calvary community church opens hi-tech northwest campus
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Calvary Community Church Opens Hi-Tech Northwest Campus
By: Bob Ginger Intent Digital LLC Phoenix, AZ
Calvary Community Church achieved a milestone with the first interactive television broadcast between its main Phoenix campus and newly completed Northwest Campus in Glendale, Arizona. The multi-site concept reflects a growing trend for churches to expand their outreach by utilizing smaller available buildings. Securing existing, vacated retail space in remote locations often proves more cost-effective alternative to building large and expensive structures on a central site. The multi-site approach enables churches to reach more neighborhoods and decrease drive time by members to reach church services. Additionally, surrounding retailers such as restaurants benefit
from having the vacant spaces filled. Technology plays a key role in connecting multi-site church campuses. Some churches broadcast pre-recorded sermons, while others transmit live services in only one direction to remote locations via internet video streaming. Calvary took a different approach with a system designed by Phoenix based Intent Digital, utilizing four 270 Mega-bit HDTV fiber circuits for full bandwidth, zero latency, two-way connectivity. This allows for completely natural interaction between the two campuses even though they are located eight miles
apart. The natural interaction between the congregations underscores Senior Pastor Mark Martin’s theme of “one church, two locations”. For over 25 years Calvary Community Church has ministered from its north Phoenix campus adjoining the I-17 freeway. Several years ago, the church embraced technology to broadcast services throughout venues on its I-17 campus site and to broadcast Pastor Martin’s Grace Upon Grace radio program on the church’s web-radio site and radio stations throughout the country. In recent years, the church has grown to over 12,000 members. In 2005, Calvary purchased the former AMC theater at 59th Avenue and Bell Road to construct a second campus to reach people living farther away from the main I-17 campus. Calvary’s staff tapped long time engineering advisor Bob Ginger of Intent Digital to develop a multi-site church technology plan. Bob and the rest of the Intent Digital design staff joined the architectural team to begin planning the new facility. Intent Digital brought substantial engineering and ministry experience to the project that helped guide the Calvary staff during the conceptual planning process. The design team and ministry staff collaborated intensely for several
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months overcoming numerous project challenges and evaluating concepts and their application in two completely different physical venues. Ministry and facility ideas were distilled into a live-interaction worship approach that could work across all campus venues in both church locations. The live-interaction concept was a natural evolution to the multi-venue approach already in place on the main campus. This new twist enables pastors to preach from either campus location, or from both locations, to ensuring involvement among the entire congregation, regardless of physical location. Detailed planning on the part of the entire architectural design team was required to fit a large number of ministry activities into a limited space, while allowing for future sanctuary expansion. Intent Digital provided project management to coordinate design disciplines, construction teams and materials procurement and integration related to the technology infrastructure. The team monitored building construction progress on all fronts to prevent and solve problems, focusing on details and anticipating the unexpected. “On complex projects such as Calvary we act as a technology architect or project technology manager if you will,” said Bob Ginger. “This allows us to tightly manage and control costs, a tremendous engineering value to our clients”, he added. Intent Digital developed Calvary’s extensive technology infrastructure consisting of TV broadcast, sound, AV, lighting, fiber transmission, data & telecommunications networks and control systems. Three large projection screens in the sanctuaries at each site show two different video images arriving from the opposite campus. Christie Roadster 20K and 16K projectors
were used for their high brightness and great image quality. Both sites feature multiple worship venues, each with it’s own distinct musical accompaniment and style. Digital recording technology allows each worship venue to transition from worship to the message in real time or in delayed playback mode as necessary.
Full broadcast control rooms are located at both campus locations. An Echolab Overture2 switcher at the Northwest campus handles multiple switched video feeds for video projectors, broadcast to the main campus, Internet and other venues throughout the building. A 64x64 SDI and 16x16 NTSC video router also support the extensive video distribution and drive the Avitech 32 channel multiviewer used for control room monitoring. A wide range of
video sources including Hitachi Z4000W and HV-D5W pan tilt cameras, Harris Title One character generator, Fast Forward and 360 Systems DDR’s multiple computers, DVD players, I-Pod, and two feeds from the main campus appear on the switchers. Two Yamaha M7CL-48 digital audio
mixers, one in the front of house location and the other in audio production handle mixing chores. A 32x32 stereo audio router augments the audio distribution. After much consideration, an analog audio wiring infrastructure was chosen to connect the platform to the sound booth and production audio
room. The extensive patching and cabling infrastructure enables signal paths to be instantaneously repurposed when last minute production changes are made. Two McPhearson Axia arrays and Scholar subwoofers on Ashly PE Power Series amplifiers and 48 Tannoy CMS12TDC 12” ceiling speakers on delay processors and individual Rane MA-4 amplifier channels power the sanctuary. In spite of a lower than desired ceiling height, good sound wall construction and diffusion built
into the walls and ceiling provides a very even sound coverage. Dozens of other Tannoy CMS series speakers installed throughout the building are connected to the routing, control and processing system so that any audio source can be heard in any room at any time. The atrium has almost a dozen digital signage LCD video
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monitors, supplementing the staffed ministry kiosks to quickly provide members and visitors with timely information. AV, lighting and sound systems grow more sophisticated every day, requiring extensive data network interconnectivity. Therefore, every room in the building is equipped with some combination of AV equipment and network connectivity. High school, junior high school and children’s worship rooms are outfitted with video projection, theatrical lighting and sound systems. Each of these rooms uses an Extron seamless switcher to switch local production, computer video and feeds from the rest of the building including video from the sanctuary. Any of these rooms can be instantaneously routed to the sanctuary video screens or broadcasted to the I-17 campus.
