WEBVTT 00:00:03.666 --> 00:00:07.793 Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have conversations about faith and hope. 00:00:07.793 --> 00:00:14.512 Hope is one church made of people living out their faith through two expressions in person and online. 00:00:14.512 --> 00:00:21.545 We believe a hybrid faith experience can lead to a growing influence in our community and our world for the sake of others. 00:00:21.545 --> 00:00:23.765 Welcome to Hope. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:29.202 Hey friends, our world for the sake of others. 00:00:29.202 --> 00:00:29.522 Welcome to Hope. 00:00:29.522 --> 00:00:30.905 Hey friends, welcome to the Meet Hope podcast. 00:00:30.905 --> 00:00:44.828 I'm Jeff Bills and I am being joined today by a very august group of members of our staff, or soon to be members of our staff, starting with our next lead pastor, James Lee. 00:00:44.828 --> 00:00:45.631 James, how you doing. 00:00:45.731 --> 00:00:46.212 I'm doing well. 00:00:46.579 --> 00:00:46.981 Excellent. 00:00:46.981 --> 00:00:56.308 Next to James we've got Pastor Rick Court hey, good to be here and next to Rick, andrew Barber, our Director of Worship Arts. 00:00:56.308 --> 00:00:57.430 How's it going, andrew? 00:00:57.430 --> 00:00:58.332 It's going good, thanks. 00:00:58.332 --> 00:00:59.621 So we're here. 00:00:59.621 --> 00:01:00.101 Today. 00:01:00.101 --> 00:01:20.796 We're talking about the Hope in Motion campaign and, as you know, there's three priorities for the campaign, and today I want to focus on the LED wall and what that's about, why this is a priority for us and what is an LED? 00:01:20.835 --> 00:01:21.096 wall. 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:34.573 So, to get started, there's a history here, and, rick, you were probably the most involved with the history, so give us a little backstory on when this all started. 00:01:34.859 --> 00:01:47.971 Sure, somewhere around I guess 2020 or even before 2020, we were looking at our you know, we used to have a projector that projected the images up onto a screen and we were transitioning to something different and we didn't know what that was. 00:01:47.971 --> 00:01:50.027 So we were looking before COVID. 00:01:50.027 --> 00:01:52.688 Then, when COVID happened, we went into this digital phase. 00:01:52.688 --> 00:01:58.033 We kind of changed the things that we did in the space and the platform. 00:01:58.033 --> 00:02:03.019 That's when we did those most recent upgrades to improve our digital experience. 00:02:03.019 --> 00:02:06.346 So, with the lighting and all those things, we looked at a screen. 00:02:06.346 --> 00:02:15.545 Then, again, it wasn't affordable, the technology wasn't there, so that someone it wasn't accessible to a church really, or at least a church our size. 00:02:15.545 --> 00:02:22.367 So we went with three monitors that are 83 inches and diagonal and they seemed really big. 00:02:23.042 --> 00:02:31.348 Remember, when they arrived and we put them in the space, we thought they were really big until they got hung on the truss and then they looked a lot smaller. 00:02:31.348 --> 00:02:36.431 So we always knew there'd be a stopgap until we could do something else. 00:02:36.431 --> 00:02:40.650 And I think we're at that space now where we're going to do something else. 00:02:40.650 --> 00:02:42.723 Yeah, that's really what we're talking about. 00:02:42.723 --> 00:02:48.728 Is this, uh, moving from that which was it worked, but it's not. 00:02:49.569 --> 00:03:03.332 It's it's kind of, I would say, in a sense, hold us back now yeah, yeah, so we're, we're now moving to this led wall and, uh, so, andrew, describe what is an LED wall. 00:03:03.712 --> 00:03:06.096 It's a really big TV screen more or less. 00:03:08.603 --> 00:03:24.032 So ours is going to be a 28 by 10 foot large screen that is going to sit on stage, essentially behind and around where the singer stands or where the pastor stands. 00:03:24.032 --> 00:03:34.013 It's going to be behind that, and what makes it so cool because it's such a large screen and it's going to be even taller than kind of where the bottom of the TVs sit. 00:03:34.013 --> 00:03:35.362 Now it'll sort of end there. 