by Frank Schabell
A common misconception for many churchgoers is that “going to church” means exciting music, messages from charismatic teachers, and cutting-edge technology that rivals concerts…even though church CAN have these aspects, the act of gathering together as a body is an opportunity for the Church to worship God in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23).
We at Pro Church Lights (@prochurchlights) care deeply for serving and equipping ministries to create environments where people can experience the almighty God. Our team provides unique lighting solutions for churches, and recently we had the privilege to partner with Hope Church, a vibrant community that found its new home in a once-vacant storefront. With the support from our team, Hope Church was able to transform this space into a place for authentic worship. This story is just one of the many hundreds of churches we have served since our company’s founding. We at Pro Church Lights understand the challenges of ministry and specialize in equipping churches to reach their communities for Christ.
The Challenge: A Space Awaits Transformation
Hope Church(@hopechurch_jc) is a nondenominational church located in Johnson City, Tennessee that was originally a mobile church meeting in a school that undertook the monumental task of converting a Dollar General storefront into a sanctuary. We encounter many churches that have outgrown their current space and need to relocate. Even though this project may be intimidating, we at PCL call this a “good problem to solve”.
Enter Pro Church Lights: Our company is proudly Christian-owned and operated, by a team of passionate lighting designers and former church staff with many years in production along with ministry. This team composition makes us uniquely suited to serving the countless churches we interact with every year. We are known for manufacturing lighting fixtures designed with churches in mind but we also provide distinct services that help to cast a vision for what is possible from a lighting perspective and also how to implement lighting to its maximum effectiveness: The Visual Mock-Up Service and the Hybrid Installation Service.
The Visual Mock-Up Service: Do You See What We See?
One of PCL’s signature services is the Visual Mock-Up Service, which is where the journey started for Hope Church. Think back to all of those times when you had a vision you wanted to share and couldn’t articulate it or when you knew what you wanted but didn’t have a visual or a game plan of what you needed. This is the service they had been looking for. Hope Church paid a minimal fee that was able to be credited to a future order (within 6 months), they filled out a simple form, uploaded some pictures and told us about their existing space and our design team did the rest!
The team was able to use Hope Church’s input and photos to create visual mock-ups for their space along with recommendations and helpful tips to maximize lighting effectiveness. We followed up with a Zoom call to walk through the mock-ups and answer any questions in a 25-minute “Lightning Round” session, which is a collaborative discussion with Pro Church Lights about the design and strategies moving forward. Like with many other churches, we discussed best options, phasing, priorities, and control systems along with just getting to know each other.
The mock-up service demonstrates PCL’s commitment not just to sell lighting, but to provide a service built on collaboration with churches and their unique needs.
The Hybrid Installation Service: Empowering Churches to Own the Journey
Along with the Visual Mock-Up Service, The Hybrid Installation Service is one of the key ways that Pro Church Lights can efficiently serve the large number of churches we work with. This is a unique approach to installation where we empower the church to install its lighting system safely and correctly while simultaneously setting them up to comprehend how it works. For Hope Church, this meant meticulously crafting an “Install Playbook” along with the lighting package they purchased, detailing everything from safety protocols, rigging, DMX wiring diagrams, power calculations, a lighting plot, and a plug & play Showfile (most commonly LightKey) for their lighting control software with training included.
These services are a testament to our heart to equip and empower the local church to be confident in overseeing its lighting system. Speaking from personal experience, some integrators will set up the system with very little training for the church to ensure their success, setting the church up to be reliant upon the integrator to make regular house calls, essentially inhibiting the church from truly understanding their systems. We know this Hybrid Installation model works and believe churches deserve to be educated and empowered in their technology.
The Plan: Collaboration in Action
Cameron Owens(@cameronrayowens), Worship Pastor at Hope Church, and his team embarked on this journey starting with the Visual Mock-Up Service with my colleague Wade Warner(@wawarner) guiding him through and helping design the package he needed along with incorporating their existing fixtures.
For their installation, they purchased Pro Church Lights Pro Wash Plus fixtures (our 100-watt fresnel fixture) for their Front Wash, and utilized his existing Chauvet SlimParsPro as Back Light, PCL Blind 4s, and the VERY popular pixel mappable PixelStix for creative elements on their stage. Additionally, Cameron purchased 30+ ADJ COB Cannon Washes to shift the atmosphere during worship and provide bright light during sermons.
The installation process went smoothly thanks to the detailed planning we provided through the Hybrid Installation Service and the hard work of Cameron’s team at Hope Church. When questions did come up, our team quickly stepped in to offer assistance when needed. I was personally amazed by how this space transformed from a former Dollar General Store to a beautiful worship space almost overnight! This is just one of many success stories of churches walking through the Hybrid Installation Service, and we have been able to design installation plans for hundreds of churches all across the country over the past several years.
And God Said: “Let There Be Light”
One of the greatest joys our team experiences is seeing how numerous churches have been able to transform lighting in their sanctuaries to enrich worship. The Hybrid Install plan allows for any church to utilize lighting to create truly beautiful spaces for people to encounter The Lord. I stand by the Visual Mock-Up and Hybrid Installation Services as key tools so churches looking to transform their worship spaces can do it in attainable ways. We at Pro Church Lights are partners of the local church, and we not only understand the technical aspects of lighting installations but we also care deeply about the spiritual well-being of the communities these churches serve.
Frank Schabell is the Director of Support and Lighting Design at Pro Church Lights. He is passionate about using art and technology to tell the greatest story ever told. Visit ProChurchLights.com or follow Frank at @FrankSchabell and the team at @prochurchlights
