Mapleview Community Church Christmas Set Design 2015

by Michael Fess

Christmas 2015 began for us, like many other churches, in January 2015. As a staff we had decided that we wanted to something different and outside of the box. Little did we know that in our attempt to think fresh and different we would actually be putting ourselves back in the box, or should I say lots and lots of boxes. Typically I draw inspiration for my stage designs from a number of different places I have seen. I will take individual elements I have seen implemented well and compile them into a new design that is fitting for our context at Mapleview. This design however, came from inspiration I found in a completely unrelated graph. It was a 3D rendering of a bunch of blue bricks forming a floor. It was supposed to be like a cobble stone street with an even greater range in the depths applied to each individual piece. I really liked the way the light in the 3D rendering played of of each individual element. I liked the depth that it had and the texture that it added. My initial thought was “let’s get a giant print made up of this graphic”. I considered creating a 3D rendering of my own in Cinema 4D. Then I had the crazy thought “why don’t we build a wall of wrapped boxes for real and put Jesus at the centre.” I told our team my dream and they too agreed that it was slightly crazy. The time and effort would be huge, and the work would be tedious. All thing considered we decided we would rally the troops, get all hands on deck and make this dream I had a reality.

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Clark, a full service design, engineering and integration firm specializing in Houses of Worship, recently deployed a Martin Audio sound system based on MLA arrays as part of an audio upgrade to solve late reflection problems on stage and ensure consistent coverage in the huge 5,000-seat sanctuary of the Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Calvary Church is known for having one of the largest pipe organs in the world valued at approximately $3.7 million with 205 ranks and 11,499 pipes, which presented a significant challenge for the integrators in terms of providing reinforced sound that wouldn’t have a negative impact on the organ and the room’s natural acoustics.

Houston Clark, principal and co-founder, describes the problem his team had to solve: “It’s a newer building that embraces both traditional and blended worship––regularly using its massive pipe organ. So the challenge was very unique in two ways: the church wanted reinforced sound in the room for speech, a choir, orchestral and modern instrumental music without negatively impacting the acoustics for the pipe organ.

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