Evan Melgren
Netcast Church, Danvers, Massachusetts
Church today isn't looking like church a few years ago. And Netcast Church is just one more example of that.
Contributor Morgan Reynolds sat down with Tanner Sharpe, Greenville, South Carolina-based Equip Studio project manager and designer of Netcast Church, to see how this church, in particular, exemplifies the differences in the church design of 2022.
Church.Design: What was the leadership at Netcast Church looking to accomplish and reinforce, and how did the church plan to become a more integral part of its community?
Sharpe: Netcast Church in Danvers, Massachusetts, was born out of Jesus’s calling to be fishers of men. “The name Netcast honors that calling to cast a net in the North Shore of Boston and see who God has in store. Netcast is a church that is constantly reaching for those who are far from God and attempting to tell them about Jesus by connecting them to the Church,” according to Travis Boyd, creative pastor and spiritual formation at Netcast.
"The name Netcast honors that calling to cast a net in the North Shore of Boston and see who God has in store ..."
Travis Boyd, Creative Pastor and Spiritual Formation, Netcast Church, Danvers, MA
Evan Melgren
The church uses the phrase “church in the wild” as they push to make themselves a fixture of their community. They accomplish this in a variety of ways, the primary way being that they secured space in the local Liberty Tree Mall where they have opened a storefront coffee shop to love and serve the community all week, and where they meet for worship services on the weekend.
Boyd told me, “We give away substantially more coffee than we sell and that’s on purpose. We want to make sure people see the church as generous, thoughtful, and loving.” The profits they do collect go straight back into ministry needs. This allows them to continue to grow and serve the community even better, which creates a cyclical impact.
Evan Melgren
... one of the design challenges was working within a locked footprint to create space that can function comfortably as retail space at the same time as functional ministry space.
“We have an invite on almost every cup of coffee that we sell or give away at the coffee shop; this has given us the opportunity to invite hundreds of people every month,” Boyd told me. Netcast’s goal for this coffee shop is to create a welcoming space for people throughout the week, that hopefully will lead visitors to feel comfortable coming back on a Sunday. They love opening their space to the community because, ultimately, they want Jesus to be known in every way to anyone who will listen.
Church.Design: Tell us about the renovated spaces and AVL systems at Netcast.
Sharpe: The main worship center features a large LED wall behind the platform that helps to create an immersive worship experience. The church partnered with Amplio to set-up an AVL system in the new space. The creative team’s focus was to use AVL to elevate and support the church’s mission and vision by ensuring all production was done at a high level, without being the center of attention. They’ve incorporated a highly-flexible Q-SYS system for both the main auditorium and kids' wing for maximum customization.
The equipment in the main worship center was focused heavily on audio to begin with. The church opted for an even coverage approach using Meyer Ultra-X40 boxes and Meyer 750LFC subs (Amplio worked with Meyer to design the system). The in-room audio mix is what Netcast uses to broadcast to their ever-growing online presence, which is only possible due to the system and room design provided by Amplio and Equip.
Evan Melgren
The creative team’s focus was to use AVL to elevate and support the church’s mission and vision by ensuring all production was done at a high level, without being the center of attention.
A cohesive experience across online and in-person congregations is extremely important to the church leaders. Therefore, the church has since added to the system four handheld Blackmagic 6k cameras and two Blackmagic cinema cameras on sticks. This effort has really elevated the online experience to allow watchers to feel like they are in the room experiencing the service in-person. The church continues to work with Amplio to make improvements, the next effort being the growth of lighting systems.
Church.Design: How did you use new building materials or technologies in innovative ways?
Sharpe: The space, in and of itself, is innovative in that it’s a church facility within a shopping mall. But one of the design challenges was working within a locked footprint to create space that can function comfortably as retail space at the same time as functional ministry space. One of the ways we accomplished this was by creating the garage space behind the cafe counter. It can function as coffee shop seating during busy public hours, but can also be used as a small group meeting or fellowship space on a Sunday.
The kids playground faces out toward the concourse with an eye-catching custom mural created by a church volunteer.
Evan Melgren
The kids playground faces out toward the concourse with an eye-catching custom mural created by a church volunteer. The decision to feature this space was done strategically to lovingly invite kids into a safe and welcoming space where their parents could find fellowship on a Sunday. The contrast of the bright mural and playground with the simple black/white aesthetic of the portal in front of it creates an eye-catching visual. In addition, the barn light lighting and herringbone floor pattern give a subtle, but unique classic look throughout the coffee shop.
The Players
Project name: Netcast Church
Project location: Danvers, MA
Principal: Sandy Gibbes
Project Manager: Tanner Sharpe
Project Designer: Tanner Sharpe, Haley Baldwin
Image Credits: Prologue Productions
Contractor: MRG Construction
AVL Consultant: Amplio