The building’s lighting system consists of house lighting in the sanctuary, prayer room and parents room; theatrical lighting in the sanctuary, atrium, high school, junior high and children’s worship rooms. Intent Digital designed the lighting system on one unified control system utilizing five lighting control boards, along with multiple wall controllers located throughout the building. In the sanctuary several moving fixtures are used along with custom built
trusses to support rear screen wall wash lights. Unobtrusive LED lights were used in the baptistery and for the wall wash fixtures. For large projects like Calvary, Intent Digital draws from a pool of key partners to augment its resources. “Jerry Davis of Jeremiah Associates has been a long time design partner with us on a number of other church and government projects and he created a great acoustic design for Calvary,” according to Bob Ginger. “We also sought the best lighting team so Barbizon Lighting, led by Mike Riordan installed the theatrical lighting system”, he added. Netsian Technologies provided a great team of detail oriented technicians to install the extensive cabling infrastructure and mount equipment and 100+ speakers in the ceilings.
Sometimes bad news can turn into opportunity and this was true on the Calvary project. A manufacturer discontinued some planned audio control equipment, but the Intent Digital team had already realized that the original product would not have met growing control
requirements in the project. Therefore Intent Digital developed a small network based multi-function AV control panel utilizing high resolution LCD SmartSwitches recently introduced by NKK Switches headquartered in Scottsdale. Several of the new multi-function panels are connected into Intent Digital’s ControLynx Control system already operating the building. Calvary staff were very excited upon seeing the panel and believe it to be a great solution for individual room AV
control. “Flexibility and ability to anticipate the unexpected has often led to a great business opportunity”, observed Ginger. “I don’t know what we would have done without Intent Digital. This is a great project because of all the forethought that they have put into it”, said Dan Holgate, Assistant Pastor of Business Administration. Calvary NW now has the ability to spread God’s Word through expanded worship facilities, supported by leading edge technology.
Bob Ginger can be reached at
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Key Technology Systems Installed Speakers: Tannoy ceiling, McPhearson Axia arrays and Scholar subwoofers Amplifiers: (21) Rane MA-4 Four Channel, (7) Ashly PE Power Series Audio Processors: (4) Ashly 4.24C, (3) Ashly 3.24CL Video Production Switcher: (1) Echolab 2ME 28 Input Overture 2 Seamless Switchers: (3) Extron ISS506DI/HD-SDI Projectors: (1) Christie 20K (2) 16K Roadsters, (5) Eiki LC-XG400, (1) LC-XG250 Screens: (9) DaLite ranging from 50.5"' x 67" to 126” x 168” Routing: Network Electronics 64x64 SDI, 16x16, NTSC, 32x32 Stereo Audio Cameras: Hitachi (1) Z4000W, (3) HV-D5W, Fujinon lenses, Eagle Pan Tilts In Ear Monitor: Aviom Intercom: RTS TW System Audio Mixers: (2) Yamaha M7CL-48, (3) Mackie CFX-20 Audio/Video Distribution: Harris 800 & 6800 series Video Monitoring: 32 Input Avitech MCC-8004 Multi-viewer, (2) 46” Sharp LCD, (3) Boland HDTV LCD Video Displays & Digital Signage: (23) Sharp/Samsung/Panasonic 32”-50” LCD’s Sync Generator: Evertz 5600MSC Character Generator: Harris Inscriber Title One Scan Converters: (4) CSI Scan-Do Pro II/D Video Servers: (2) 360 Systems 2000B, (1) Fast Forward Omega Control System: Intent Digital ControLynx Patch Panels: (8) ADC 3x32 2RU mid-sized BNC, (13) ADC 2x48 1.5RU Bantam Audio Floor Boxes: Ace Backstage (12) Full Pocket, (3) Double Pocket Lighting: ETC (1) Sensor 96 channel Dimmer Rack, (2) DR12 24 channel dimmer racks, (1) ION Control surface, (4) SmartFade consoles (1) LCD Control, (8) U1005 Architectural Controls, Light Package of Source Fours and Moving Lights, Light bars Equipment Racks: Middle Atlantic
About Intent Digital: Intent Digital provides technology development and engineering services to government, medical, institutional and house of worship clients. Intent Digital’s consulting, engineering design and technology development services enables clients to effectively integrate sophisticated media technologies into their operations. The company’s engineering expertise spans electronic communication system design, building construction, acoustics and product development for AV & broadcast equipment manufacturers. Intent Digital’s value is being extremely thorough and anticipating the unforeseen across all disciplines in a project. The company’s principals have amassed over 75 combined years of business and technical expertise across a broad range of broadcast video, institutional and aeronautical disciplines. For more information, visit www.intentdigital.com.
About Calvary Community Church: Calvary Community church was founded in 1982 by Pastor Mark Martin. A non-denominational church, Calvary membership began with 11 people in a northwest Phoenix elementary school band room. Today the church is home to over 12,000 members. Rapid growth eventually led to the purchase of Calvary’s current facility, a former shopping center adjacent to the Black Canyon Freeway in Phoenix, Arizona. Calvary also houses a new state of the art Children’s Ministries facility and recently opened an extension campus at 59th Avenue and Bell Road. For additional information on times and services, contact the church’s main campus at 602-973-4768 or visit www.calvaryphx.com.