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Church Stage Design Ideas (94 unread)

May 21, 2012
15:00
Wood Gaps
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Brandon Carr from The River Community Church in Hartland, Michigan brings us this fun use of wood and MDF.
This was for the beginning of their capital campaign. They needed something different that tied in the marketing elements of a construction site and the targets of a certain color palette.
They made the pallet screens out of 2X4′s and 1/4″ MDF. The center screen was 9X12 feet and the side panels were 7X5.
They meet in a performing arts theater, so they had some flyware they rigged the hanging pallets to with safety cables (wire rope) and shackles hooked into some screw eyes on the tops of the hanging ones. The other 2 on the floor were standing on simple frames painted black to help them disappear.
They painted the screen pallet white to ensure clarity of graphics, but did one rough coat to make sure it still looked unfinished. Then they lit the set with MAC 250′s, and LED par cans.
It took his builder about 10 hours to complete, and about $400 in lumber.
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May 20, 2012
15:00
Who Framed Jesus?
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Jason Medlin from Lake Arlington Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas brings us this tightly woven backdrop with a framed “Jesus” in front.
They used blue foam board and PVC pipe to make this large scale design. The blue board was cut into 1 ft strips and gorilla taped together. Then they primed them with a grey paint and applied a silver glitter dusting so the colors would shine.
Once the 25 ft strips were taped together, they simply ran them in a lattice format and tie wrapped them to the PVC.
They had them front and back lit with Elation color strips – 4 in the front and 4 in the back on each side.
Total cost was around 250 dollars for the foam boards, 300 dollars in paint, and 100 dollars in PVC.
Each side was 20 feet long by 16 feet high.
To add a little extra element to the design they arranged frames and the name of Jesus in front of the structures.
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May 19, 2012
15:00
Paper Diamonds
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Tom Clark and the Creative Arts team from Riverside Church in Big Lake, MN brings us this fun use of paper.
They constructed it with paper from 3M Flip charts. They have 40 pages in each one and were $30 each at Office Max. They used 88 pages.
They aren’t square, so they cut them into squares and folded each edge down an inch. Then they crumpled the paper and stretched it out again. Then they stapled the edges together in the diamond pattern.
Total cost was about $60 for the paper plus then just staples and man-hours.
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May 18, 2012
15:00
Floating Stained Glass
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Andy Krieger from Southridge Reformed Church in Kalamazoo, MI brings us these floating stained glass windows.
They needed a lot of stage space for dancers on Easter Sunday, so Andy decided to use hanging windows and their 3 screens to create a sacred, Easter look. The windows were cut from 1.5″ pink foam insulation and covered in white latex paint. The colors were simply light gels cut to size and stapled to the back of the foam. Then they were backlit with a standard ellipsoidal white light.
51 yards of cheap material from a fabric store was hung on the back wall and lit with 3 Chauvet LED panels. The black rectangle pieces hanging were from Studio Productions Inc and used as a scrim to reveal dancers behind them.
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May 17, 2012
15:00
Blooming
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Laura Blechle from South Telegraph Christian Church in St. Louis, MO brings us this great combination of MDF and fabrics.
They started by creating some circle elements using A Circus of Circles as their guideline. They used 4×8 sheets of MDF and hinged them so they could stand on their own.
The smaller circle boards were mounted to a 2×6 to help them stand up. They painted them all creamy white and hit them with lights.
Then they hung colored fabrics matching the artwork. They pulled them together using clips and rope.
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May 16, 2012
15:00
Squared Away
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Barry Wortz from New Hope Church in Wooster, OH brings us this paneled stage design.
To create this he used 2×2 sheets of white Coroplast (cut from 4×8 sheets). He attached them to the ceiling with fishing line and 2ft dowels.
He strung the Coroplast with craft string and hot glued the string to the Coroplast. The designs under the stages were 1×1 cardboard sheets painted white. They were strung together the same way. This project ran about $300 for the materials – including the materials to build the 3 stages.
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May 15, 2012
15:00
That Old Rugged Cross
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Laura Blechle from South Telegraph Christian Church in St. Louis, MO brings us this rugged, aluminum screening cross.
Inspired by Wrinkles in Time they created this backdrop using crumpled window screening backed by landscape fabric. Where there were seems, they hand-stitched the screening material with monofilament. Then they lit it from the bottom with color dashes plus a couple par 64s.
