Watermark Community Church defines itself as “One church, four campuses, thousands of locations.” Fortunately for Watermark’s video systems engineer, Daniel Merchen, the thousands of locations isn’t literal. He says, “It's a bit of a pithy way to remind folks that the Body of Christ is the people who make up the church. We're not defined by a physical building or location.” In this edition of Five Minutes, we learn more about this Dallas multi-site church, Merchen and his tech team.
Our leadership thrives on data, but not just any data. It must be actionable...
CPM: How did you find your way into technical ministry?
Merchen: Growing up, I had parents who made Christ the center of our home – along with that came many opportunities to be a part of the local church. Our church home in South Dakota (Countryside Community Church, Spearfish S.D.) was willing to make an investment in the younger generation. Providing avenues for some of us to serve and learn alongside the “tech team” of the day. Opportunities and responsibilities continued to evolve over time – and the rest is history. If there’s a take away from this, invest in the next generation.
CPM: What tips do you have for creating healthy communication between the tech team and senior leadership?
Merchen: Our leadership thrives on data, but not just any data. It must be actionable from their position. That phrase “know your audience” holds true here too. For example, if I’m in a meeting discussing a project with senior leadership, they want to know things like how does this advance the gospel, and how does it affect the organization, and the associated cost categories. (Pivot tables might be their love language.)
Our team puts high value on a “One Team” mentality, we fight hard to maintain unity in the pursuit of a common goal. Our team recognizes the value that others bring to the table and works hard to honor relationships, a reference to Ephesians 4:1-8.
... from a price and performance of a number of lenses, but the Fujinon XA55 was the clear choice for our application.
We rely upon relational and professional trust, if you think about a project like a bullseye – with our team at the middle of it – those are the people who need the granular project details. The further we abstract from the center of the bullseye, the less the granular details become relevant to project related conversations. This isn’t an attempt to obscure information, but rather an acknowledgement that you can have too much information for effective decision making. Just be prepared to answer specific questions where necessary.
CPM: Tell us more about your recent deployment of Fujinon lenses.
Merchen: We purchased our first camera package in 2007. While our gear served us well, the market has seen a number of improvements in the last decade. Recently, we had an opportunity to make some changes to our camera solution for the Dallas auditorium. On this project, we worked with a number of manufacturers and ultimately went with a combination from Fujinon and Hitachi.
The relationship we’ve built with our local Fujinon rep, Bret W. Shisler, has been hugely valuable to us, his attention to our project and investment in ministry really makes it an easy decision.
There were a number of lenses we looked at for our centerline cameras, but from a price and performance standpoint the Fujinon XA55 was the clear choice for our application. It provides us the longer focal lengths we needed without breaking the bank, and integral built-up system was a nice add, meaning we didn’t need to buy an additional sled for the cameras being used with the lens.
On the slash angles, we elected to repurpose one of our older 40x lenses from another manufacturer, and selected a UA24 to provide flexibility for wider room shots with enough focal length for nice medium to tight shots. If we needed more on the sides, the integrated 2x extender comes in handy – leveraging the improved performance of the cameras we can safely make up the light loss in gain without worrying about sacrificing the image. The UA24 provides us a versatile all around lens that would be at home in any production.
The last lens we selected for the project is a bit more of a utility for its wider 5.5mm focal length, allowing us to grab some nice wide room shots to engage the folks watching from home, or even transition it to a jib for special events. As we continue to move cameras around the space, having something to cover anything from 525mm (1050mm w/2x Extender) down to 5.5mm really lets us grab the images we’re looking for.
Certainly there’s competition in the lens space, but the relationship we’ve struck up with Fujinon, the support, cost efficiency, and optical quality, is something we can benefit from for years to come.
CPM: What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
Merchen: Undoubtedly, our opportunity share the Gospel with many. While we get plenty of opportunities to do something that may be an accomplishment from a technical perspective, if the central premise isn’t advancing the gospel we’ve missed the mark. One of my favorite deployments that accomplishes both technical and gospel is our ministry to young-adults called “The Porch.” It’s pointed toward 20 and 30-somethings, initially in Dallas, Texas, but has now grown to a network of 17+ sites that connect at various times throughout the week, most around on 7 p.m. Tuesdays. To learn more, visit theporch.live.
