BACKGROUND

The intersection of contemporary and historic characterizes our project for First Baptist, Jackson, MS. Adjacent to the Mississippi state capitol, the church sanctuary is a beautiful neo-Gothic design, parts of which date back to 1925.  This enormous space features 3,500 seats and soaring, 60 foot high ceilings.

CHALLENGE & DESIGN

The challenge in such a large space is to visually draw church members into a more intimate worship experience.  To meet that challenge, we worked with the church’s architect to position two, 21 foot-wide Vanguard LED walls above the choir.  Their integration into this very formal sanctuary helps the church appeal to more contemporary needs with camera images and lyrics, while respecting the history and tradition of the space.

The LED walls are backed up by an all new HD video production system featuring four Hitachi broadcast cameras with Fujinon lenses, a For-A, 2 M/E production switcher, and a 64x64 router.  New Clearcom digital intercom and G&D KVM systems create efficient and flexible workflows for the technical staff.

The church’s front of house  DiGiCo audio mixer was upgraded with new I/O and fiber infrastructure, and a new control surface for broadcast audio mixing was added. Wireless mics and IEMs were relocated to a Strata-designed intermediate equipment room for greater operational efficiency.

To accommodate the new systems, Strata designed video and audio production control room spaces, and a new central equipment room.