People are reconnecting with church life in different ways. An understatement, right? During and after the pandemic, attendees are becoming virtual members, creating a new paradigm by joining faraway churches with no geographic constraints. New worshippers continue to take in worship services online, participating digitally.
As digital marketing went from present to omnipresent, Visioneering Studios stayed busy and actually experienced some record-setting numbers, according to Dave Milam, vice president of Visioneering Studios Inc. based in Irvine, California. “And though I haven't necessarily noticed a hard, quick shift in a new direction as churches have reopened, I have seen a noticeable uptick in several areas.”
Design re-evaluation
Milam told Church.Design that 2021 was a year of transition for thousands of churches across America. The leadership deck was shuffled significantly. As a result, church leaders have been evaluating their buildings with a fresh, critical perspective moving forward. And as new leadership took the reigns, facility updates soon followed.
Here's what some of that looked like when it was put into play ...
Maximizing virtual reach
“Our most urgent requests center around the increased importance of broadcast side-by-side with in-person gatherings,” says Nick Geiger of Kenilworth, New Jersey-based Diversified’s house of worship division. “[Where once upon a time], broadcast was optional and certainly did not receive the same priority as in-person gatherings, the pandemic dramatically changed all of that and it is now expected that a church’s in-person experience will offer as much quality as an online broadcast.”
Geiger continues, "This has led a number of our clients to prioritize building and/or creating studios or intimate shooting environments that are purpose-built for capturing content for online audiences. It’s remarkable how many pastors began pre-recording messages during the pandemic and are now continuing this practice as the pre-recording process allows them to better tailor their words to remote audiences.
These trends have also increased the importance of capture equipment, such as high-quality cameras and audio processing chains—positioning content both live to air and during pre-recording, he shares. “There is also a greater need than ever before for scalable media workflow systems that allow media teams both large and small to catalog, access, and archive content both on premises and in the cloud. A stack of hard drives that everyone works from is no longer accessible with the amount of content being created, the speed of turnaround that is required, and the decentralized physical locations of team members.”
Sound stage multiplication
“In a matter of days, churches across the nation ... stacked their auditorium seats and transformed their worship centers into full-scale sound stages,” Milam says. “Overnight, the Church expanded its digital presence, and the need for dedicated studio space was born."
Resolved to sustain the power of the online connection, church leaders scrambled to find high-profile and visible dedicated studio space to house their online campuses. “It just wouldn't make sense to tuck away that expensive camera gear in some back closet that once stored the mop bucket." He adds that the world began to see more churches creating glassed-in online studios attached to church lobbies and late-night style sound stages to keep their digital presences front and center.
Hybrid church in a networked society
Clearly, the way churches operated pre-COVID is no longer a reality. "We are continuing to look for new strategies enabling churches to reconnect with their congregations and designing projects with future-planning capabilities," says Jacquelyn Block, GFF Church Works Studio Director and Associate Principal in Dallas.
“When marrying the digital experience with a physical one, people can experience human interaction with the convenience and flexibility of attending in-person or online,” she notes.
The hybrid model can also attract new worshippers, Block adds. Spouses who don’t actually attend can now watch online. Prayer groups can now experience fresh attendees. Churches began to purchase laptops for those who couldn't attend.
Commercial development expands the role of churches
Sensing the market volatility, church leaders across the country began to seriously explore how to increase non-tithe revenue and began planning ways to leverage their assets to stabilize cash flow, according to Milam. “At Visioneering Studios, we [are] helping churches who are hoping to convert their unused property into cash-generating retail and community space. Serving as the church's designer, builder, and retail developer has allowed our team to help create some engaging new community and mixed-use development space. And with intentional design, these environments could be a game-changer for the local church.”
Play environments transform
One of the most seismic church design changes has been the transformation of kids' play environments. “For years, three-story playscapes with colorful tube-slides and ball pits were the dream of every child's pastor across the country," Milam notes. But those days are over. "We're [began] to see unique and creative play environments that are easier to keep clean and sanitize.”
Student ministry revival
“Twenty-five years ago, the student ministry was the only place you'd hear the modern worship sound,” Milam notes.
But once the cage-free drums reach the mainstage, student ministries no longer maintained the modern worship monopoly, and the need for dedicated student ministry space waned. Student Ministers across the country began searching for a new identity as the ministry model fundamentally changed.
"In a scramble to reclaim the next generation, we’re seeing a renaissance of dedicated student ministry space," Milam noted in 202. "Leaders are looking for relational connections that include outdoor development complete with garage doors, nine square, and the Gaga Ball.”
Critical for the modern church: quality
According to Ben Boeshans, senior consultant for Idibri in Dallas, a specialty consultant in technology, acoustics, and theatre planning, “While quarantine suddenly made streaming essential for all churches, the trend is especially significant for churches that had previously declared 'we’re never going to stream!' At first the MacGyver’d solutions deployed in haste were acceptable. While churches are meeting in person with fewer and fewer restrictions, the demand for video is not going backward and the push for quality is increasing. It’s become a priority even for churches who didn’t use it before. There is a push to install high quality systems with minimal architectural and operational impact.”
Block adds that outdoor space became paramount in 2021: “From outdoor amphitheaters to dog parks, people who crave engagement and are looking for a community connection are returning, and we have to adapt by developing outdoor spaces for bringing families together.”
What's does the future hold moving forward in 2022 and beyond? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
