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In early 2015, 12Stone Church had four busy campuses clustered just outside of Atlanta. Then, they did something remarkable. On one Sunday in January 2015, the church opened five new portable campuses—expanding 12 Stone’s reach to as many as 20,000 worshippers each week. “To make it happen,” recalls 12Stone’s multi-campus production director, Dustin Whitt, “we had to rethink everything: our equipment choices, staffing and volunteer standards.”
Whitt’s grasp of church and touring production technologies has enabled the church’s continued success, but his unique strategies that recruit, develop and enable teams of volunteers is very possibly what keeps this multi-campus church in expansion mode. A new plan for volunteersThere is no doubt that 12Stone Church is volunteer-driven. And since Whitt’s arrival, volunteers “run the show.” “We have 200 or so volunteers spread across our campuses,” he says, “and most of the contractors we once used at key positions are gone.” Whitt has found creative ways to support avid volunteers. His plan involves his volunteers worrying less about equipment and creating better production settings for worship. To accomplish that, he set up a multi-campus team of audio, video and lighting directors that support the volunteer production directors at each campus. In addition, two regional production directors were put in place that Whitt describes as working like sales reps or liaisons to counsel and coach volunteers. “Regional production directors are a point of contact for when campuses need help,” says Whitt. “If they can’t help themselves, they find someone who can.”
There is also a traveling production systems engineer to handle necessary IT work, maintenance and repairs. 12Stone’s central campus in Lawrenceville, Ga., includes five worship environments: a 2,600-seat worship center for the adults, a 450-seat high school worship center, a 300-seat middle school worship center, and two additional worship centers for younger children. Each week, all content for services at remote campuses is centrally programmed, including music selection, song lyrics, sermon notes, lighting and graphics. The various files are transferred over an MPLS network directly to the computers and consoles at each remote campus. This leaves only the execution aspects of the services to the volunteer staff at remote locations. The centralized production staff even makes that easier by recording a video that talks the volunteer production directors through not only the technical aspects of the service, but also casts vision for the moments they hope to create.Well-produced video content is central to the church’s operation.
“From the beginning, I loved the heart of 12Stone Church. I saw a need for organizational changes and I saw a way to help.”
Dustin Whitt, Production Director, 12Stone Church, Ga.
As with many multisite churches, the music is played live at each satellite location and there’s a local campus pastor who meets and greets the congregation, but the pastor’s message is brought in and projected. The common message is prerecorded on Saturday evenings to an empty room at Lawrenceville and transferred via a Grass Valley K2 video server networked to the video servers (Grass Valley Solo or Video Devices Pix 250i) at satellite campuses. The portable campuses receive a drive with the prerecorded teaching for their Video Devices Pix 250i decks. While sermons are currently prerecorded, the church also makes use of live streaming for special events. Although much of the important content of each service is transferred via network connections, the items requiring personal attention are never overlooked. One reason that support teams and regional production directors have worked so well is that the 12Stone campuses are within a 20-minute radius, though it’s not all about proximity.
Having a multi-campus production director that is as attuned to people and organization as he is to technology is what makes the organization unique.Directing technology and peopleWhitt’s love of church productions goes as far back as middle school and his childhood experiences growing up attending a small Baptist church. In high school, he became involved with North Point Ministries in Alpharetta, Ga., and started his audio training working the stage and running monitors. That led to a position with North Point Ministries that lasted seven and a half years, where he fondly recalls learning about production, leadership and life. “It was just a great place to work,” he says. While most of Whitt’s time was spent learning audio, his experience there included many different production tools, including lighting design. Soon, he was a freelance engineer and consultant for other churches. Always keeping the “people” part of church technology as part of the equation, Whitt founded a training website with a colleague from North Point. “We had gotten so many questions about training,” he recalls. “We wanted resources that we could give people.” Their popular website, ownthemix.com, was designed to provide training to anyone who wanted to learn. Today, the website remains a valuable resource for training engineers and has spawned a YouTube channel with more than 100 videos of audio training geared towards modern church settings.Now, at 35, Whitt views his career move to 12Stone as very much a God thing. “From the beginning, I loved the heart of 12Stone Church,” he recalls. “I saw a need for organizational changes and I saw a way to help.” When the church made the unprecedented move from four to nine campuses, Whitt and church leadership started a dialog about how better organizational systems along with better technology could take the church to a new level. That led to several changes, including centralized support for, not only technology, but production aspects like programming the services.Maintainable multi-campus technologyAnother important aspect of Whitt’s plan is standardizing on technology that will be easily operable by volunteers, maintainable, and offer the most flexibility.
