On Sunday morning October 14, Harris Creek Baptist Church opened a new addition to its campus outside Waco, Texas. Sleek and modern with wide open spaces and teakwood floors, the building features a spacious worship area with graded auditorium seating, a curved stage, a state-of-the-art audio system, and 33 Maverick and Rogue moving fixtures from CHAUVET Professional.
Having this number of moving fixtures in a sanctuary might be surprising to those who remember a time, not that long ago, when movers were a rare sight at churches, but David McCauley has a one-word explanation for their presence: “flexibility.”
The principal of the CSD Group, the company that installed the audio and lighting system at Harris Creek Baptist, David points out the Maverick and Rogue LED fixtures have allowed the church to stretch its lighting budget, while also opening up more creative opportunities.
“When we looked at their output, versatility and value proposition, these movers really made a great case for this church,” said David. “Harris Creek can use them for a wide variety of different setups without as many different positions, so they actually save money on the labor/fixture count equation.
“This is a dynamic church with a wide range of activities taking place within its walls,” continued David. “Focus time can really add up when you want a lot versatility in your lighting and you have static fixtures. The church would have needed a ton of static lights, and on top of that, someone would have had to get up on a lift every time a new position was needed. I would rather spend money on lights than a catwalk any day! Plus, it’s fun to have movers for the occasional Ballyhoo.”
Harris Creek Baptist has seven Maverick MK2 Wash fixtures, 16 Rogue R2 Wash fixtures and 10 Rogue R2X Spot units. Positioned across the front bar, the Maverick fixtures are used for key lighting or soft spots during worship. The versatile RGBW fixture with a 7° – 49° zoom range is also used for colour saturation and as a side light during preaching to soften the coverage from the rig’s ellipsoidal units.
The Rogue Wash and Spot fixtures are hung over the mid-stage and upstage areas and are used primarily for top and back lighting, colour saturation and special effects. “I am always surprised that the R2 Washes do what they do, given their price point,” said David. “Even though I’ve used them many times in the past, they still make me smile!”
In addition to its moving fixtures, the Harris Creek Baptist lighting rig has six Ovation E-260WW ellipsoidals for stage lighting and 12 COLORdash Par-Quad 18 LED washes for top lighting and back washing. Controlling the rig is a ChamSys PC Wing Compact with one Extra Wing Compact. Speaking of the church’s console, David noted, “Our previous supplier discontinued one of our go-to controllers, so we tested every alternative we could get our hands on and found this gem of a console with ChamSys.”
Although David is impressed with the ChamSys built-in visualiser and easy-to-understand software, what really stands out for him is that the system at Harris Creek Baptist has a 64-universe capacity. “When you attach this to a few Net-X II, you can really do some fantastic things with your movers,” he said. And as he has so clearly demonstrated at this vibrant Texas church, movers really make a difference in a modern house of worship’s lighting system.
