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Hitachi Z-HD5000 cameras provide Faith Assembly with economical, high-performance HD video.
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The list of new equipment includes a For-A HVS-350HS HD/SD 1.5 M/E Video Switcher, which is set in the video control room of the complex. The Encore Broadcast Solutions team, led by Jeff Cameron provided systems integration services on this project.
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Worship arts pastor Matt Perkins has faced some interesting challenges in his 21 years of music and ministry. he has come to know that a church is about its people, but it is a bent for technology that separates this pastor from his peers."
Last year, at the same time his team was successfully equipping multiple venues at Faith Assembly's impressive new church and school complex, Perkins was also completely revamping the technology at a newly acquired satellite campus. His passion for using technology for worship has earned him the respect of his church family and the nickname “Pastor Gadget.” About his year of new installations and upgrades, Perkins says, “2012 was the wildest year in my worship ministry.”
Perkins came to Orlando as Faith Assembly's music pastor six years ago. His previous position in Green Bay, Wis., had him overseeing media and worship in a church of about 3,000. His experiences in Green Bay taught him a lot about people and technology—as well as how they work together in the church. “I really enjoy technology,” he says, “and I especially love to leverage technology for worship.”
Looking for, and finding, a church
A pivotal time for Perkins was the nine-month transitional period after leaving his post in Green Bay before arriving in Orlando. During that time, he helped a friend in St. Louis start a church. “I'd drive from Green Bay to help the pastor network, find equipment, assemble a band—really, whatever was needed to prepare for their first service,” he reflects. Perkins stayed on for three months after the new church launched. “It was a wonderful experience,” he says, “and taught me that size is not the definition of a successful ministry.” Rather, he says that it is being able to build a team at any level to serve together and leveraging whatever you have in both technology and people.
During his tenure at Faith Assembly, Perkins has moved from music pastor to worship arts pastor, now overseeing all the music and media for the church. He has also seen the church expand from a 1,200-seat auditorium to a new church and school complex with a 250-seat wedding chapel, an impressive 2,650-seat main auditorium and two 250-seat fully equipped children's theaters. In addition, a 95-foot high open atrium area in the new building provides a striking venue for banquets and overflow space for as many as 1,000 congregants. The building also contains a cafe and dining hall area that holds 450 people along with a portable stage and a gymnasium with seating for 600. There is also rehearsal space for band and choir, and a fine dining area with a view of the atrium.
The new facility that Perkins would help to outfit with sound and media was built by Orlando general contractors Phil and Scott Bland of Sonlight Construction in Saint Cloud, Fla. Scott Bland is a pastor at Faith Assembly and Phil Bland was instrumental in the construction of the church's previous building. When the old auditorium was overflowing, Phil Bland, with the direction of Faith Assembly Senior Pastor Carl Stephens, began to look at land for a new church and school complex. After negotiating for a 96-acre parcel of land along major thoroughfares, work began on a master plan to build the complex in phases. “We wanted to avoid any common mistakes.,” says Bland. “I went on the road for six months, going to every large church I could find. I talked to staff, operations manager[s] and janitors about what they liked about their building—and what they didn't like.” When the team finally sat down with the architect, Brennfoerder Architectural Services of Joplin, Mo., they knew what the church wanted in the building.
Perkins arrived at Faith Assembly during the design phase of the venues and contributed media design improvements, especially in outfitting the sanctuary. “Matt is extremely practical,” says Phil Bland, “he wasn't necessarily predisposed to grand ideas, if there were other ways to do it right and save some money.”
One of the ways Perkins and the team were able to maximize their purchases was to find items used at auction. “We were blessed,” Perkins reflects, “that the Orlando Magic got a new arena when they did. We bought a lot of things at auction from the old arena, like VIP seats for children's' theaters and kitchen equipment, all at a fraction of the cost.”
“We wanted a system that wouldn’t color the sound at any volume; one that would not just sound great as a concert rig, but give us great speech intelligibility.”
Jonathan Perez
Media Director, Faith Assembly, Orlando, FL
Bland and Perkins also found items for the stage that they would otherwise have had to put on a wish list, like 400- and 200-amp quick disconnects, large quantities of black curtains for backdrops, and 17 1/2-ton motors for chain hoists. “By carefully buying at auctions, we were able to buy a lot of nice things we would never have paid for new,” Phil Bland says. As an example, the team won a bid for Orlando Magic's old Jumbotron, an item a video technician was able to reconfigure to create an impressive 11x17-foot video wall for Faith Assembly's atrium. “After we recycled the extra parts and sold off the speakers, we were able to recoup most, if not all, of what we paid for it,” says Phil Bland.
While in the critical final phases of purchasing equipment and outfitting the new venues, Faith Assembly was approached by a church near downtown Orlando whose pastor was retiring. The smaller church, seating only about 450, hoped that they could be “adopted” to be part of the larger church's thriving church family. “For many reasons,” says Perkins, “this was the worst time for us to take on the responsibility of a new campus and take on another venue.” Despite the unfortunate timing and after much consideration, it was decided to move forward and take on what would become Faith Assembly's Michigan Street campus, even though equipment earmarked for the new building would have to be diverted. “We were very clear that when we take over, it will be worship in our style,” recalls Perkins. “That was the deal—and we made it happen.” Faith Assembly's Michigan Street campus celebrated its first service in January of 2012.
