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The Refuge church in Charlotte, N.C. In 2011, The Refuge bought 30 acres and then waited on God’s direction.
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Two Panasonic PT-DW740UK video projectors with edge-blending technology cover a 30-foot wide by eight-foot high video screen. The screen is placed about 10 feet above the stage floor. A Sony MVS-3016A 2ME switcher feeds the center screen, and has the flexibility to frame IMAG or other video content as a picture-in-picture format over graphic content, eliminating the need for side screens.
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The Refuge church video wall.
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When the project began, The Refuge did not have an on-staff technical director. Church leaders worked with WAVE to refine the vision and create an A/V/L design solution that would meet the church’s goals while staying within the church’s budget.
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"The system they needed had to be affordable, but that doesn’t mean cheap." - Joe Jones, Project Manager, Summit Integrated Systems, Lafayette, CO.
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High-energy worship is a priority at The Refuge, and the sound system designed and installed by Charlotte-based WAVE is geared to deliver just that. The system features loudspeakers from Fulcrum Acoustics, QSC power and DSP, and a Midas Pro2 mixing console.
“The history of The Refuge church goes back to the mid 1990s when I gained a passion for church planting,” says Pastor Jay Stewart. And this passion ultimately led to the planting of The Refuge church in the Charlotte, N.C., suburb of Kannapolis. “I just decided that if we were going to risk everything, I wanted to somehow equip people to be the church outside of the Sunday service—equip them to impact the community in a way that if we shut our doors, we would be missed.”
The Refuge started in April of 2004 with 40 people meeting in the basement of a house. As the church grew they moved into a converted fitness center. “God just began to breathe on the church,” Stewart says, “and it grew.” Within nine months, the group grew from 40 to 400 and moved to a middle school auditorium. A satellite campus in nearby Salisbury, N.C., was added, but continued growth necessitated looking at new options. In 2011, the church bought 30 acres and then waited on God's direction. In the end, the wait proved to be providential and the church moved into a building project without debt. “We interviewed several companies to use for our AVL design,” Stewart reports, “and we were unanimous that WAVE, based in Charlotte, N.C., was the company we wanted to work with.”
At the time the project began, The Refuge did not have a staff technical director. WAVE worked with the leaders of the church to refine the church's vision and its design solutions to not only meet the church's goals but also be creative in staying within the budget.
Acoustical Integrity
Congregational worship is a key attribute of services at The Refuge, and part of congregational singing is feeling like you are singing with the congregation—not just the worship team. Therefore, the acoustics of the room were an important aspect of the overall design. The rear wall is treated with WAVE FRSWP acoustic wall panels with bass trap accessories to reduce the sound reflections that can ruin an otherwise good mix. “The side walls are designed to allow the singing of the congregation to be reflected back to the congregation so that they can hear each other worship,” notes Paul Henderson, WAVE's design principal.
Audio System
High-energy worship is also a priority, and the sound system installed was designed to deliver just that. A Midas Pro2C digital audio console sits at front-of-house (FOH) for mixing, chosen for its sound quality as well as its ability to manage a surround sound mix. Surround was chosen because the audio system includes WAVE's custom VenueFlex surround system, which lets the FOH engineer simulate a more live room by directing an appropriately delayed and processed signal to surround speakers, simulating reflections off the walls of the space. For music that benefits from a more live room, that live environment can be simulated while keeping the room acoustically optimized for high-impact worship music that needs a more controlled acoustical environment.
Loudspeakers from Fulcrum Acoustic were selected for their ability to deliver high quality sound at an affordable price point. “Combined with QSC's Q-sys digital signal processing system and amplifiers, the Fulcrum Acoustic speakers are able to deliver a sound closer to hi-fi quality,” Henderson adds.
"We went from needing only two volunteers for production work in the previous room to needing 12 every weekend in the new room. It’s important that the service is planned out and set up to run smoothly."
Danielle Miller
Technical Director, The Refuge, Kannapolis, NC.
