First Baptist Church Covington, in Covington, La., has been an important part of the town’s spiritual community since 1904. The church's growth in membership over the past few decades has necessitated several facility expansions.
The church's most recent iteration of growth brought with it a renewed focus on reaching future generations with the message of the Gospel. Working with Dallas-area HH Architects and Idibri AVL consultants, new educational space, community space, and a new auditorium were constructed. When it came to selecting equipment for the auditorium, church staff reports that Chroma-Q and A.C. Lighting Inc. received the privilege of playing a role in lighting the all-important communication space.
Presence of volunteer operators steers gear selection
“We make significant use of volunteers in supporting our services and events,” says Barry Carpenter, the church’s technical director. “Therefore, volunteer-friendly control systems are critical for us. Vista by Chroma-Q, our lighting control system, is advanced and powerful enough to pull off complex shows for the experienced user, yet simple enough for the untrained volunteer to operate.”
“We recommended Vista for its graphical way of programming,” says Dan Schoedel, senior consultant at Idibri. “When using Vista, the church doesn’t have to memorize channel numbers when programming, which can be freeing. There is also a ‘Timeline’ view for editing the timing of cues.”
All of First Baptist Church Covington’s spaces that have theatrical AVL installations are equipped with Vista control software and hardware control surfaces appropriate for that space. “We have five rooms using Vista right now,” adds Carpenter. “Three have Vista programming/playback control surfaces, and two have Vista playback control surfaces.”
House lighting specification
For auditorium house lighting, Idibri recommended Chroma-Q Inspire RGBW LED fixtures. “The Chroma-Q Inspire houselights provide smooth dimming and color mixing which works well for clients who have both a traditional and contemporary service,” shares David Stephens, senior consultant—VP of Idibri. “For the traditional service, the congregation may not even know the lights can change color. But for the contemporary service, the lighting designer has the ability to bring color elements of the service out into the audience. You’re also able to ‘choose’ your white to pair with the paint and seating colors in the room.”
“The Inspire fixtures look fantastic,” confirms Carpenter, “have very smooth dimming curves across the full color spectrum, and contribute greatly to the mood and ‘vibe’ of the room. It makes the congregation feel more a part of the service and not merely spectators. And for our more traditional service, the Inspires enable us to provide quality white lighting at a brighter level which better supports that service’s style.”
