There are many ways to describe the multi-faceted, dynamic, purpose-driven worship of Impact Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. But the most apt might be to simply say that worship there is “big.” Big on diversity and authenticity, with clear purpose and big hearts for God on full display every Sunday, services there are known for taking on the flavor of a huge party (“God-sized,” they say) celebrating Jesus.
Sitting squarely at the intersection of sports, modern worship, service, and media-rich popular culture, Impact Church now has full-on, concert-level systems that can take their productions to the next level in a big way.
Founded and fueled by a core group of professional athletes, big is how Impact Church rolls. “We were doing five weekend services,” says Phil Owens who leads the church’s production team, “a clear sign that we had outgrown our old location.” Now, they’re poised to become bigger as they’ve expanded into a repurposed retail space with seating for over 1,600 worshippers, concert-grade sound and lighting systems, and a state-of-the-art video wall that is—you guessed it—big. The wall makes a huge impression framing the back of the stage at 40-feet wide by 10-feet high.
When “big” goes to church
Far from being a traditional church, Impact Church began as a Bible study hosted by former NFL linebacker Andre Wadsworth. After playing college football for Florida State University, he was drafted in 1998 by the Arizona Cardinals. Following a 2007 season with the New York Jets, Andre invited a group of teammates to join his at-home Bible study. The group was called Impact Pro Athletes, and it soon attracted other professional players from the Phoenix Suns and the Arizona Diamondbacks. As the group expanded with new missions to serve the community, it became clear that a larger church venue was needed. In 2010, Impact Church was founded and moved to a hangar space at Scottsdale Air Park, a private airport.
To lead the new church predominately made up of college and professional athletes, Travis Hearn, who had been active chaplain for the Phoenix Suns since 2002, was appointed as senior pastor. Wadsworth remained active in church leadership, and other ministry leaders were added, many of whom were involved in the sports industry.
“For us, Purpose Driven is simply the Jesus model of making disciples, reaching the lost, and teaching people together with a network of churches around the world.”
Travis Hearn, Senior Pastor, Impact Church, Chaplain – Phoenix Suns, Scottsdale, AZ
In addition to his role at Impact Church, Hearn leads chapel for the NBA champions, the Phoenix Suns, as well as the Arizona Cardinals, the Phoenix Mercury, and several major league baseball teams. And he has also authored two books. He explains that the growth of Impact Church past a group of sports elites is no accident, and that aligning worship with purpose drives the church’s goals. “For us, Purpose Driven is simply the Jesus model of making disciples, reaching the lost, and teaching people together with a network of churches around the world,” he says. Pastor Hearn employs principles he learned over the years at Purpose Driven Church (PDC) conferences held at California’s Saddleback Church, including a focus on small groups, local outreach, and missions with global reach. And while Impact Church is notable for having transformed the lives of pro-athletes, the sports industry isn’t the only thing that has shaped Impact Church. “Whether they’re famous or not, they’re just people,” he says. “We’re simply in the business of loving people and caring for those who are hurting.”
Tackling big audio
As plans for Impact Church’s new facility were being completed, the church reached out to Illuminate Production Services Inc. (IPS) of Lincoln, California, to provide a complete audio, video, and lighting package. Hearn knew Rick Franke, the president and co-owner of IPS, not only for his company’s stellar reputation for delivering outstanding production systems, but also from his years of service as a youth pastor. “We go back a long way,” says Franke. “I knew Travis’s heart for the church, as well as the high-profile and media-knowledgeable sports connections at the church. It was clear that the new AV system designs would not only need to support Impact’s dynamic worship style with rider-worthy gear, but also meet the design and installation challenges presented by a repurposed retail space.”
Acting as project manager, Franke worked closely with Phil Owens, production team lead, and contractors to work out how the new systems would be deployed. “The architects and structural engineers had worked through the major issues,” recalls Franke, “but even with supporting columns replaced with new infrastructure, we had to accommodate our system designs to consider less headroom, hang points to support a large horizontal coverage area, and keeping clear sight lines. Putting our FOH truss above a beam instead of below it is a good example of how fitting our gear into the room was like working out a well-put-together puzzle.”
Knowing that a great audio system would be needed to support Impact Church’s sometimes edgy, sometimes soulful R&B musical presentations, Franke tapped an audio expert and colleague, Kyle Anderson, to design and commission an Adamson Engineering loudspeaker rig. “Adamson is always great to work with,” notes Franke, who has used the company’s equipment for many important installations and touring applications. “They offer a massive range of industry experience that helps us handle any situation.” One of Franke’s favorite attributes of Adamson systems is that they can ”get loud when they need to,” but still present a warm and welcoming sound—an ideal fit for Impact Church’s worship style.
To best meet the demand for horizontal coverage in the room, Anderson’s design employs six Adamson Engineering IS10 two-way, full-range line array cabinets per side with two S10P placed for outfill. Five Adamson Engineering Point 8P compact cabinets with rotatable 90-degree by 60-degree waveguide mounted across the stage front provide well-defined coverage for front fill. IPS specified concrete fortification around eight of Adamson’s S119 subs deployed under the curved lip of the stage to prevent lows from dominating the mix.
