Second to NoneNew technology is South Carolina Second Baptist’s catalyst for growth and relevanceBy Andy McDonoughFounded in 1897, Second Baptist Church has a proud history of supporting God’s plan in Lancaster, S.C. Like many older institutions, it has had its ups and downs. “Despite everything, it’s always been a healthy church with a sincere, sweet spirit,” notes the church’s business administrator and information technology director, Tony Neely.
In 2002, Second Baptist found itself bound by an attendance barrier of 750. Try as it might, increasing attendance past that number wasn’t happening….
“If you visit here,” Neely continues, “you will feel it.” He has seen firsthand how the church helped the community when the local textile mill was decommissioned. And in a modest, blue-collar town where other churches might have folded, Second Baptist has continued to grow. In its recent history, technology has played a key role in expanding the church, helping it to break through attendance barriers and expand its service to worshippers and nearby communities.
Breaking attendance barriers
In 2002, Second Baptist found itself bound by an attendance barrier of 750. Try as it might, increasing attendance past that number wasn’t happening. To get to the next level, church leadership engaged the late Ron Lewis, a church growth specialist, whose bullet list of improvements included improvements to child care, changes in leadership style, and leveraging technology for a more contemporary worship experience. Despite opposition, church leadership, with the help of a confident vision team and discovery teams who reported on the success of churches using technology as tools for worship, pushed forward with a rudimentary technology plan that would provide simple lighting, better sound, and projection. “The reason for change was to become more relevant and to put focus on the message—not to be showy,” recalls Neely.
New technology and adding more contemporary worship did, in fact, help Second Baptist to set new attendance records. Recently, when the church completed its family ministry center (FMC), staff engaged XLMediaworks Inc. of Columbia, S.C., as a partner to provide quality audio, video, lighting and acoustic systems for modern worship. In addition to worship, technology in the FMC also needed to service large banquet events that seat over 1,000, concerts, and sports events. Jerry Temple, owner of XLMediaworks, designed a professional production system for the room featuring d&b audiotechnik T series loudspeakers and amplifiers along with a Midas Pro 2 mixing console and a DL251 stage rack. Panasonic projectors and robotic cameras along with Ross video switching and HD recorders make up the main infrastructure of the video system. The Jands Vista S1 lighting console was chosen for its ease of use and controls a variety of conventional fixtures, as well as LEDs and movers by brands such as ETC, Showline, and Robe.
With more than 20 years of experience designing AVL systems and concert production, Temple knew exactly what was needed. “Our goal for the FMC was to provide premier sound and great acoustics, which can be difficult in a multi-purpose space,” he reports. “Emphasis was also placed on lighting and video systems to both meet the needs of the weekly church services, as well as many of the requirements commonly found in artist riders in order to minimize the need for additional rental gear.”
The systems installed at the FMC have proven themselves over time, Temple adds, and the acoustical work has become a model for several architects working on similar facilities. So when an opportunity was presented to upgrade church’s main worship center, XL Mediaworks got the call.
T Series Loudspeakers from d&b Audiotechnik highlight the church’s new technology systems. “The room responds as we predicted using d&b ArrayCalc software, but it always amazes me how good these systems sound,” says Jerry Temple, Owner, XLMediaworks Inc., Columbia, SC.
Worship center update
The upgrade to the worship center wasn’t exactly planned. Neely recalls stepping into the worship center on a Saturday morning to prepare for a wedding at 2 p.m. and discovering several inches of water on the floor from a broken water heater. “We got the water vacuumed up and had the wedding,” he recalls, “but the entire carpet needed to be replaced. That led to a color matching problem with the upholstery in the pews, which led us to rethink our seating.” As one thing led to another, Neely and church leadership saw an opportunity to remodel the room. “It was a difficult choice to make, and not one that we had planned for, but the right one,” Neely notes.The physical remodeling of Second Baptist’s worship center would replace the old church pews with stadium seating (increasing seating capacity to 736 and add six handicapped seating stations), update the design of the stage area, and upgrade wiring and power to handle new AVL systems. Temple and his team were charged with updating all the technology that remained from the original upgrade in 2002 with touring-quality professional systems similar to those designed for the FMC. In addition, the systems needed to be easy to use to support Second Baptist’s all-volunteer production teams.