00:03:35.362 --> 00:03:44.649 It will be sort of this backdrop for when the pastors are speaking or when the worshipers are leading worship. 00:03:44.649 --> 00:03:56.685 So it's this great piece of technology that's not only a great video screen where you can watch videos, see images, but it's going to sort of become part of the design of the stage, which I think is really cool. 00:03:58.501 --> 00:04:09.313 James, you are a video guy, so your background, for those who don't know, james had a video production company. 00:04:09.313 --> 00:04:10.805 Is that accurate? 00:04:10.805 --> 00:04:17.665 Yeah, and I still do on the side, although it takes most of my time, so you were doing videos for weddings. 00:04:18.007 --> 00:04:20.499 Yeah, For a while I was a wedding video producer. 00:04:22.122 --> 00:04:27.673 So you're conversant in this stuff and I know you're excited about the LED wall. 00:04:38.420 --> 00:04:38.821 Why are you? 00:04:38.821 --> 00:04:45.009 I'm really excited because I know that even in our own tradition of talking about the Bible, talking about stories, we see storytelling, visual storytelling, as a big part of our tradition. 00:04:45.069 --> 00:04:55.168 So I think about Jesus instead of just saying, hey, god loves you, like a father who misses his son, he went into this story. 00:04:55.168 --> 00:04:59.060 He drew a picture, with his words, of the prodigal son. 00:04:59.060 --> 00:05:00.463 He would speak in parables. 00:05:00.463 --> 00:05:20.521 I think about even the Israelites really investing in the design of the tabernacle and the design of the ark and all of these elements that are visual, and making sure that it's beautiful and telling a story to remind people of where they were and who they are and where they're headed. 00:05:20.521 --> 00:05:31.074 And so I think visual storytelling is a part of our faith, and so I believe that this tool can be used to continue that tradition, to continue that part of our faith. 00:05:31.475 --> 00:05:31.935 Love that. 00:05:31.935 --> 00:05:43.560 Yeah, you know you think about worship spaces that maybe folks grew up attending Stained glass right Stained glass windows. 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:50.581 Yeah, that was an earlier centuries version of telling the story. 00:05:50.742 --> 00:05:51.564 Oh, absolutely, yeah. 00:05:52.689 --> 00:05:57.942 So, with Hope, we did have these projectors for years. 00:05:57.942 --> 00:06:00.454 And what was the problem with the projectors? 00:06:00.454 --> 00:06:01.815 The projectors. 00:06:01.855 --> 00:06:03.259 Well, we never again. 00:06:03.259 --> 00:06:46.220 Because of the ambient light in our space, because we're, you know, we've got this giant wall of glass where the sun shines in and it's beautiful and it looks great it really wreaks havoc on technology, especially light technology, and so that screen was being, or the image was being, forced, you know, 40 feet across the room onto a screen and then reflect it back to us, and so it never had the immersive experience that an LED wall could have, in that it didn't have the bright colors, it didn't have the high density or the high imagery that would be possible with this LED technology. 00:06:46.220 --> 00:06:51.422 And so, just like we did with those screens, we hung them on the truss. 00:06:51.422 --> 00:06:55.913 When we would get a projector, we'd go eh, that's nice, but it never was. 00:06:55.913 --> 00:06:57.821 Wow, that's amazing. 00:06:57.821 --> 00:07:00.209 Only at night, exactly, yeah. 00:07:00.209 --> 00:07:02.370 So if we only did church at night, we were fine, exactly yeah. 00:07:02.629 --> 00:07:03.730 So if we only did church at night. 00:07:03.771 --> 00:07:15.221 we were fine so yeah, so it just never had the impact that it could have had because of the light that we have in our space. 00:07:16.083 --> 00:07:17.725 Yes, so this will overcome. 00:07:17.725 --> 00:07:19.565 The ambient light won't be an issue. 00:07:21.091 --> 00:07:22.512 Right these applications are. 00:07:22.512 --> 00:07:27.603 As I think Andrew mentioned is that these are applications are used outside all the time. 00:07:27.603 --> 00:07:35.060 Every stadium are using LED screens and it's the same technology that we'll be using. 00:07:37.053 --> 00:07:37.636 Where else would you? 00:07:38.579 --> 00:07:39.651 see these, I mean. 00:07:39.651 --> 00:07:42.440 So I drove stadiums. 