1 of 5
Tim Flowers (left) is worship pastor at Watermark Church of Ashford, Ala.; Dave Guiler (center) is president and owner and Stephen Krietemeyer (right) is vice-president of Premier Entertainment Group, LLC (PEG) of Dothan, Ala.
2 of 5
Worship Pastor, Tim Flowers credits a culture of excellence for much of what the combined worship and tech team has accomplished at Watermark Church, including the growth and popularity of the modern services.
3 of 5
While audio and video are important, nothing makes a worship space more flexible than dynamic lighting. Premier Entertainment Group Vice President, Stephen Krietemeyer designed powerful, concert-style look for contemporary worship using lighting equipment primarily from ADJ.
4 of 5
The move to modern contemporary worship has helped double Watermark Church's weekly attendance. The new high-tech worship space is operated without a dedicated technical staff or a designated technical director.
5 of 5
The new 800-seat worship space is designed for maximum flexibility. The modular approach to technology is intended to support future growth and allow easy changes for volunteer operation.
Watermark Church is located in a rural area in Southeast Alabama where tradition is very important. But as important as tradition is to the local worshippers, a move to modern contemporary worship has doubled the church's attendance. While the transition was challenging for the congregation, leadership, musicians and technical volunteers, the church recently expanded into a new worship space with new technology, all of which has been accomplished without a dedicated technical staff or even a technical director.
"The transition was difficult, but very much worth it,” says Worship Pastor Tim Flowers. “Though we lost some members, the new people include lots of previously unchurched, and that was the goal." Flowers, who also leads the church's tech team, credits a culture of excellence for much of what the team has accomplished at Watermark Church, including the popularity of the modern services. He believes that “excellence creates comfort” and, while vision is important in setting out goals, culture is what ultimately “gets you there.”
A Different Team Concept
The focus at Watermark Church is not on production. Instead, Flowers and his team evaluate everything they undertake, musically and technically, in terms of three factors: heart, community and excellence.
Flowers explains, “Heart is your motivation. If you’re in it for the fame, you won’t be on this team. Community is central to what we do. We look out for one another. If someone is creating drama, that’s not something that helps build teams. We have a no gossip policy and we always assume the best of our teammates. Excellence is what we strive for. No matter what we do, we do it the best we can and constantly try to get better.”
Watermark clearly employs a different model than most modern churches. Worship and technology are fully embodied in one team. “We all attend the same meetings,” notes Flowers, “and [we] support one another.” The insightful worship pastor has spent a great deal of time building a technical team that can do it all, with a goal of creating a distraction-free environment for worship where attendees can focus on the message, song lyrics and finding God.
“What I’ve tried to do,” Flowers explains, “is find people and plug them into the right places. I try to find where people are gifted and grow the process, but as one group.”
An interesting observation about the team is that Flowers, who plays guitar and sings with the band, wasn’t always a musician. In fact, he only learned to sing while attending Baptist College of Florida in Graceville, Fla., where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in theology before attaining a Master’s Degree in religion from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. “I was learning to be a better communicator,” he recalls, “and that helped me to be better at leading worship, but I had to figure it out as I went. I’m still figuring it out.”
Search for Space
"If you are looking for a spotlight, don’t look here."
Tim Flowers
Worship Pastor, Watermark Church, Ashford, AL.
When Watermark’s old worship space became filled to capacity, Flowers followed his method of plugging in people where they do their best work. He turned to Dave Guiler, president and owner of Premier Entertainment Group LLC (PEG) of Dothan, Ala., to help design the technology for a new, larger worship space. The two visited numerous churches to see what they liked for technical solutions and methodology; they were intent on creating a flexible design for contemporary worship at Watermark.
For the new space, an open design with exposed rafters and concrete floor was chosen that would seat up to 800 with easily configurable padded chairs. “We wanted a design where we could easily manipulate the room,” says Flowers. Guiler’s technology plan for the new space called for using a modular approach that would support future growth, allow easy changes in configuration for volunteer operation, and support the flexible production needs for worship services.
Flexible Lighting Design
While audio and video are important for supporting modern worship, nothing makes a worship space more flexible than dynamic lighting. PEG Vice President Stephen Krietemeyer set out to design a lighting package that would meet an aggressive budget, be flexible for different room configurations, as well as provide a powerful, concert-style look for contemporary worship.
Krietemeyer installed seven ADJ Flat Par QA12XS fixtures as top lighting on the stage with one light placed over each vocalist location and three used to light the center of the stage when Lead Pastor Todd Thorpe is preaching. Four ADJ Inno Spot Elite fixtures were hung on the downstage pipe with the Flat Pars. Four ADJ Inno Color Beam Z7 units are located on the floor and on two four-foot truss towers.