For their next sermon series, they added three homemade baptisteries. Inspired by Homemade Baptisms, they bought three water storage tanks from a local farm supply store and, using a simple jigsaw, cut off the tops. They added a submersible pump to each tank to create movement in the water and also to drain the tanks (fitted to receive a standard garden hose). Each tank was lit from the back with two par 64 lights.
Then came Easter and they wanted to add a cross to the stage. They added a stretch scrim to the front of the truss work and constructed a cross using more of the window screen. The cross was constructed of 1×12’s for the back and 1x4s turned on their sides to create a box. Then they crumpled their screening and stapled it inside the cross.
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May 14, 2012
15:00
Circled Shadows
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The Stage Build Team from Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia brings us this great use of circles and shadows.
They got inspired by a set at Elevation Church in Charlotte and changed it up a little.
The circles were cut from pieces of MDF. They primed the textured side. They spent $250 and that made enough circles for two campuses.
For a creative element they brushed on invisible backlight paint and lit the band and the circles up with backlights. Blacklights are $11/each at Walmart. The paint is about $20/jar. Each jar let them paint about 30 circles.
Behind the circles was a scrim backdrop that had a very muted design on it. They also hung a layer of drape behind the scrim so the projector bulbs wouldn’t show. A 36′x7′ backdrop runs $750 – they’ve used the same scrim for a couple sets now.
Tear down is simple too. Everything from the pipe and drape to the zip ties and gaff tape fits into a 2x4x6 case.
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May 13, 2012
15:00
Bunched
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Corey Johnson from Faith Church International in Farimont, WV brings us these roman shade variations.
Corey used a type of roman shade variation called a fan shade. He ordered 90″ wide unbleached muslin. He used 1″ x 2″ boards for his header and used upholstery strip to help in stapling the fabric to the board (this helps to create a clean line and prevent ripping). From there he hand sewed curtain rings to the back side of the fabric up the middle starting at 24″ from the bottom, then every 10″ following for a total of ten rings. For the bottom hem, he used stitch-witchery, which saved a lot of time.
Then, using a zip tie, he gathered all of the rings, creating the fan shade. He used LED par cans behind the fabric panels and also in front. This made for some cool shadows and color blending.
Total spent: $120.
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May 12, 2012
15:00
Overhead
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Nathan Hall from Greentree Christian Church in Rolla, MO brings us this useful solutions to those overhead projectors you hate to throw away.
They recently showed a film made by Christ in Youth and Voice of the Martyrs called “Love Costs Everything.” They plugged it for a month and this set was designed to grab people’s attention for it. They used old overhead projectors to display the title of the movie and its logo.
As a centerpiece, they used galvanized tin roofing to make a cross. The metal was hung at different depths so folks could only tell it was a cross when they were centered on it. They borrowed the projectors from a local school, so the only cost was the tin roofing and chain to hang it – about $40.
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May 11, 2012
15:00
Beautiful Thorns
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Mike TenHaken from Word Of Grace Community Church in Sheboygan Falls, WI brings us this great text overlaying a crown of thorns.
They started the design with a 7-foot diameter crown Of thorns made from hand railing that Mike bought at Home Depot. He started by making a seven foot circle on the floor of his basement. From there he began making random miter cuts on the hand railing to form a circle. He chose to make four revolutions, each equaling 28 feet in circumference, and all four were intertwined together and screwed at random locations to strengthen the piece.
Once that part was finished he started making thorns. Each thorn was anywhere from 8 to 18 inches in length. These were also cut from hand railing. He ran them free-hand on a tablesaw until each piece represented a cone shape. Then he planed each of them down until smooth and sanded them until they looked like thorns. There are 74 thorns.
In front of the crown he hung the word “BEAUTIFUL” on pieces of painted plywood which was made to look like broken shards.
Cost for the stage: about $250 to $300.
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May 10, 2012
15:00
Moving Pieces
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Lauren Shorter from Mt. Airy Baptist Church in Easley, South Carolina brings us these staggered elements.
The hanging pieces were created using gutter guard (you can find them at a hardware store for only a couple bucks/piece).
They laid them out and came up with a random staggered pattern and connected them all with fishing line. Then they suspended each one from the ceiling.
The light towers in the corners were used from a previous stage design – made from Coroplast and wood.
The whole stage cost about $100.
