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University Christian Church in Manhattan, Kansas, home to Kansas State University, is a fast growing church with a large college attendance population. The ministry outgrew its existing multipurpose venue and brought in Elation dealer House Right of Lexington, Kentucky, to oversee a new theatrical and house lighting design for a new 1000 seat space on their existing campus.
“The church previously met in a multipurpose room onsite with a hodgepodge of Par 56s,” explains Matt Cooper, principle lighting designer at House Right and lighting designer on the project. “We often say they were ‘breaking all the rules' of church growth - lots of services, cramped quarters, and really challenging lighting conditions. In fact, the old space didn't really have a true house light system!”
House Right works in the house of worship lighting market to identify what production technology changes are needed to take a worship space to the next level. Because University Christian Church has a large young adult population, its leadership wanted a relevant visual experience during weekend services to connecting with students.
The House Right team ultimately chose a lighting setup that includes Elation SixPar 200 LED Par color changers and SixBar 1000 LED color-changing battens, a lighting rig designed to help engage the congregation by immersing them in the experience. House Right was also involved in space planning the church's gathering space within a tight footprint.
The SixBar 1000 and SixPar 200 fixtures are used to support weekend services in the church's primary venue. “I've become a huge fan of the SixBar,” Cooper says of the three-foot long battens with six-color LED multi-chip. “The six-color mixing system combined with the per-pixel control creates a really high value package. We utilized the fixture in a dual purpose role as ground supported low backlight to colorize the atmosphere, but then leveraged pixel mapping to create movement. It also matched perfectly with the color mixing of the overhead SixPar 200 backlight. The high output of the SixBar was very important to colorizing the atmosphere and, as a result, the fixtures drive a great deal of the overall impact in the space. Ultimately, the visuals in the space, thanks to the SixBars, were high impact but not high dollar, which fit the needs of the project perfectly.”
Elation's rep firm, Five Lakes Marketing, provided product support on the project. “Five Lakes is one of House Right's most trusted partners and a huge part of our success working with Elation,” he says. “Ed Cheeseman at Five Lakes has bent over backwards to support our team, from helping expedite orders to facilitating service and support. We lean heavily on Five Lakes and they continue to serve and support us well.”
Cooper concludes that the team at University Christian was a huge part of the lighting install's success. “They never feared rolling up their sleeves and working with our team to execute the vision. Their trust and partnership with House Right continues and in many ways envisions how we like to help churches. We're all working towards the same common goal and end up becoming family in the process. “
