Elation at Mount Pleasant Community Church

USA: The city of Mount Pleasant in Michigan is home to Central Michigan University. As such, the Mount Pleasant Community Church enjoys a lively congregation, a large proportion of which are within the 19-25 age bracket.

‘As a result, they are always exceptionally diligent in looking for ways to make the worship experience more inclusive and inviting,’ explains Mike Mrozinski, project development manager at LiveSpace, the Grand Rapids-based systems integrator that recently upgraded the church’s lighting system. ‘They have a very contemporary worship experience each weekend so we stressed the ability to create a more immersive and engaging environment.’

Mount Pleasant Community Church had installed a lighting solution comprising sodium halide fixtures in its worship space more than a decade ago, however these were soon deemed inefficient and unsuitable for a worship environment. To remedy this, a series of par cans were later installed in the ceiling. ‘While this did give them a greater degree of control, the coverage was not as smooth as they had hoped,’ Mr Mrozinski adds. ‘The par cans got them halfway to the look and feel that they were going for, but still seemed like they were putting a band-aid over a broken leg. They lived with this solution for several years until they decided to devote the resources necessary to find a house light solution that was more in line with the high production standards that they brought to every other aspect of their service.’

The new system that LiveSpace designed and installed is an LED solution formed of fixtures from Elation Professional’s Colour Pendant series of colour-changing luminaires. Four Colour Pendants were hung above the stage and a further 32 were integrated with the ceiling across the worship space in four rows of eight. In addtion to the lighting fixtures, LiveSpace also installed a new lighting console.

Five Lakes Marketing, which represents Elation, also provided support on the project. ‘We have worked with Rob Ludwig at Five Lakes for several years now and have called upon him many times for recommendations, sales calls and product demonstrations,’ says Mr Mrozinski. ‘He has always proven to be an invaluable resource to us.’

The new lighting solution has reportedly gone down well at Mount Pleasant, creating ‘an immersive and inclusive worship experience each weekend’ while also seeing use during the church’s Vacation Bible School and a variety of community events. For Mr Mrozinski, this project provided the opportunity to finally install an RGBW house light system, something which had seemingly eluded him.

‘We have been looking for an opportunity to install house lights with RGBW capabilities on the last few projects we have designed,’ notes the project development manager. ‘In each instance that they were specified, they ended up getting swapped with a less expensive fixture due to budgetary constraints. But, the church leadership liked the idea that they could have the ability to create a similar lighting look as what was being created on stage. Beyond the color abilities, the coverage and dimming curve has proven to be the most even and consistent of any fixture we have worked with in the past. We were excited to finally have the opportunity to utilise these fixtures and the client could not be more happy with the end result.’

www.communitychurchlife.org
www.elationlighting.com
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