Lighting
The Jands Vista lighting control software used in the church's previous room was migrated over to the new auditorium. Chauvet ColoRado LED fixtures provide a color wash for the stage, and Chauvet ColorBand strip light LED fixtures (added by the church after the initial room outfitting) light the upstage scenic elements. Philips Selecon SPX ellipsoidal spotlight fixtures provide key lighting.
For the house lighting, Chroma-Q Inspire fixtures provide full color-changing capabilities, enabling a more immersive environment for the audience by matching the room color to the emotional content of the program.
Video
On the video side of the project, a 30-foot wide by eight-foot high video screen is covered by two Panasonic PT-DW740UK video projectors. These projectors have edge-blending technology built into them, requiring no external processing to create a seamless double-wide image. The screen is placed about 10 feet above the stage floor, spanning the entire length of the stage space.
A Sony MVS-3016A 2ME switcher feeds the center screen, and has the flexibility to frame IMAG or other video content as a picture-in-picture format over graphic content on the 30-foot-wide screen, eliminating the need for side screens for IMAG support.
“The Sony switcher is serving their needs well, and their video director, Aaron Beaver, has taken to that switcher better than anyone else I've seen,” says Henderson. Sony PMW320 video cameras are used for image capture in the room, serving both IMAG purposes as well as live streaming to the Internet. Mac minis running Renewed Vision's ProPresenter are used for graphics.
"The system they needed had to be affordable, but that doesn’t mean cheap."
Joe Jones
Project Manager, Summit Integrated Systems, Lafayette, CO.
Communicating to the congregation is an important part of any church, and The Refuge has implemented a digital signage solution utilizing BrightSign digital signage hardware and software, along with Panasonic video displays.
Staffing Up
It was clear to church leadership that the significant step-up in the technical capabilities that this new auditorium would bring would require more staff to ensure it's used to its fullest—and with excellence.
The Refuge began a search for a technical director, and at about the time that WAVE started the installation phase of the project, they hired Danielle Miller, a graduate of North Central University in Minneapolis. “My start in technical production really stemmed from my years of being a drummer,” Miller says. “Through being involved in bands I became interested in audio and recording. I attended North Central to get a degree in recording arts.” Her interest in audio recording developed into a general interest in all things production, and she developed her lighting and video abilities as well.
Desiring to use her talents for God, she worked for two years after graduation with the Alabama district of the Assemblies of God denomination. “I worked on promo videos and live events for their youth camps,” Miller reports. “One of the speakers at an event there was Joe Phillips, who was a friend of The Refuge's pastor. That connection led me to the staff position at The Refuge, and I started here in January of 2014.” Miller oversees all technical production, supporting the live elements services and events at The Refuge. “The new room is really great,” Miller comments. “We love the Midas Pro2C. It's very easy to use and set up, and it's been easy to use for the volunteers.”
Miller also finds that being a musician on the worship team helps with her FOH responsibilities. “Because I also play as part of the worship team, I see what it's like from the musician's perspective. That helps me in making sure the audio system adequately supports the team.”
The Inspire house lighting fixtures are very popular with the church, as well. “The ability to change the color of the house lighting is [so] nice,” says Miller. “Our pastor really likes it—it's often the first thing he shows visitors to the facility. And the Jands Vista software is [very] easy for the volunteers to learn and use.” Miller continues, “Part of what I do is to make sure that everything is set up for the volunteers before they arrive. We went from needing only two volunteers for production work in the previous room to needing 12 every weekend in the new room. It's important that the service is planned out and set up to make sure everything goes smoothly.”
Stewart adds this final note about the experience of building the new auditorium: “One of the things that was so attractive to us about WAVE is [that] they understand ministry—and they definitely understand technology. We needed that, but we also needed someone who understood the DNA of The Refuge. WAVE blended those things very well. They not only met our needs for great technology, but they also met our needs for ministry by helping us fulfill our mission.”