00:07:42.440 --> 00:07:44.918 I mean there's hundreds of them in the stadiums. 00:07:44.918 --> 00:07:50.875 When you're driving down the road and you see a billboard that changes like, you see a different image. 00:07:50.875 --> 00:07:54.432 That's an LED wall, essentially Malls. 00:07:54.432 --> 00:07:56.031 You see them Anytime. 00:07:56.031 --> 00:08:07.735 You see a large screen, we'll say bigger than 80 inches, it's an LED wall, because making a television larger than 80, 90 inches is really not cost effective. 00:08:07.735 --> 00:08:09.201 Yeah, um, so they're. 00:08:09.201 --> 00:08:15.156 They're everywhere and you probably see them listening or I'm talking to specific you probably see them all the time and you don't even know it. 00:08:15.658 --> 00:08:17.415 Um, it's just, they are a part of our world. 00:08:18.230 --> 00:08:29.646 So just to get in some of the geeky tech stuff um it's not actually just a solid TV screen, right, it's something else. 00:08:29.706 --> 00:08:30.709 It's multiple panels. 00:08:30.709 --> 00:08:40.035 So ours is going to be comprised of 40 smaller panels that are, I think, about two feet wide and they work together. 00:08:40.035 --> 00:08:44.100 They're connected, networked together to create the one large screen. 00:08:44.429 --> 00:08:52.461 And each panel has thousands of little tiny light bulbs, and those little tiny light bulbs all emit light source. 00:08:53.072 --> 00:08:54.783 That's the LE yeah. 00:08:55.971 --> 00:08:58.077 Light emitting diode, which is? 00:08:58.077 --> 00:08:59.160 It's literally just a little. 00:08:59.710 --> 00:09:10.905 So instead of one projector bulb projecting 40 feet across and reflecting off a screen, thousands of little bulbs will be projected right out towards the congregation. 00:09:11.429 --> 00:09:14.960 And my understanding and correct me if I'm wrong on this one. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:18.809 There could be multiple images on these screens. 00:09:18.809 --> 00:09:32.011 So it's like there could be something happening on the right and left and something different in the center all at the same time, yep and that's what's so nice because of the size of it, we have a lot of flexibility. 00:09:32.113 --> 00:09:38.259 And then one, one question I get asked all the time is you're going to have this wall here, but the worship leaders stand in front of them. 00:09:38.259 --> 00:09:39.361 We're not going to be able to see. 00:09:39.361 --> 00:09:48.129 Well, the screen is big enough that, first of all, like lyrics, for example, which are an important part, they're going to be above the, above the singer. 00:09:48.129 --> 00:10:01.255 So anywhere you sit in the room, you're going to be able to see the lyrics and you're going to be able to see them with clarity, and they're going to be larger than what we have now, which is, um, with the TVs above. 00:10:01.255 --> 00:10:03.817 So, yeah, it's really because of the size of the screen. 00:10:03.817 --> 00:10:11.278 There's so much more flexibility that we have in the way we put together a service and the way you experience the service. 00:10:11.389 --> 00:10:18.501 Are there things that we're not doing currently because of the fact that the screens aren't sufficient? 00:10:18.581 --> 00:10:19.464 A thousand percent. 00:10:19.464 --> 00:10:22.418 I think we always have conversations about. 00:10:22.418 --> 00:10:24.352 This is the simplest one. 00:10:24.352 --> 00:10:25.417 Here's a video. 00:10:25.417 --> 00:10:33.322 It's really great, but at the end there's these words that are scrolling on the screen and in the room. 00:10:33.322 --> 00:10:34.224 You can't read them. 00:10:34.224 --> 00:10:48.061 So we don't use that video because it limits us, because the screen isn't big enough, or sometimes when you hear someone talking and when you're in the room it's like okay, you can hear them, but you really can't quite, maybe, see the emotion on the face. 00:10:48.061 --> 00:10:57.845 So I think sometimes we don't use videos as much as we could because we feel like the people in the room are missing out. 00:10:58.470 --> 00:11:09.562 And this is where, yeah, I think this technology is going to help our in-person crowd catch up to the digital crowd, exactly Because our digital congregation sees those images and they look great. 