For those reasons, Whitt turned to a young system integrator, Cason Cleveland, owner of Cason Cleveland Productions of Flowery Branch, Ga., to help the church implement a standard “touring style” technology to be set up across both portable and fixed campus locations. “Of course, equipment must support services that look and sound good,” says Cleveland, “but the church places a high value on being flexible, as well.” As an example, systems are installed on manageable trusses and portable stages are deployed to provide for easy reconfiguration. Deploying with a touring mindset makes dramatic changes in set up possible—even a move to a new location.A major consideration, and something upon which both Whitt and Cleveland readily agree, is to work with vendors that not only have quality gear, but also have a heart for the church. “Customer support must have our back,” notes Whitt, whose experience has proven that taking the time to pick the right vendor pays off. “Being ‘in tune’ with vendors is the first step in growing great relationships,” he says, “As a result, we get outstanding support and training.”
In addition to implementing the weekly broadcast and supporting the 12Stone’s other production initiatives, Whitt and Cleveland have renovated one remote campus, deployed two new campuses and are starting on a third. Not all equipment is new. “We save where we can and repurpose,” says Whitt, “but our main goal is to standardize on manufacturers and platforms where it makes the most sense.” The equipment deployed to 12Stone’s recently opened Snellville campus (formerly a Best Buy storefront) represents a good example.Road-tested audioTo control audio in the Snellville 850-seat auditorium, Cleveland installed a Digico console package including a 96-channel Digico SD9 console with 24 touch-sensitive motorized faders and quick access function buttons for faster response times. An outstanding feature of the unit is the console's work surface with a 15-inch, high resolution TFT LCD touch screen with backlit display. 12Stone engineers make use of the console’s dedicated multi-function control knobs and electronic labeling. Each of the church’s two Digico D-Rack I/O units provide 32 microphone inputs with eight line outputs and eight modular outputs that connect to the work surface via a digital Cat5E cable. A DigiGrid MGB interface was also installed for recording and playback. Per Whitt, Digico’s different models provide the scalability that 12Stone needs. “Scalability is important to us,” says Whitt, “plus these consoles sound great. We also have built a great relationship with the company representatives and support staff.”
In line with Whitt and Cleveland’s commitment to equipment that has proven itself on the road, the team chose Meyer Sound’s Leopard compact linear line array loudspeakers. Ten boxes were flown, five per side, in a stereo configuration paired with eight LFC-900 subwoofers in a dual end-fire array and bumper hardware. Two UPQ speakers were added for section fill and Meyer Sound’s Galileo loudspeaker management system is used to drive, align and equalize the system. Onstage, Sennheiser EW500 965 wireless microphones are used along with EW572 body packs and RF Venue Distro4 RF antenna distribution systems equipped with RF Venue’s Diversity Fin polarization antenna. Two DPA d:fine headset microphones are provided for presenters. A mix of Sennheiser and Shure wired microphones are deployed on stage along with Cascade Fat Head II stereo ribbon microphones with Lundahl transformers.Sennheiser EW300 in-ear monitor systems are used with RF Venue’s Combine4 IEM (in-ear monitor) transmitter combiners bring together multiple in-ear monitor transmitter signals into a single rear panel mounted antenna connector.
An RF Venue CP Beam antenna is used to collect signals. For players who don’t need mobility on stage, Shure P9HW4 wired bodypack personal monitors are used with Shure SE215 IEM ear buds. Radial SGI Studio Guitar Interfaces are used for direct inputs from the stage along with Radial’s JDI stereo Jensen-equipped, two-channel passive Instrument direct boxes and Radial’s J48 single-channel active 48v direct boxes.Quality videoThe central component in 12Stone’s remote campus video setup is Ross Video’s Carbonite Plus switcher. Whitt’s past dealings with Ross had proven the company’s commitment to good customer service. “Our main objectives were to have a switcher that was reliable and would provide us room to grow,” he recalls. “We left margin on the input side for future expansion.”
