- LITTLE ROCK, AR—With three separate worship centers catering to varying styles of worship, multiple youth rooms, a broadcast facility, and several large concourses, the new Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, AR (FBCLR) serves more than 8,000 members. It marks the first single-site, multi-venue church project for American Audio Inc. (AAI) of Ruston, LA, and one of the first in the U.S.
- The nearly 200,000-square-foot church
The main Worship Center has a new system that includes 12 EAW KF730 line array cabinets, four SB730 flown subs, four AX396 sidefills and four L-Acoustics SB-218 subwoofers, and a 96-channel igidesign Venue digital audio console that controls the room. project devoted about $4 million for AV and lighting, with more than 50 miles of audio cable needed to connect more than 230 speaker cabinets, five large-format digital consoles, and seven digital AV mixers. More than 165,000 watts of Lab.gruppen power amps were deployed across the campus to provide concert-level power to the four large venues.
Three discrete fiber optic AV networks were installed to route audio, video, and control at distances approaching 500 feet between rooms. Church technicians have the capability to remotely monitor any digital processor, amplifier, or projector from any point on the dedicated AV control networks.
To accomplish this simultaneous multi-venue worship challenge, fiber optic cable links each area to provide simultaneous audio and HD video from the main worship venue. The main Worship Center uses Grass Valley HD cameras (LDK4000-MkII) to capture images that are projected onto screens to create a very close and personal feel in the alternate venues. The Worship Center typically houses the teaching pastor “live” each week. This stereo sound system includes 12 EAW KF730 line array cabinets, four SB730 flown subs, four AX396 sidefills and four L-Acoustics SB-218 subwoofers. A ring of delay speakers is added for filling out the upper level seats, and recessed front fills are used for enhancement of the front rows. A 96-channel Digidesign Venue digital audio console controls the room.
Fellowship represents a tremendous endeavor with multiple challenges, said R. Gwin Edwards, president, and co-owner Mack Blake, of AAI, a company whose relationship with Fellowship dates back to when the church was a typical one-venue center.
Two years ago, FBCLR purchased a new site to build a campus from the ground up for media purposes and ease of access. FBCLR entertained several design proposals for the project, including one from AAI and the chosen design recommended by Acoustic Dimensions.
