Emmanuel Baptist Pastor Wade Burleson described the results of Paragon 360’s recent renovation project at his church by saying “Paragon hit a homerun with this one.”  To extend the baseball analogy a step further, one impressive result of that renovation is that Emmanuel Baptist can now make the transition from a traditional service with a choir to a band-led contemporary service in about the same time it takes Major League teams to complete one inning of play.

Springfield, MO-based Paragon 360 accomplished this feat at the 35-year old-church by adding new architectural elements and upgrading the audio, video and rigging system, in addition to installing an impressive collection of lighting fixtures from CHAUVET Professional. As a result of these changes (and the hard work of church staff ) Emmanuel Baptist is now able to change its sanctuary space from a traditional to a contemporary worship area in 20 minutes. (The average inning takes 18.3 minutes according to Major League Baseball.)

The ability to make this smooth transition quickly was important to Emmanuel Baptist, in part because of the growing popularity of its contemporary service, which was being held in a smaller venue.  Creating a single worship area that could reach the young and the unchurched, while still remaining welcoming to congregation members seeking a more traditional service, was of paramount importance to church leaders. Additionally, the church wanted to create a smaller modular choir loft to replace the oversized wooden platforms from its original construction.

Read more.