Customer-provided mixing consoles were installed for monitor, FOH, and broadcast positions for commissioning. Monitor and FOH consoles are scheduled to be upgraded to Allen & Heath dLive s5000 and dLive s7000 consoles. respectively.
A Midas Stage Box provides stage inputs and digital connectivity, while Lab:gruppen amplification with Lake processing powers the loudspeaker system. “Lab:gruppen amps were the bullet-proof choice,” notes Franke. “They provide ample power and clean sound for the church’s concert style, as well as safe handling for the sometimes aggressive youth events. They can deliver and protect downstream systems.”
IPS installed 12 channels of Shure ULXD4D wireless mics along with 12 channels of PSM900 Shure wireless personal monitor systems. And RF Venue wireless antenna systems were specified for RF management. “The RF Venue systems provide a broad range and connectivity options at a good price,” notes Franke, “and more importantly, they work for us every time.” Middle Atlantic racks, Elitecore customized floor pockets, and Furman power sequencing were used along with QSC 70-volt audio distribution components.
Ensuring big visual impact
Caleb Franke, vice president of design and operations for IPS, handled lighting and visual designs for the converted space. For the lighting part of the project, Impact Church’s style of worship called for a full-on concert level of production. As part of this, the lighting design makes use of ADJ’s recently released Jolt 300 multi-purpose strobe/blinder/color wash fixture. The unit’s central strip of 144 x 0.5W white SMD LEDs are divided into three independently controllable zones flanked on both sides by 144 x 0.5W RGB SMD LEDs (also divided into three zones). This offers lighting designers the creative potential of generating everything from strikingly bright white strobe/blinder effects to vibrant color washes and eye-catching chase patterns, all from the same compact fixture.“
Selecting the Jolt 300 for this project represents both a creative and a value decision,” explains Jeff Hess, director of sales and marketing for IPS. “The installation required good quality of coverage from a strobe/blinder effect light that can also be used for color, and the unit delivered nicely. Eighteen fixtures were installed on the mid-stage truss, downstage truss, and floor, creating a nice layer of flare to the stage.”
Other lighting fixtures were sourced from ADJ’s sister company, Elation Professional. Aerial effects and surface projections at the new facility can be generated with 16 Fuze SFX LED Spot FX fixtures complemented on stage by the dramatic effects of 12 Rayzor 760 moving head wash fixtures. A run of Chorus Line 16 motorized pixel wash bars sit low at the back of the stage, while key light is provided by a mixture of KL Fresnel 6 CW and KL Fresnel 8 fixtures. IPS installed a versatile Chroma-Q Vista EX control surface to control lighting. Hazing effects are added by an Elation Magmatic Therma Tour 800 oil-based haze generator.
The stage at Impact Church is anchored with a 10x40 foot video wall built with ADJ’s Vision Series LED panels. Lighting is primarily ADJ and Elation Professional fixtures controlled by a Chroma-Q Vista EX console. The video wall not only allows for the display of song lyrics, produced video content, and IMAG, but it can also be used to create striking silhouette effects for the worship team standing in front.
The well-considered lighting design for Impact Church can deliver a wide variety of looks for the church’s productions, but the addition of a massive video wall at the rear of the stage provides production designers the ability to incorporate media in a big way. Assembled from 144 individual ADJ VS3 panels, the 26x6 configuration weighs 3,300 pounds and extends the full width of the stage. The 10-foot by 40-foot wall not only allows for the display of song lyrics, produced video content, and IMAG, but it can also be used to create striking silhouette effects for the worship team standing in front.
Part of ADJ’s Vision Series of LED video products, VS3 panels offer a brightness of 1000 NITS and a pixel pitch of 3.91mm from its configuration of 3-in-1 RGB SMD2121 LEDs. Each panel features a NovaStar A5s receiving card built in, and signal is fed by a NovaStar UHD junior processor/scaler.
VS3 panels have four separate front-serviceable modules along with strategically placed magnets that allow installers to temporarily mount two panels together, let go of the panels, then securely latch them from the rear. This allows a single technician to install a full wall of panels, unaided.
The video team has expanded operations in the new facility using four wireless Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4k cameras to give a more live and moving experience for online viewers.
A big finish
“When the church leaders experienced the systems for the first time,” Franke says, “it was a bit of an ah-ha moment. They brought their friends, media folks, and audio professionals in who walked the space and were very impressed. Most importantly, they loved the experience … how the room felt.”
According to Owens, “IPS designs exceeded our expectations, delivering systems that both provide our congregation the best audio visual experience possible and give our online viewers the same experience as those who are attending in person.”
Sitting squarely at the intersection of sports, modern worship, service, and media-rich popular culture, Impact Church now has full-on, concert-level systems for audio and lighting along with an expansive video wall that can take their productions to the next level in a big way—just the way they like it.
