for broadcasting, since white and lighter colors become too bright for broadcasting once they are lit.
“If you are painting the backdrop, we recommend a matte or eggshell paint because semi-gloss and glass have too much glare and hot spotting,” Block says. “Black is not a good color for the backdrop for live or broadcasting."
“If you are painting the backdrop, we recommend a matte or eggshell paint because semi-gloss and glass have too much glare and hot spotting."
Jacquelyn Block, AIA, Church Works Studio Director and Associate Principal, GFF Inc., Dallas, TX
GFF recently completed a new chapel and student life center for Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS), which broadcasts its chapel services to students and alumni around the world, so the virtual experience was just as important as the in-person one.
“We worked closely with Idibri to design the chapel for a hybrid approach,” Block says. “Dallas Theological Seminary wanted the chapel to be composed of natural materials such as stone and wood. Each stone on the platform backdrop was carefully selected with input from Idibri to make sure the stone was not too white or too dark for broadcasting. DTS wanted wood walls, but wood is a hard surface [that] reflects sound. To overcome this, we found a micro-perforated acoustical wood product for the walls for sound absorption.”
Out of sight and mind
Naturally, designers and integrators need to consider numerous things when designing for a church space with a hybrid experience in mind. After all, when camera equipment and other technology are visible to in-person congregants, they detract from the purpose of the sanctuary, which is to foster a connection to the divine.
Camera set-ups should have the flexibility to provide a sense of closeness to the congregational leader, to make the online worshipper feel as though they are in the sanctuary with the rest of the community.
“Concealing cameras, microphones, cables, and other equipment is mission-critical for hybrid worship design, and easy and cost-effective to accomplish,” Zinder says.
For instance, Landau Zinder is currently in construction on two renovations and one new construction, working through these challenges for all three congregations.
“To reduce the visibility of the systems in the sanctuary space, we are integrating the technology directly into the reader's table or lectern, concealing all cables and wires,” Zinder says. “Our goal is for the sound clarity of in the video stream to be seamless, with changes happening as if by magic or a command from God.”
For the renovation of a facility in Scarsdale, New York, the company is introducing multiple camera locations as the key to a powerful online service. For the sanctuary in the Telyas Chabad Chabad Jewish Center in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, it is integrating the cabling within soffits and other areas where [it] can be fully concealed, and the system is designed to turn on automatically, which is critical for ensuring that the remote worshipper doesn’t miss any portion of the service.
In order to deliver a successful streaming service and provide a spiritual experience for a remote congregant, the sources say a church needs a sense of intimacy. Camera set-ups should have the flexibility to provide a sense of closeness to the congregational leader, to make the online worshipper feel as though they are in the sanctuary with the rest of the community.
Idibri recently worked with Harvard Business School (HBS) to create a hybrid experience in Klarman Hall to offer an equitable experience for students and professors, whether they were participating in-person or remotely. Not just streaming, but true engagement.
“Every participant needed to be seen, heard, and be able to present content,” Janssen says. “The solution included adding screens and microphones to the room as well as adding power and a place for every seat to bring laptops. The HBS team is really pushing the boundaries of Zoom with additional programming. What they’ve accomplished is cutting edge.”
In the design of Harvard Business School's Klarman Hall, the goal was not just streaming, but true engagement. "Every participant needed to be seen, heard, and be able to present content."
Craig Janssen, Managing Director, Idibri, Dallas, TX
While this has yet to happen in a church setting, Janssen believes it’s only a matter of time before things get to this level, and that architects and audio and video designers need to start thinking about how to best accomplish something similar.
Victor Body-Lawson of Body Lawson Associates, Architects and Planners in New York City, is working on hybrid church designs on the East Coast and beyond that incorporate in-person and online/virtual services, including synchronous and asynchronous worship.
“The worship facilities allow for technology integration and flexibility in switching from one service type to another,” he says.
Out of doors, too
Other hybrid concepts include spaces that allow for multiple uses, indoor-outdoor hybrids, and mixed-use settings that expand the benefits of hybrid church design.
“Our firm has been designing and creating more open spaces in churches,” Body-Lawson says. “At St. Ann’s, we have been embracing the use of their roof as an outdoor space for gathering and worship, with a roof terrace where people can socially distance after exiting the building for an enjoyable outdoor gathering location. So the changes go beyond the updating of mechanical systems; instead, rooftops and terraces and courtyards are now treated as outdoor rooms that can be used by their congregations as needed.”
“At St. Ann’s, we have been embracing the use of their roof as an outdoor space for gathering and worship."
Victor Body-Lawson, Body Lawson Associates, Architects and Planners, New York City
At the Church of the Master, the firm completely redesigned an existing masonry building, opening it up to provide light and a welcoming community spirit to the sanctuary and adjoining church offices. The upgraded sanctuary seats 250.
“To accommodate changes in their use of the space, the sanctuary has been modified for a reduced number of occupants seated or standing farther apart during their services,” Body-Lawson says.
Churches have traditionally used large screens, LCD projectors, and they continue to use these, while many are upgrading and installing better systems.
“Our client the Reverend Kevin Williams of Holy Trinity Baptist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., has included better production systems and a new, soundproofed video studio in its redesign plans,” Body-Lawson says. “Others are making more modest changes, but all need better acoustics and recording equipment, better lighting and video recording systems, and professional-grade products for recording, livestreaming, simultaneous services and also rebroadcasting.”
Looking ahead
A culture shift is driving where things go next. Janssen notes what he believes is going to explode in the next five years is churches moving from a presentational model—where the room only supports content from the platform out to the congregation—to a model that is much more interactive.
“This isn’t about technology. This is about a fundamental culture shift that technology is driving,” he says. “People who are digitally fluent are less likely to want to be passive participants—even in a worship experience. They are used to a digital world where they can interact, comment, and be part of what is happening.”
... the paths of communication in these venues are multi-directional.
Sports, entertainment, and university venues are on top of this shift already and are creating ways for people to be an interactive part of the experience. Whether it is pulling audience content onto a large screen video display or creating ways participants to enhance the dialog by chatting with each other, the paths of communication in these venues are multi-directional.
“Hybrid is about more than getting content to remote viewers,” Janssen says. “It is about getting those participants to feel connected to the in-person participants and giving them a path to contribute and communicate back.”
