I work part time for my church with a moderately sized congregation of 2-3000 people. There are two buildings, a newer sanctuary (built primarily for traditional worship) and what is the original sanctuary was turned over to the modern worship style a few years back. It's a large building, shaped somewhat like a gym with a drop ceiling about 35' up and a steel roof about 10-15' above that. The stage is a sort of thrust stage that's partially embedded in the upstage wall. It's placed on one of the long walls in the middle so the distance between the speakers and back wall is almost half the distance from the left side to the right side. Lighting is comprised of two battens with PAR cans and two additional PAR cans about 40-50' back from the stage (before you 
to that comment...I know:neutral
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The building was built for a choir, pastor and organist and the acoustics reflect as much. The design looks like a 1994 Church Stage Design handbook. There is a lot of talk right now of updating the look and trying to move into the realm of the modern worship centers. There is a neighboring church that is much newer and built to accommodate that style of contemporary worship and the general consensus is to move towards that "look".
In my opinion, the building itself would be suited towards such an upgrade, but not without a tremendous amount of work. There are a lot of loose and general ideas of what to change, but it boils down to three main categories of aesthetic, acoustics, and lighting, the sound equipment we presently have is competent (if not overpowering the building). The room is also the general multipurpose room for the church so it would have to have the flexibility of producing children's plays as well as public concerts in addition to the regular Sunday worship and Wednesday night potlucks. I've been pushing towards getting information from consulting firms that specialize in this and trying to get them to understand that what they want cannot be piecemeal-ed together. They are trying to compete with other modern churches in the sense that they want to create an environment that feels similar. Right now it feels like we're trying to drive a LeBaron like it's a Boxster.
I know there are companies in the Orlando area that consult on this sort of remodel/upgrade (we are in Brevard County, FL), but I'm at a loss as to where to begin. Unfortunately, I'm the most experienced person on staff with regard to this sort of thing, but I don't have any idea where to begin with a project of this magnitude. There is an idea about removing the ceiling tile grid and that would require the replacement of the drop in PAR house lights with pendants and the fluorescent work lights with alternatives. This would also accommodate acoustic shells hung from the roof. Not to mention the HVAC considerations of adding an extra 10' above that was previously unconditioned space, determining if the ceiling can be treated with insulation or even if the roof can structurally support hanging new light and acoustic systems off it. There are a lot of questions I don't have answers to and even more questions I don't know to ask.
I know there are many on this board who have great experience in remodel projects like this, and I know the stigma present with churches and spending money on upgrades, particularly when it comes to lowballing the expense. I feel like a project of this magnitude could galvanize our congregation with a big fundraising project that would energize the community and possible expand our membership just by the extra attention to the upgrades. But I also know that a consultant with the network of architectural engineers as well as designers, acousticians and lighting designers could knock this out of the park.
Ultimately, this could all be bluster, but I feel like it's important to attempt. So, in a rambling sort of way (I'm not into the whole brevity thing), where would be a good place to begin? Can anyone recommend businesses that would be helpful in just testing the waters?
to that comment...I know:neutral . The building was built for a choir, pastor and organist and the acoustics reflect as much. The design looks like a 1994 Church Stage Design handbook. There is a lot of talk right now of updating the look and trying to move into the realm of the modern worship centers. There is a neighboring church that is much newer and built to accommodate that style of contemporary worship and the general consensus is to move towards that "look".
In my opinion, the building itself would be suited towards such an upgrade, but not without a tremendous amount of work. There are a lot of loose and general ideas of what to change, but it boils down to three main categories of aesthetic, acoustics, and lighting, the sound equipment we presently have is competent (if not overpowering the building). The room is also the general multipurpose room for the church so it would have to have the flexibility of producing children's plays as well as public concerts in addition to the regular Sunday worship and Wednesday night potlucks. I've been pushing towards getting information from consulting firms that specialize in this and trying to get them to understand that what they want cannot be piecemeal-ed together. They are trying to compete with other modern churches in the sense that they want to create an environment that feels similar. Right now it feels like we're trying to drive a LeBaron like it's a Boxster.
I know there are companies in the Orlando area that consult on this sort of remodel/upgrade (we are in Brevard County, FL), but I'm at a loss as to where to begin. Unfortunately, I'm the most experienced person on staff with regard to this sort of thing, but I don't have any idea where to begin with a project of this magnitude. There is an idea about removing the ceiling tile grid and that would require the replacement of the drop in PAR house lights with pendants and the fluorescent work lights with alternatives. This would also accommodate acoustic shells hung from the roof. Not to mention the HVAC considerations of adding an extra 10' above that was previously unconditioned space, determining if the ceiling can be treated with insulation or even if the roof can structurally support hanging new light and acoustic systems off it. There are a lot of questions I don't have answers to and even more questions I don't know to ask.
I know there are many on this board who have great experience in remodel projects like this, and I know the stigma present with churches and spending money on upgrades, particularly when it comes to lowballing the expense. I feel like a project of this magnitude could galvanize our congregation with a big fundraising project that would energize the community and possible expand our membership just by the extra attention to the upgrades. But I also know that a consultant with the network of architectural engineers as well as designers, acousticians and lighting designers could knock this out of the park.
Ultimately, this could all be bluster, but I feel like it's important to attempt. So, in a rambling sort of way (I'm not into the whole brevity thing), where would be a good place to begin? Can anyone recommend businesses that would be helpful in just testing the waters?