Media resourcefulness
Meanwhile, as Faith Assembly's main auditorium was nearing completion, Perkins was able to bring on Jonathan Perez as media director. Perez became a key player in finding the right sound system for the main auditorium. Perez recalls, “We wanted a system that wouldn't color the sound at any volume; one that would not just sound great as a concert rig, but give us great speech intelligibility.” To that end, Florida-based Encore Broadcast Solutions and Atlantic Professional Audio were engaged to design the sound system. After discussing options, the team created a shoot-out mix on an iPod that they would use to audition systems at various locations. When they heard their mix through Turbosound speakers at a nearby church, they knew they had found what they needed. “We knew right away. Turbosound line arrays had fantastic clarity,” says Perez. “Our worship material and spoken word examples both sounded great.”
For Faith Assembly's main auditorium, Atlantic Professional Audio installed two six-speaker Turbosound TCS-1061 arrays, with a pair of four-speaker arrays on a delay. Both 75- and 100-degree dispersion 1061 speakers were employed, each having one 10-inch low-mid and one 6.5-inch high-mid driver with a one-inch high-compression driver. Turbosound NuQ-12 speakers were selected for choir monitors on stage and in the church's rehearsal space. NuQ-8s and -6s were used to provide front-fill for the main auditorium and side-fill is handled by Turbosound's Aspect line with models TA-500 and -500hm.
A solid bottom is provided by two Turbosound TSW-218 subwoofers under the stage and nine TFA-600L flown above. Seventeen Turbosound RAVKDP-50 amplifiers with BV-Net-USB provide power for the main auditorium, and performances are mixed with an Avid Venue D-Show System. Turbosound systems were also installed in Faith Assembly's smaller venues and its Michigan Street campus to create the same look and feel as in their main auditorium. Sound is mixed in the smaller venues with Yamaha LS9-16 or -32 digital mixers.
In three Hitachi Z-HD5000 cameras, Faith Assembly has found economical and flexible, high-performance HDTV units to capture worship services in their main auditorium. Volunteers operate the cameras equipped with 40x Angenieux lenses and a Canon wide-angle lens. The church also employs a 35-foot Jimmy Jib Triangle jib to provide interesting elevated, angled shots and movement. A For-A HVS-350 that supports 16 HD/SD-SDI inputs and 16 HD/SD-SDI outputs acts as the venue's reliable main video switcher, while video signal is directed by a Blackmagic video router. Four Ki Pro racks from Aja Systems record the program and ISO records to load into Final Cut Pro for editing. Two JVC SR-HD2500 Blu-ray recorders are used for archiving.
Video and images for the main auditorium are generated by two Apple MacBook Pros with ProPresenter software and shared with video on a 60 x 20-foot Da-Lite center screen. Images delivered by four 16,000-lumen Digital Projection Titan Quad WUXGA projectors with two additional 12,000-lumen Titan projectors providing side images. An Analog Way Di-VentiX II with an Axion2 control surface is used to blend video and provide effects.
"We were blessed that the Orlando Magic got a new arena when they did. We bought a lot of things at a fraction of the cost."
Matt Perkins
Worship Arts Pastor, Faith Assembly, Orlando, FL
Perez keeps the multiple-projector set up aligned for great images by checking them every few weeks.
Faith Assembly's children's venues, as well as its new Michigan Street campus, use Mac Minis with ProPresenter and Digital Projection E-Vision 6,000-lumen projectors. “We're very happy with Digital Projection equipment,” Perkins notes.
Plugging in people
Musicians at Faith Assembly have a Sennheiser ew300 IEM G3 in-ear wireless monitor system available to them, along with Aviom personal monitor mixers. Sound on stage is captured with a mix of quality microphones including Shure's UHF-R wireless microphone system with Beta87c and KSM9 microphone capsules.
Perkins and Perez are both impressed with Audix Micro Boom carbon fiber boom systems to capture the sound of Faith Assembly's choir. “We think they are fantastic choir mics,” says Perez. “They are clear and friendly to gain. We used a demonstration pair for a week or two, kept them, and have bought more since.”
A compact and powerful Jands Vista I3 lighting system provides control of fixtures in the main auditorium, which includes 12 Elation Platinum Spot 15R Pros for moving lights and 12 Elation Design LED Par Zooms for washes and color effects. Over 40 Lightronics' PAR and ellipsoidal fixtures are employed for the church's effective lighting design with additional ETC fixtures for washes and back light.
As Faith Assembly continues to grow in Orlando, it has just broken ground on the next phase of its building—a 75,000-square-foot youth complex. Ultimate plans for the facility call for the revamping of the main auditorium and the completion of a new 5,500-seat auditorium.
Reflecting on a very busy year of implementing designs in multiple venues, and a massive expansion and restructuring of the media team, Perkins says, “Clearly we had some challenges, but I've seen incredible growth in our team members as a result. In the end, no matter what your size or the technical challenges you face, a successful ministry is simply helping people to walk with Christ.”