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May 09, 2012
15:00
Dropping Letters
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TJ Knowland from Annandale United Methodist Church in Annandale, VA brings us this
They created the front by cutting out the letters from basic foam board they bought at Staples. They hung the letters from the ceiling and linked them together with fishing line. They lit them with gelled Par 56 cans.
The bags were plain white paper bags with battery powered tea lights in them. The words were written on them and they went along with the series.
The total cost for this series was less than $100.
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May 08, 2012
15:00
Receding Lines
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Daniel Livengood from Marysville First Assembly in Marysville, WA brings us these upwardly receding lines.
For Easter, they wanted a sunrise feel, so they used masonite and cut it into strips gradually getting smaller and the spaces increasing from bottom to top. They made twelve 12′ stands and installed them on stage.
A member of the church had a new property he needed clearing, so they went and cut down a bunch of branches and painted them white. Then they put the white branches into plastic pots and filled them with sand.
The sun was made with RTech foam and painted by hand. It matched the font and look from the mailer they created using the phrase “Life is Hard, but Grace is Here”.
The budget for materials was under $1000 and they bought the lighting rig for $750 (20 par38s). The other lighting was rented with the sound for $500.
They made the backlit screens with 2x3s and 10 mil painters tarp.
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May 07, 2012
15:00
Faux Circle Truss
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Matt Lussier from Kidzturn Ministries shows us how they made a fake circular truss. Awesome!
They concentrate on building set elements for their touring kids ministry, but Matt figured this circle-truss work-around might be useful to some churches as well.
They wanted to have two 7 foot circle-truss borders for video screens in their 2011/2012 set. That would have cost about $3000 including freight. This alternative came in at closer to $600.
Materials available at Lowes or Home Depot:
- 200ft spool of black ADS 1″ plastic coil pipe (Made of HDPE)
- Rustoleum hammered metal spray paint or brush on
- Misc screws for assembly
- A couple 10 foot 1″ pvc lengths for crossbars
- Some scrap 3/4 plywood to make connecting plates
Available online:
- Seventy-two 1″ PVS Slip T fittings (they used 36 per side)
Here’s their step by step process:
STEP 1 – Cut your black pipe lengths.
With the more complicated 4-pipe, triangular, non-square profile they did, it was a bit complicated to get the 4 perfect lengths. Since they were making 2 identical circle truss elements, they had to try to make 4 equal half trusses. What worked best was to make 4, 2″pvc lengths of the approximate sizes, and shove the black pipe in till it was flush on the other side, then cut.
STEP 2 – Making 4 identical connecting plates.
They used 3/4″ plywood, some wood glue, and some brad nails. The large holes determine the profile of the pipes. The center hole is to bolt the 2 pieces together when completed.
STEP 3 – Screw slip tees on crossbars and get organized before assembly
Cut the 1″ pvc for the quantity of crossbars you want. Screw the slip tees on to the PVC making sure they stay square to each other.
STEP 4 – Assembly – Feed the pipes.
STEP 5 – Line up the crossbars and screw them in place.
Make sure you use your 2 plywood connecting plates on each end. Then start moving all the crossbars in place. Don’t screw them down till you know you got them in their spot.
STEP 6 – Trim the excess pipe.
Using the plywood as a guide…make the best judgment call on how much excess pipe needs to be trimmed off. Take your time. If you trim to much, you will need to go back a few steps.
STEP 7 – Add screw “stoppers”.
Matt put 2″ sheetrock screws through the ends.
STEP 8 – Hot glue bases to pipes.
Clamp the pipes so the “stopper” screws are tight against the plywood. Layer on a thick blob of hot glue to permanently seat the plywood on the pipes.
STEP 9 – One half is done…time to repeat.
STEP 10 – Paint silver.
They used rustoleum silver hammered metal brush on paint.
STEP 11 – All done.
STEP 12 – Bolt the 2 halves together at the plywood connector plates.
Notes:
- the size and shape (4 pipe, 3 pipe or 2 pipe) truss will vary the cost.
- this design is to achieve a look, and not to mount lights to.
- they’re strong enough to stretch material on the back and use for front projection or lighting up.
- you can spray them with a chrome silver paint as well for a shinier look.
- this concept shouldn’t stop at a circular truss. Many curved truss stage elements could be faked with this principle.
- remember: this is for decoration and is non-load bearing.
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May 06, 2012
15:00
Most Popular – April 2012
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Here are the most visited stage designs for the month of April. Just want to say another big thank you to all the stage designers who submit their stuff for us to see.
