ST. SIMONS, Ga. – St. Simons Community Church on St. Simons Island off the coast of Georgia had the opportunity to build a brand new facility with an expansive 1,000-seat sanctuary, a 400-seat “Children’s Clubhouse Theater” and a 300-seat youth “Rooftop Theater” to replace the multiple cramped services that they had been holding in a rented office park/strip mall. A contemporary church by anyone’s measure, St. Simons peppers their upbeat services with plenty of spirited music and dramatic interpretations of the bible. With lots of movement, vocalists, instruments and set changes on stage – both within a particular service and from week-to-week – the church required a robust wireless microphone and personal monitoring system. Sennheiser’s evolution wireless technology was chosen for St. Simons.
Tommy LaRue of Baker Audio, Inc. in Norcross, Ga., was involved in this project from the start. The church selected Baker Audio based partly on the company’s 55 years of experience in designing and installing AV systems for sports arenas, courthouses, hotels, Fortune 500 companies and churches of every denomination. However, St. Simons was most impressed with LaRue’s obvious appreciation for the type of church AV system that was needed and his clear vision for building that system within the church’s budgetary constraints.
Reported LaRue, “The architecture of St. Simons is very nontraditional. Aside from the three main worship rooms that speak for themselves, every space within the facility, from the narthex to the conference room is extremely comfortable and perfectly appointed to reflect the island atmosphere. The covered patio and the atrium have a cool ‘hang out and relax for a while’ vibe to them. The surrounding grounds are travel-book beautiful, with the church offices overlooking a beautiful pond and the entire campus covered with twisted, giant live oaks dripping with Spanish moss.”
LaRue knew that in a given service, the church would have a live band rocking out, lead singers roaming throughout the sanctuary, a dramatic presentation and a preacher who never stands still. The church had been using Sennheiser evolution wireless equipment from its very beginning, long before the new facility was ever dreamt of, and had come to love it. Thus, when the subject of wireless came up, evolution wasn’t a hard sell. Technology Director, Travis Paulding noted, “Sennheiser has never let me down. We have been using them for years and I have actually purchased them for other facilities as well.”
The main sanctuary boasts thirteen wireless mic channels. Among the thirteen include five ew 135 G2 handhelds with Sennheiser’s acclaimed MD 835 capsule. Another three handhelds have the MD 945 supercardioid capsules giving the church technicians the option to cut down on bleed when the situation calls for it. One ew 372 G2 wireless transmitter handles the guitar to reduce cable clutter for the band. Rounding out the wireless microphones are four belt-packs with ME4 lavs for spoken word. In addition, the band and vocalists depend on eleven Sennheiser ew 300 IEM wireless personal monitoring systems. The “Rooftop Theater” uses three wireless handhelds with MD 835 capsules, two belt pack transmitters and two ew 300 IEM wireless personal monitoring systems. The church’s ten existing Sennheiser ew 100 wireless handhelds and belt-packs with ME4 lavs microphones were designated for the “Children’s Clubhouse.”
With so many wireless channels, Baker Audio was happy to have Sennheiser’s resources at the ready. They began by visiting the Sennheiser’s website, which has a tool that helps find blocks of open frequencies. From there, they were in a position to fine-tune each channel. To facilitate the process, Sennheiser’s southeastern sales representative, Casey Lloyd, paid the church a visit with a sophisticated spectrum analyzer, and worked with Baker Audio to set each room up with robust frequencies. “Casey’s assistance,” says LaRue, “really highlights Sennheiser’s unmatched customer service!”
The new facility went live in early March 2008, and the new wireless systems are working flawlessly. “It’s amazing what St. Simons Community Church has accomplished,” reflected LaRue. “They started with an eight person congregation in a home twelve years ago and are now bringing together close to 2,000 community-minded Christians in two services every weekend. Beyond weekend services, St. Simons is fast becoming the focal point of the community that the church had hoped it would be!”
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