The Snellville campus’s Carbonite Plus Frame is equipped with redundant power supply units, a Carbonite Black 1/ME control panel, and a Dell P2314T 23-inch LED backlight IPS LCD monitor. A feature of the system that Whitt’s volunteers make good use of is Carbonite’s touch screen. “DashBoard lets you use a touch screen as a multiviewer,” notes Whitt. The production team can create macros that connect to buttons on the touch screen to more complicated functions that could otherwise require many steps. “It’s very volunteer-friendly,” he says, “and significantly reduces steps for the operators.”A Ross OpenGear frame provides space for a Ross VEA-8707A analog video equalizing distribution amplifier and a Ross ADA-8405-C Analog Audio and Timecode distribution amplifier card. Additional video equipment includes a Blackmagic h.264 encoder, Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet and Thunderbolt-to-HDMI network adapters, a Black Box IP KVM switch, a Black Box ACR1012A-T ServSwitch Agility dual-head transmitter, Black Box DCX3000D Digital KVM Matrix Switch, Black Box DCX3000-DVT Server Access modules and DCX3000-DVR remote user stations. Network connectivity is provided with a Cisco Meraki MS320 cloud-managed IP switch and a Clear-Com HME DX200 Wireless Intercom System with six stations keeps volunteers in sync during productions.
The small-format Grass Valley K2-SOLO 3G HD/SD video server was installed to support video recording and transmission. This high-quality HD/SD media server comes with 25 hours of HD storage and is compatible with other Grass Valley 3G applications. A feature that’s important to Whitt and his video engineers is how the K2-Solo unit allows control of timeslips. “While we prerecord sermons currently,” notes Whitt, “the ability to timeslip or begin a transfer file while we are recording will be key when we go back to producing more live streaming.”
A 45-panel 13- by 8-foot PixelFlex LED wall was installed at the Snellville campus to provide the cleanest possible image. “Our experience with PixelFlex has been great,” says Cleveland. “It’s an advantage that they are located close to us in Nashville. They have provided great support and have shown that they have heart for the church.” Whitt feels that LED walls are a good fit for 12Stone campuses. “They look phenomenal,” he says. “They are also easy to reconfigure, making them more flexible which is a definite plus.”Concert and broadcast lightingLighting control at Snellville is handled by a MA onPC command wing and free-of-charge grandMA2 onPC software. The system is installed on an Apple Mac mini running Microsoft Windows operating system. It offers two built-in DMX ports, as well as the possibility to send two additional DMX universes via Ethernet. An MA 2Port Node onPC is used in combination with the grandMA2 onPC software for parameter expansion. Additional control equipment includes two Apple Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapters and a ProPlex Opto-Splitter that makes two DMX512 inputs individually switchable to up to eight outputs.As previously mentioned, for flexibility, a mix of LED fixtures were installed on easily relocatable trussing with a goal of achieving versatile, concert-style lighting designs. Automated fixtures installed include eight Martin Professional Quantum LED color-mixing spots, 16 Martin Professional Rush MH 6 LED washes, and eight Martin Professional LED Rush Par 2 zooms. Recently, the church added 13 Arri L10C fully tunable LED fixtures to improve lighting for video recording at their central campus in Lawrenceville. A Reel EFX Products DF-50 diffusion hazer enhances lighting effects and two 1/4 Ton CM Lodestar electric chain hoists facilitate lighting changes and maintenance.Forward movementIt’s no secret that Whitt sees 12 Stone as a church on the move. “I love challenges and I love change,” he says.
However, Whitt’s formula for success isn’t just about challenging norms and orchestrating technology. Whitt has the rare ability to see the big picture—and constantly to reevaluate. It’s important, he says, to note how volunteers figure prominently into that picture. According to Whitt, getting the most from volunteers isn’t always as it appears. “Many people view the use of volunteers as only critical for cost savings.” Whitt is convinced that there is more to it. “God uses serving to develop people,” he says. “That completely changes the way you look at volunteers and volunteering. It’s a privilege and a calling to empower volunteers.”Whitt encourages church leaders to look past technology to fully understand their vision. He believes that vision is what must drive the mission. “Remember that your vision is why you exist,” he says. “We know that our vision is to breathe life into the dreams and visions of others. We do that by creating inspiring environments, making the most of our resources, empowering volunteers to lead, and equipping volunteers to own their craft.”
Andy McDonough is a freelance writer, photographer, musician, educator and consulting engineer based in Middleton, N.J. Among his favorite topics—the application of technology and music in houses of worship. He welcomes email at andymcd@comcast.net.