1. Paint Can Lids – 2,491 views
  Isaiah Franco from Sandals Church in Riverside, California
2. Spandex Squares – 1,810 views
  Steven Hall from Northland Church in Longwood, Florida
3. Crumpled in a V – 1,644 views
  Mike Foudy from Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, TX
4. Bubblewrap - 1,581 views
  Van Metschke from South Hills Church in Corona, CA
5. Circles and Boxes – 1,540 views
  David Little from Elevate Church in Morton, Illinois
6. Tape Burst – 1,539 views
  Brandy Gibson from Chestnut Ridge Church in Morgantown, WV
7. The Antitruss - 1,151 views
  Bruce Schwarz from First Protestant Church in New Braunfels, Texas
8. Jesus, Light it Up – 1,109 views
  David Little from Elevate Church in Morton, Illinois
9. Crumpled – 1,106 views
  Robert Walker from Bowmar Baptist Church in Vicksburg, MS
10. A Crossed Cross – 1,063 views
  John Parmalee from Faithbridge UMC in Spring, Texas
Great job, stage designers!
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May 05, 2012
15:00
In the Ring
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Philip Glenn from New Birth Ministry Center in Louisville, KY brings us this pugnacious design. (I took Latin in high school.)
Their pastor wanted a boxing ring to be able to teach from. They were able to create the boxing ring by taking some PVC/sand/wood to create the “poles” for the ring. The ring was made of think string with PVC insulation foam and colored duck tape wrapped around it. The floor was a blue tarp. Total cost for project was about $150.
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May 04, 2012
15:00
Moving Picture Frames
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Jon Williams from Renewal Christian Centre in Birmingham, England brings us this quadruple screened design.
They were inspired by Splitscreen Happiness and had very little budget for this design.
They built their screens with some leftover wood (recently been taken from their activity centrer’s roof) and some cheap bedsheets from a local supermarket. This came to £20 (less than $35) plus the cost of some hooks and string to hang them up.
The screens were 1.2m x 2m.
They ran their graphics from a Mac using ProPresenter 5. They masked out the screens in ProPresenter…though they’re planning to go to a TripleHead2Go in the future.
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May 03, 2012
15:00
Cross Grunge
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Grant Gunnink from Valleyview in Calgary, Alberta Canada brings us this great rendition of Texturesized.
Instead of painting the whole landscape fabric white, Grant opted to paint the cross on them. To keep the paint from soaking onto their sanctuary floor, he used white plastic table runners under the landscape fabric. He liked the look so much that he used them behind the hung landscape fabric. Plus, the paint, soaking through the landscape fabric, created a cool “Shroud of Turin” effect on the table runners – leaving a faint image of the cross on them.
On Easter Sunday, the pulled the black cloth to the side to reveal the white crosses.
The grids in the center were simply garden trellises from their local nursery. They stapled the plastic table runner behind it and trimmed it. (Cool, inexpensive shoji screen!)
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May 02, 2012
15:00
Pillar and Flow
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Diane Chesnutt at Saint James United Methodist Church in Montgomery, AL brings us this great use of columns and flowy fabric.
They created this design by using 5 architectural columns (two 10′ borrowed and three 12′ donated to church).
They also use:
- Poly Silk Fabric
- Griff Clips
- Ferns – borrowed from a nursery
- A cross that is normally in worship center
- Lights
They draped the poly silk fabric between the columns and hung some behind the cross. The fabric behind the cross was randomly gathered using griff clips to add texture and dimension. 10-12 ferns were used on the stage.
All supplies were items they had purchased for other sets. The whole thing took about 4 hours to set up.
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May 01, 2012
15:00
Dot Lights
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Kevin Borst from Legacy Youth Conference brings us this glowing word piece.
They bought all the materials in one trip to Home Depot. Supplies:
- two 8’ X 4’ sheets of plywood
- eight 8’ X 2’ X 4’s
- 3” screws
- black paint
- black electrical tape
- 14 strings of Christmas lights (borrowed from friends)
Tools:
- drill with large, medium, and small drill bits
- jig saw
- table saw
First they measured and cut the letters. They split the two large sheets of plywood lengthwise into two 8’ X 2’ sections, then cut those into eight 2’ X 1’ rectangles (one for each letter). They drew the letters free hand and cut them with a jig saw.
Then they began to build the frame. When it was all measured and cut, they drilled holes and screwed it all in place.