Concert audio
XL Mediaworks’ audio design for the worship center implemented a stereo line array using d&b audiotechnik T10 loudspeakers. The arrays are installed on each side of the stage and are suspended over d&b B22 subwoofers built into the stage. Two d&b 12S high-performance, two-way loudspeakers were installed for sidefill coverage. “Horizontal coverage was key [since] the room is a considerably wide, large octagon space. The 110-degree pattern on the T’s looked great on d&b ArrayCalc software, which is always accurate. The room responds as we predicted but it always amazes me how good these systems sound,” says Temple. Driving the system are d&b 30D Digital 4 channel installation amplifiers.
“The tone the d&b Audiotechnik T10s loudspeakers provide is as true as anything we’ve heard. What goes in comes out— without any sound coloration.”
—Jerry Temple, Owner, XLMediaworks Inc., Columbia, SC.
For mixing sound, Temple installed a Midas Pro 2 audio console along with a DL251 I/O unit (for 48 mic/line inputs and 16 mic/line outputs) and a DL451 modular stage box. “Using the same console as the FMC provided a real advantage for the volunteer techs,” Temple notes. “It allowed them to walk straight into the new space and mix, as well as to be interchangeable between venues.” Sennheiser ew series wireless systems were provided along with an RF Venue antenna distribution system. Attention to detail is as important to XL as the performance of its systems, the company reports, and is reflected in the design and craftsmanship of the “XL Custom Shop” recessed monitor ports built into the stage. “While in-ear monitoring is popular,” Temple notes, “many of the touring acts that come through still want wedges. Providing recessed monitor ports across the front of the stage provides ample monitor positions, while keeping sightlines clean and reducing stage clutter.” Temple and Neely agree that the new sound system has the ability to provide great sounding concert-level SPLs when needed. However, the church events regularly require rich, full sound even at moderate to lower volume levels. “The d&b solution is ideal,” Temple offers, “as the tone of d&b audiotechnik is [as] true as anything I’ve ever used. When properly designed and maintained, systems have a very long lifespan which churches really benefit from financially.”
Better visual experience
For projected images and video capture, three Panasonic PT-RW730 laser projectors were installed and are directed at three Da-Lite 16:9 motorized screens with Pearlescent surfaces on stage. “The combination of Panasonic laser projectors and the Pearlescent screen surfaces offer remarkable brightness and clarity,” says Temple. To support video in the worship center, a Panasonic HE130 HD Integrated PTZ camera was installed along with Panasonic’s RP50 subcompact camera controller. A Blackmagic Design 40x40 video hub and ATEM1 video switcher provide reliable routing and switching and a Datapath FX display wall controller facilitates the projection of triple-wide video. A Blackmagic Design 7” Video Assist unit was installed for easy video monitoring and recording. XL’s design for the campus infrastructure also included bi-directional fiber SDI lines that connect the FMC, worship center, and Second Baptist’s youth venue, Celebration Stadium.To update lighting, the church’s existing 96-channel dimming system with a variety of ETC Source 4 PAR and LEKO fixtures was augmented with 24 Chauvet Colordash Par-Quad 18 color washes and four Chauvet Rogue R2 RGBW LED moving head wash fixtures. XL’s lighting design called for another Jands Vista S1 Lighting Control Surface. This lighting plan matched lighting control in the FMC. “The Jands Vista lighting control allowed us to set up scenes that can dramatically change the appearance of the room,” says Temple. “That makes it easy for volunteers to manage lighting cues.”
The time to upgrade
With technology in its worship center now on par with the FMC, Second Baptist is poised to grow again. And although Neely’s title of business administrator requires that he take a very practical view of budgets and technology upgrades, he recognizes that, sometimes, the right time to upgrade may not be when it is all carefully planned. “We want the Lord’s will,” he says. “That’s most important. When things start to happen, sometimes we just need to get out of the Lord’s way and let it happen.”