To dramatically uplight the back wall and downlight the backline, 16 ADJ Mega Bar LED fixtures were mounted behind the band. A Rosco R119 diffusion gel was used in each to achieve a smoother and wider lighting pattern. A Le Maitre Neutron XS hazer with DMX control module was installed to enhance the stage lighting.
Krietemeyer’s design called for 14 ETC Source Four Junior Zooms for front light with two washing the side walls of the room with a gobo pattern.
Lighting control in the worship center is provided by Martin M-PC control software with an M-DMX USB interface that provides two universes of output. DMX control is sent to the back of the stage over Cat5e cable using a C-Point DMXcompander on both ends of the cable, allowing three universes of data over one Cat5e cable. For further control, two Chauvet Data Stream 4 Opto Splitters are used to split the two universes four ways. Another C-Point DMXcompander system is used to send DMX to the three batons on the stage, and a single cat5e with the single channel adaptors is used to send DMX to the FOH batons. ETC SmartPack wall mount and wall control were employed to control the LED house lighting system.
A two-channel Pro Intercom communication system, including a MS301 master station, two HH10A handsets, three SMH310 single headsets and four double headsets were installed for communication between the lighting system operator, camera crew, production booth, FOH, monitors and green room.
Jeanice McCall, Flowers’ assistant, coordinates volunteers for the lighting, sound and video positions. Like many of Watermark’s volunteers, McCall had no previous technical background, but has learned from experience and from others on the team to coordinate the production. “It’s a great team,” says Flowers, “and I only provide direction if we are not connecting well or something unforeseen happens.”
for Watermark’s volunteers to operate. Ramsdell Pro Audio LA-2-12.2 loudspeaker arrays (four enclosures per side) were chosen for both their excellent audio properties and price point. “These arrays provide an impressive listening area with a good stereo image,” notes Guiler. Rick Ramsdell at Ramsdell Pro Audio did all the mathematics on the design and deployment and PEG worked closely with him to install to his specification. Low-frequency reinforcement is covered by four Ramsdell BP-SD21 SubEngine 21-inch subwoofers installed under the stage. The system is powered by Crown XTi 2 Series amplifiers with processing files provided by Ramsdell. Three XTi 4002 amplifiers power high, mid, and low mid in the arrays, respectively. One XTi 6002 amplifier provides power for the subwoofers. “The system is incredibly efficient,” offers Guiler, “and has a ton of headroom, even with these seemingly small amplifiers.”
For monitors, a Soundcraft Si Expression 3 console was installed and connected to FOH via Cat6 MADI interface. A Soundcraft MADI-USB card was installed for multi-track recording. The monitor system was installed in a Grundorf Combo-D16 rolling rack for use when the band plays events outside of the worship center. The rack also houses six Sennheiser EW 300-2 systems setup for eight mono wireless mixes and two stereo wireless mixes. There are two additional wired stereo mixes for keys and drums. An additional Crown XTi 4000 amp was installed to power a stereo pair of Ramsdell 12 CXAFM 12-inch Co-Axial wedges for side-fill purposes or in the event of IEM failure. Monitor hardware also supports three channels of Sennheiser G3 RF receiving signals from Lead Pastor, Todd Thorpe’s DPA 4088 mic, a guest pack with a Countryman E6 mic, and a Sennheiser Handheld wireless.
On stage, Guiler employed primarily Shure microphones, including a Beta 52 for kick drum, SM57s for snare top and bottom, Beta 98 for toms and SM81 for high hat with SE Electronics X1 microphones placed in overhead positions. For electric guitars, a pair of SM57s are used with one placed off-axis with a slight delay to achieve a wide, full tone. Bass is handled with an Avalon U5 Preamp/DI and keyboards come through a Radial DI ProD2.
For crisp, clear vocals, Guiler’s design called for a Beta 58 for background vocal use with two Heil Sound PR35 microphones for lead vocals. “These microphones are incredibly smooth.” he observes, “especially with singers that have a high register. The large dynamic diaphragm gives warmth to vocals, making them clear and intelligible.” For his vocal performance, Flowers favors a Shure Beta 87A vocal microphone.
Heart, Community & Excellence
Flowers and his team now have several months of experience in the new worship spacewith three new worship recordings to their credit. The growing number of attendees is a testament to Watermark’s continuing success. Following the core concepts of heart, community and excellence, the team’s secret seems t o have less to do with the latest technology and more with a selfless approach to its use.
“If you are looking for a spotlight,” says Flowers, “don’t look here. We don’t sing solos. Rather, we lead people in worship. It’s all about cultivating a good heart. That’s more important than talent.”