00:11:09.562 --> 00:11:26.231 So, to your point of the scrolling words on a video, they look fine when you're watching online or watching at your home on your television, but in our in-person space you can't see them because they're too small because of the screens that we currently have. 00:11:26.231 --> 00:11:31.832 So it allows our in-person crowd to catch up, in a sense, to our digital crowd, which I think is a neat experience. 00:11:31.953 --> 00:11:33.857 Yeah, Well, here's a scary question. 00:11:33.857 --> 00:11:45.857 So currently, when Rick, you or I are preaching, or Andrew, you guys are doing your thing on the worship team, guys are doing your thing on the worship team. 00:11:45.857 --> 00:11:48.039 The images are up on the small screen. 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:56.947 So when I'm preaching live in the room, people in the room can also see the image on the screen. 00:11:56.947 --> 00:12:03.322 Is it going to be a gigantic image of the preacher on the screen? 00:12:03.602 --> 00:12:04.264 I hope not. 00:12:09.460 --> 00:12:12.855 As long as you're nice to the tech team in the back, you'll never have to worry about that. 00:12:12.855 --> 00:12:16.760 No, it'll be for when the band is coming. 00:12:16.760 --> 00:12:30.317 I imagine there'll be some, and we have some videos already like motion videos that maybe kind of are synced to the song, or just the kind of moving, gentle moving, just things that I wouldn't say are distracting but enhance the experience. 00:12:30.317 --> 00:12:33.875 Just the word we've been using a lot is immersive and I know that sometimes people go. 00:12:33.875 --> 00:12:34.418 What does that mean? 00:12:34.418 --> 00:12:42.182 And it's just more different things that we can do to kind of just create different ambiances. 00:12:42.182 --> 00:12:52.049 And you know, right now we have these beautiful doors that are on the backdrop and they've been the backdrop for a long time, but that's all we just have that we. 00:12:52.049 --> 00:12:53.554 You know those doors are not light. 00:12:53.554 --> 00:12:55.740 It's not quick change to change them to something else. 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:56.731 So this is a. 00:12:56.731 --> 00:12:59.900 We can have any backdrop we want at any point with this wall. 00:13:00.811 --> 00:13:03.958 I don't want to, yeah, I don't want to underplay the word immersive. 00:13:03.958 --> 00:13:05.462 I think immersive is really important. 00:13:05.462 --> 00:13:16.504 I remember when I was in Ireland I walked into a very old medieval church with beautiful stained glass windows that told all different kinds of stories. 00:13:16.504 --> 00:13:28.351 It was very colorful, the sun was coming in and when you walk into a space like that, you go wow, yeah, it is immersive in that it is inviting you into the presence of God. 00:13:28.351 --> 00:13:33.991 The LED wall is really the modern stained glass window. 00:13:34.321 --> 00:13:41.580 I know the stained glass must have been a new technology at a certain point and this is relatively still new, especially to churches. 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:55.868 But what it will give us a capacity to do is visually create a space, using different images, different videos, to bring people, draw people closer to God in worship. 00:13:55.868 --> 00:14:04.725 And because now it is a screen and we could create images, there's so many possibilities with that. 00:14:04.725 --> 00:14:15.847 I know a church that actually put up stained glass windows on their led wall and newcomers came in they said, wow, what beautiful stained glass windows you have in this church. 00:14:15.847 --> 00:14:19.607 And the pastor had to explain no, this, that's a screen. 00:14:19.629 --> 00:14:31.779 But, but those are the possibilities, right, it is truly immersive, the images are very vivid, and so we can create all kinds of spaces to tell God's story. 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:36.210 So, beyond worship, because we do more than worship. 00:14:36.210 --> 00:14:39.023 It's primarily a worship space, but we do other things. 