Then they painted everything black. Letters first, then frame. They had some trouble putting on the letters because they did not fill the space in the frame. To compensate, they took some scrap plywood (from the original big sheets) and split them into 6” strips. They screwed one along the crossbar on the top of the frame, one along the middle crossbar of the frame, and one along the crossbar on the bottom of the frame so they had a larger flat surface on the whole front of the sign. This adjustment made it possible for each letter to be screwed onto the sign properly.
Next they drilled holes in the letters for Christmas lights to fit into. They drilled holes with a smaller drill bit and then again with the larger one on each letter.
Next they screwed the letters onto the sign.
Then came the lights. Each letter took about one string of lights and it took about an hour to do “INSIDE.” They taped the lights to the framed letters using electrical tape.
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April 30, 2012
15:00
Hanging TVs
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Travis Carpenter from Northview Church in Carmel, IN brings us this great use of TVs and trussing.
The stage design consisted of 6 pieces of truss hanging from their batten system at varying heights and depths over the stage. Each truss had a 51″ plasma mounted to the front, as well as a Chauvet Slimpar 64 as a truss warmer, and a VariLite 2500 spot mounted to the side of the truss. Each TV was powered by a Mac Mini that was mounted to the back and powered by ProPresenter 5.
Each Mac Mini was connected to a network switch which was then connected to an additional Mac Mini at front of house running ProPresenter 5 with the Master Control Module installed.
The TVs on the front of the drum riser were all run by one Mac Mini with a Matrox Triple Head 2 Go unit connected to span the image across all three TVs.
They used uni strut to fabricate custom mounts for the TVs, as well as mounts to hang the truss in a vertical fashion.
Despite the entire system being hard wired together, they still had network dropout issues. So they had to develop some practices for making sure the machines stayed connected throughout each service.
Materials:
- 8x 10ft truss pieces
- 11x 51″ Samsung Plasma displays
- 9x Apple Mac Mini’s
- 8x Chauvet SlimPar 64 (truss warmers)
- 1x Matrox Triple Head 2 Go
- 2x network switches
- 1x ProPresenter Master Control Module
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April 29, 2012
15:00
Boxes Spread
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Matt Musinski from Living Word Church was inspired by Heroic Boxes from this site.
They created their own version of the design by ordering forty 18″x18″x18″ boxes. They constructed them and cut them in half to get more out of each box. Then they used hot glue and overlapped the boxes a few inches on each side. Instead of alternating white and natural, they just painted the surfaces white and left blank spots to get the checkered effect.
They extended the design into their entry way and youth room.
They used 300-watt halogen canister lights mounted on vertical trussing to throw light across them. They also looped videos on their screen with the same geometric patterns. In total they spend about $80 on materials.
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April 28, 2012
15:00
Tattoo Options
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Shawn Ames from Family Life Fellowship in Moberly, MO brings us this design straight from a tattoo shop.
They used this design for a two month series titled, “Inked”. They attempted to mimic the look of a tattoo artist’s flash wall from inside a shop. The design consisted of two sets of 52 black and white tattoo looking designs drawn by a local tattoo artist and printed on 2’x2’ panels of Coroplast. They used a simple 2×4 frame structure to support the panels with a 3” gap between each one. Their budget for this design was right at $400. That covered the lumber, design, and printing.
They had to get creative about designing for their round building and centrally located screens. They also made a hallway between the stage elements and their rear wall to provide partially cloaked access to their stage for camera operators, speakers, etc…
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April 27, 2012
15:00
On-Stage Romance
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Steven Hall from Northland Church in Longwood, Florida brings us these cool heart pieces.
They came up with this set for the their youth on Valentines Day.
They built the set from their 3′ x 3′ spandex frames and a roll of black butchers paper. They essentially made a real life mask then lit the set pieces. They got the Butcher paper at a local educational store and it cost under $100.
To build it, they projected their heart designs on to a piece of butcher paper (about 4′ x 4′). Then they cut the design out based on their image. They were able to cut 3 sheets at a time. Then they centered the cut sheets on each frame and attached them with staples.
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April 26, 2012
15:00
Grunge is What We Aim For
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Adam Neal from Journey Church in Raleigh, NC brings us this grungy MMA look for their “The Challenge” series.
They started by using six foot chain link fence to cover the walls of the stage. Then they used slanted foam pieces that they splatter spray painted with a straw (blown through a straw).
