As the church grew, so did the need for a more extensive lighting system. Church officials wanted to create more professional looking and appealing productions and more emotional traditional weekly services. With its annual Christmas program on the horizon, Rochester Assembly of God decided to upgrade to a new system that would be both cost-effective and expandable.
"We were going to be presenting The Gospel According to Scrooge, so we decided to install a lighting system the way it should be done," explained the church's Clyde Ediger. "The system had to be scalable; we wanted to install a few components this year, and then add to it throughout the year. Next year, we hope that the show is even more extensive, and that we can do more sophisticated lighting and effects."
Ediger, who supervised the lighting system upgrade, consulted with Dave Johnson at Minneapolis-based Gopher Stage Lighting, who recommended a dimming system that originally included eight Bak Pak individual dimmers from Entertainment Technology. Because the Bak Pak dimmers proved easy to use and inexpensive, the final installation was extended to include 14 dimmers.
"We had done a couple of churches previously that didn't have any infrastructure in place for dimming," Johnson explained. "Most of the churches where we've installed the Bak Pak dimmers have had eight to 10 fixtures, limited space, and they're looking for something that's quiet. Generally a big requirement, and a key selling point for the Bak Pak dimmers, is the fact that because they use IGBT technology, they don't make any noise."
Rochester Assembly of God purchased eight new 750W conventional fixtures and attached a Bak Pak dimmer to each one, with more Bak Paks controlling the eight existing 350W coloured lights in pairs. Ediger explained the lack of a catwalk system (necessitating installation using ladders) made the dimmer's one-touch focus button even more valuable in setup. The final two dimmers were added as the Christmas production was already underway, and allowed the show's producers to highlight a particular scene during the performance. "Anyone can use these," Ediger added. "And it only takes one person to hook them up. We're still planning to expand on this and add more Bak Pak dimmers as we move forward."
(Mike Lethby)