00:14:39.023 --> 00:14:43.011 How else would you envision us using that LED wall? 00:14:44.740 --> 00:14:46.102 Yeah, I'm really excited about these. 00:14:46.102 --> 00:14:47.325 There's two specifically. 00:14:47.325 --> 00:15:05.724 So one we do a vacation Bible school here every year and there's about 75 to 100 kids that come into the worship space and they're going to be able, to the curriculum that we use, create these amazing music videos for the kids to dance, and there's motions and it's just, it's it's. 00:15:05.724 --> 00:15:11.107 There's nothing more fun than to have these kids watch these videos and as the week goes on, they get more familiar with it. 00:15:11.107 --> 00:15:16.432 Now, when we have a much larger screen, it is a going to be so much clearer. 00:15:16.432 --> 00:15:27.586 The kids are going to be able to see the motions, but everyone in the room it was kind of like we could only really get them kind of close up front so that they could see the TV screen above, um, the worship space. 00:15:27.586 --> 00:15:29.471 But this is, it's going to be any point in the room. 00:15:29.471 --> 00:15:31.325 You're going to be able to see it and it's going to. 00:15:31.325 --> 00:15:32.388 It's going to look great. 00:15:32.388 --> 00:16:01.970 And then the next one that I'm really excited, even more excited I think we do a drama camp here every summer and now we used to spend or we every year we spend so much time just painting sets and the kids would paint sets and they'd say this is boring after a while, and now we can instead find the image that we want, put that as our backdrop and now we'll spend more time making their, making their props, because usually we just we just have a lot of props. 00:16:01.990 --> 00:16:06.706 So there's, we're going to be able to take the tech work out of painting and more building and doing other things. 00:16:06.706 --> 00:16:13.470 So it frees up their time, but also it's more flexible and there can be different images for each scene. 00:16:13.470 --> 00:16:22.866 So I just think it's just a really great thing for kids to see and be like oh, we're in a baseball field and there's a gigantic baseball field behind me. 00:16:22.866 --> 00:16:26.840 It's so much more real to the kids and it's going to be such a great experience. 00:16:26.899 --> 00:16:29.527 And I think there are applications for so many other things too. 00:16:29.527 --> 00:16:40.109 I know you mentioned those too, but, like you know, ash Wednesday services or our Reflections at Christmastime services just to be able to provide you know if we're talking about. 00:16:40.109 --> 00:16:58.370 Well, what's it look like in the temple right To be able to put that image as a 30-foot image up on the screen and have people walk through almost an experience like that, to even even as something as simple as just showing a movie on movie night, right, that kind of experience is gonna be like you would have going to a movie theater. 00:16:58.370 --> 00:17:04.058 So there's so many ways that our ministries will use this beyond just Sunday morning. 00:17:04.058 --> 00:17:05.403 Yeah, that's yeah. 00:17:06.586 --> 00:17:07.289 Now, I really want it. 00:17:09.020 --> 00:17:12.148 There are a few practical plus sides too. 00:17:12.148 --> 00:17:14.320 I just want to share talk about so. 00:17:14.320 --> 00:17:24.471 Part of my job as a director of communications, I often get asked by different churches to come into their space and help them discern how to make the worship space better. 00:17:24.471 --> 00:17:27.128 We want to get a projector or a TV screen, which is it? 00:17:27.128 --> 00:17:35.172 And oftentimes the balance is do you want a bigger image, but maybe you can't see as well because of glares and dim lighting? 00:17:35.172 --> 00:17:40.827 Or do you want a TV which is very vivid and clear, but unfortunately it's going to be pretty small? 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:45.748 But this is the best of both worlds, and there's a huge accessibility plus too. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:54.714 A projector you may not be able to see well, but for folks who, like they'll be able to see the colors very vividly, uh, texts, things like that. 00:17:54.714 --> 00:17:58.186 Um, I think about the flexibility too. 00:17:58.186 --> 00:18:00.093 So these are all like single panels. 