Adam used orange duck tape to accent the foam pieces and the front of their stage. To add some texture, he sponge painted the tape to blend it.
They used bubble wrap to surround the drum riser with small LED lighting to accent.
Adam ordered some white 6′ tall foam pieces to use as the fence padding. They spray painted them black and wrapped them with more orange tape.
The total cost was around: $1000.
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April 25, 2012
15:00
Mosh Pit
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David Little from Elevate Church in Morton, Illinois brings us this cool design that I’m sure Bono would love to run around on.
A member in their church built the round stage in his wood shop. He was able to enter the diameter of the circle into a CNC router to get a perfect circle. Similar results could be met using a string and pencil.
The vertical screens were 2×4 frames, covered with rear projection fabric from Rose Brand. The 2×4′s and screen materials were under $100 each. The projectors were Epson EX70s mounted sideways to the wall. The video was run from a separate computer running Pro Presenter.
The frames around the screens were 1/4″ MDF, mounted to the ceiling and floor. There was no supporting structure. It was very strong and was actually quite difficult to take down once they were done.
The tubes on the ground were Chauvet color tubes. Since the wires on the color tubes are white and the stage was white, you couldn’t see the wires. The lights on the side walls were Stage Ape LED pars from Cheaplights.com.
The TV’s were mounted to the stage using 1 5/8″ unistrut and strut brackets. They put the chairs in a circular design around the sanctuary. The seats in the “mosh pit” weren’t reserved for anyone – though they found that mostly the younger people would sit there.
The stage was 3/4″ plywood. They tore carpet off it, primed, and painted using latex paint. Then they added a water based clear coat to give it a higher sheen.
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April 24, 2012
15:00
Stretch Grid
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Mike Campbell from Esoteric Visions with CLife Church brings us this great grid of stretched fabric.
Mike built these grids out of 2×4′s. Then he painted the frames/grids black. Then he grabbed some pieces of spandex and stretched them out between the frames.
He then used eighteen WDM 252LED Wash units to light each panel – individually controllable for effects and chases.
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April 23, 2012
15:00
The Hotel
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Patrick Fore from The Woodlands United Methodist in The Woodlands, Texas
A while back Patrick saw some Westcott photo backdrops that he’d been wanting to use for a project for a while. They called these backdrops “modern vintage” and Baroque style velvet pattern. It’s a pattern that creates movement yet drips with elegance and class.
They sold them in 9x12ft sizes standard for photography which worked great for attaching them to 4×11.5ft tv flats. (Plans for Hollywood style flats are easily found online. Or the Backstage Handbook can give you all the instruction you’ll ever need.)
These flats were custom built however to have a 55inch monitor inset in the flat. Patrick knew he wanted to incorporate visual worship and other digital content into the service. The flats were covering a vertical 10-foot stage truss which the 55inch tv was connected to via truss clamps.
The video signal was sent from an iMac running Pro Video Player in a production room by a Mini-DV to HDMI converter to an HDMI splitter where the digital signal was sent to five different monitors in 720p high definition.
Then Patrick ventured out to Garden Ridge and bought a dozen cheap table lamps (no shades) and went online to Overstock.com to find chandeliers to help fill a very large gap between the truss flown over the stage which housed intelligent wash and spot lights. He found these great 8-light chandeliers that matched the look.
He also wanted to connect that vintage lighting feel to the flat above the monitor. A sconce that matched the vintage look worked really well and was light enough to easily attach to the face. He just added a 1×4 to the back and screwed them in right threw the fabric. Overstock had the sconce for a little over $20 so he picked up 5 of them.
For bulbs he bought some Edison style bulbs that cast a beautiful tungsten warm light. He used small 30-watt bulbs for all the lamps and 60-watt bulbs that could be dimmed down for the sconces and the chandeliers.
All the lamps and chandeliers were wired with plugs and connected to dimmers that the lighting guy could dim and save into scenes.
A major piece of the set was a rare find for them. They heard through the grape vine that there was a very old, broken upright piano in a basement of a community center. They made some calls, hitched up a trailer, and picked up a very old and very dusty piano.
Armed with sand paper, blow torches, some red and off-white paint as well as a lot of fabric scraps from the flats, he tried to transform something unusable as it was intended and use it to house a Korg keyboard. They gutted it and modified a shelf for the keyboard. Cool!
