Church On the Move complements Harman sound with Martin lighting
Published: WORSHIP
WORLD: The 12,000-member Church on the Move in Tulsa, Oklahoma features full-scale lighting, sound and video in a sanctuary bigger than many music venues. The church recently purchased some Martin VC-Dot 1 fixtures – individually controllable LED dots used to create customised video displays.
‘We can use the VC-Dot 1 as a design element, a backdrop or split it up for use in several auditoriums,’ said Church On the Move lighting designer Daniel Connell. ‘It’s amazingly versatile and enables us to easily add dramatic visual impact to a space.’
However the church’s audio and video staff rent rather than purchase most of their lighting, using the latest Harman Martin lighting gear to complement its Harman Professional sound system. Renting also reduces the need to retain additional maintenance staff – the church can handle all its lighting needs with two technicians.
‘We rent 90 per cent of our lighting and it gives us the freedom to change frequently and try new ideas and technologies,’ said Andrew Stone, Church on the Move’s production manager and audio director.
‘We don’t want to be left behind when the industry makes a major shift,’ he explained. ‘The rental model also lets us use high quality gear without spending a ton of money. We can rent more equipment as needed for bigger events.’
Church On the Move’s Martin lighting products include MAC III Profile lighting, MAC Viper Profile high-output 26,000-lumens fixtures, MAC 700 Wash 26,000-lumens lighting and TW1 tungsten wash lights. It is also installed with a JBL VerTec line array system, further JBL speakers and Crown amps, linked by BSS Soundweb London Blu-160 digital audio processors, and all A/V is networked using HiQnet System Architect software.
‘We don’t have a backdrop or a physical stage set so the lighting is our set,’ said Mr Connell. ‘I don’t want rental fixtures dying in the middle of a service. After a year of use you can start to have problems but I’ve never experienced that with Martin.’
Like many organisations, Church On the Move is bringing in more LED lighting for its reduced maintenance and energy costs. ‘We recently had a conference with 2,500 worship and creative directors from around the country, and have held many major events and big services, said Mr Stone.
‘Many people came just to hear the JBL VerTecs because of everything they’d heard about them, and that says a lot. Like the Martin lighting, the audio system has performed admirably.’