00:18:00.093 --> 00:18:09.819 They're about a foot by foot, roughly panels that are being put together so we could create, actually detach them if we want to yes and again create very creative spaces. 00:18:09.819 --> 00:18:12.607 So there's a lot of possibility there. 00:18:12.607 --> 00:18:17.102 It's also environmentally friendly people don't talk about this like. 00:18:17.762 --> 00:18:19.768 Projectors take up a lot of energy. 00:18:19.768 --> 00:18:24.604 You have to replace bulbs they die give off a lot of heat give off a lot of heat, but this is very. 00:18:24.604 --> 00:18:31.115 It's a lot less energy a a lot less waste, so there's also an environmental friendliness to this as well. 00:18:32.800 --> 00:18:44.169 Well, so to my fellow boomers who are listening to this, so we didn't grow up with screens. 00:18:44.169 --> 00:18:48.471 They came into our lives when we were young. 00:18:48.471 --> 00:18:56.949 Of course, tv was a new technology, rick, you're Gen X, and so you guys were around. 00:18:56.949 --> 00:18:59.208 It was color TVs and so forth. 00:18:59.208 --> 00:19:07.334 You other two guys, you're millennials, yep, right, and now we have two generations behind you, yep, two generations behind you. 00:19:07.515 --> 00:19:31.191 And so part of this idea, this technology, is we want to speak to generations that are younger generations that screens are so important for, and generations yet to come that won't have any concept of a life outside of screens, and so this is something for now, and it's something that we think is going to serve the church well in the future. 00:19:32.601 --> 00:19:41.724 And so this is an opportunity for us as a church to take this important step and hopefully you have a better idea. 00:19:41.724 --> 00:19:50.987 If you weren't sure about what this wall was about or why this wall, you have a little better idea, but you may still have questions. 00:19:50.987 --> 00:19:55.511 So please talk to Andrew, talk to Rick, talk to me, james. 00:19:55.511 --> 00:19:59.471 We'd love to talk to you more about it Anytime? 00:19:59.471 --> 00:20:02.265 And what's the goal? 00:20:02.265 --> 00:20:07.034 To get this installed, assuming the funding is there? 00:20:07.180 --> 00:20:13.491 Well, if you're asking me tomorrow, All right, let me ask Neil no we are hoping for. 00:20:14.215 --> 00:20:21.009 As Andrew mentioned, we won the Hitch Bible School and Drama Camp this summer, so we would love to have this installed by mid-June. 00:20:21.009 --> 00:20:24.068 That would be great if we could have it done by then. 00:20:24.621 --> 00:20:26.228 And I think they would be such a cool highlight. 00:20:26.228 --> 00:20:28.663 Those are the first two big things that we're doing. 00:20:28.663 --> 00:20:31.708 It speaks to again your future generations. 00:20:31.708 --> 00:20:33.351 Yeah, I love that. 00:20:33.351 --> 00:20:34.051 That's great. 00:20:34.593 --> 00:20:35.855 So how are we going to get there? 00:20:35.855 --> 00:20:44.053 We're going to get there because you're generous, and one of the things I'm suggesting is in terms of thinking about your own gift. 00:20:44.053 --> 00:21:02.912 If everybody in the congregation gave 10% more than they gave the year before, we would cover the cost for the entire Hope in Motion campaign and so, if that's possible for you, I would encourage you to prayerfully do that. 00:21:02.912 --> 00:21:08.823 If you can do more, obviously we'd love you to do more, because I know there's going to be some folks who can't do that. 00:21:08.823 --> 00:21:12.145 We'd love you to do more because I know there's going to be some folks who can't do that. 00:21:12.145 --> 00:21:22.696 So that's part of our Hope in Motion campaign and thanks so much for tuning in and listening, and we'll be talking more about this going forward. 00:21:22.696 --> 00:21:26.303 Have a great day. 00:21:27.243 --> 00:21:31.910 Thanks for being a part of the Hope Community as we continue our conversations about faith and hope. 00:21:31.910 --> 00:21:36.255 If you don't already, please join us for worship on Sundays or on demand. 00:21:36.255 --> 00:21:42.590 You can learn more at meethopeorg or find us on socials at meethopechurch.