Christ Fellowship invests in Robe Pointes
Published: WORSHIP
WORLD: Ten Robe Pointes were recently delivered to the Christ Fellowship Worship Centre in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, US, specified by lighting designer Aaron Leahy, who is responsible for all lighting designs and systems at the 1,747 capacity purpose-built venue.
Christ Fellowship Worship Centre was established in 1984 and stages around four regular weekend services plus additional events. Mr Leahy discussed the project with Nathan Carroll, director of live production, who oversees all of Christ Fellowship’s technical aspects. Mr Carroll arranged for the entire technical team from the Palm Beach Gardens CF campus to have a demo of Pointes at Infocomm 2013.
Robe was specified for a number of reasons. Mr Leahy commented that Jerry Seay from Robe Inc’s sales team was ‘extremely knowledgeable and helpful’, forging a good relationship right from the start.However, the most significant reason for the decision was the ‘sheer ingenuity’ of the Pointe, including its superb brightness in combination with Robe’s optical system and the company’s commitment to smaller-brighter-lighter fixtures.
In the venue, the Pointes are positioned around the lighting rig, placed so all their features can be utilised most effectively, from the 0 degree beam effects to the linear prism and wash.
Mr Leahy explained that the Pointes look striking when in full beam mode, but that ‘that’s just the beginning of what we are using them to accomplish’. He continued, saying that the fixtures are creating a ‘whole new dimension’ behind the house band and the stage floor. ‘The addition of just 10 fixtures has greatly increased the scale and impact of our services,’ he enthused.
The Pointes – delivered via the Miami office of Stage Equipment & Lighting – are reported to have made a big difference to the overall look and feel of the CF Palm Beach Gardens worship services. After the first event using the new Pointes, the HOW received numerous comments on the difference and quality of the service lighting.
Mr Leahy himself usually operates lighting for most of the worship services, for which they use a Hog 4 console. ‘The Pointes really shine, and they would look equally at home in a large arena as they do in the worship centre. Dropping in the linear prism creates a fan like effect and rotating this makes a very unique effect.
‘The rapid movement of all the mechanics ensures near-seamless live transitions, adding depth and dimension to our stage,’ he added. ‘It’s very evident that Robe has a proper dialogue with designers and programmers when developing new fixtures.
‘Not only is the Robin series extremely easy to rig and to work with in a physical context due to the compact dimensions and light weight, but there are numerous other smaller but appreciable features, one being the Navigation System 2 with its large touch-screen and easy-to-read displays,’ he added. ‘This makes troubleshooting and patching a complete breeze!’