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April 22, 2012
15:00
Cut it Out
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Tim Cranford from LifePointe Church in Fort Worth, Texas brings us this fun use of corrugated metal.
They first created a frame by painting four 10ft 1×4 boards flat black and screwing them across four 8ft pieces of 1/2″ thin wall electrical conduit using 1/4″ bolts. Then they suspended the frame from the beams above the drop ceiling with steel braided cable and cable clamps.
After the entire piece was suspended the corrugated metal was cut into roughly square pieces with simple tin snips and attached to the frame with self tapping sheet metal screws. The church leaf logo was traced and cut out with the tin snips in the middle piece before it was installed.
They lit each piece with simple color wash LED par cans – the top half suspended and the bottom half sitting on the stage. The entire project took only a couple hours to construct and install and cost around $75. All the materials were purchased at a local hardware store and Home Depot.
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April 21, 2012
15:00
Print Neatly
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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James Radford from Element Church in Forest City, NC brings us this sketched up stage design.
They usually have a small budget of $150-$300 to change 2 of their campuses so they work really hard of reuse and be very intentional to stay within our boundaries.
They had these outdoor banners made for about $250 and used the largest as a backdrop – hanging them with chain and pulling tension on it from both sides to remove as many wrinkles as possible. Then they took the smaller banners and wrapped them around their side walls on stage. Then they simply used concrete screw to secure them. It took them (3 people) about 3 days from start to finish to complete the project.
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April 20, 2012
15:00
It’s Time
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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William Colle from CRosSWILD camps in Tallahassee, Florida brings us this timely stage design.
They built two 8′ clocks. The clock face was two separate semi-circles each cut from a 4×8 piece of plywood. Then the two pieces were painted black and hinged together where they met. The numbers were just 11-inch x 2-inch rectangles of the same plywood as the clock face. They cut the pieces of plywood to angles to make the v’s, and cut out of the “x” pieces where the two pieces met.
Then the whole thing was lifted and put on the legs. They were essentially upside down t’s screwed into the backs of the clocks.
Then they hung crumpled up wire mesh on the back wall to give it a ruff look.
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April 19, 2012
15:00
Around the Square
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Mark Bodlien from Word of Life Fellowship in Schroon Lake, NY brings us this great squared backdrop.
They had the truss already, so the only additional cost was the backdrop. It is simply made up of foam poster board from an office supply store taped to strings across the back of the truss. They laid it out on the floor and raised the truss up to reveal the backdrop.
The 40 panels cost $30 for a 10 pack. So this project only cost $120.
Design by Brian Hosan. Lighting by Mark Bodlien.
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April 18, 2012
15:00
Toxic Industry
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Mike Campbell from Esoteric Visions with Valley Church in Virginia brings us this toxic industrial look.
The main background was cut out of 1/8″ masonite. The grid was made from latticework. Then the barrels were just drums with pieces cut out of them. Finally the ‘fans’ were just luan cutouts backed by a 1×2 frame covered in white spandex. Overall they were going for an industrial look.
The lighting rig was 4 Chauvet DJ Scanners, 6 ColorKey StagePAR64 LED, and 8 American DJ Megapixel LED units. In addition the barrels each had an American DJ pinspot in them.
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April 17, 2012
15:00
Jesus String
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Jessica Perez from Crossroads Church in Loveland, CO brings us this great use of string and Jesus’ name.
They took a 6′x10′ piece of plywood and covered it with canvas drop cloth. Then they took a script font, put it in Adobe Illustrator and added dots for where the nails go. They projected the image with an overhead projector and added dots with a Sharpie.
After that, they laid the piece down and hammered in all the nails. Once the nails were in, they strung the yarn around them. There was no formal, predetermined method to stringing the yarn, but they did end up settling into a pattern. (The thicker the yarn, the better.)
To make the piece larger for the stage they added mattes and a frame. They got the mattes cut at Hobby Lobby, and the frame was made from foam board they had sitting backstage.
The whole project cost $75.
The original concept came from Pinterest.
Check out more details on Jessica’s blog.
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3:00
iPad and Proclaim Giveaway
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Proclaim Church Presentation Software is giving away a new iPad to one lucky CSDI reader! Check out the prizes and enter through the form on this page to win!
1 First Prize: The new iPad (16G, WiFi, Black) + Proclaim Church Presentation Software + Graceway Media Subscription to 10,000 pieces of worship media”.
(The Proclaim and Graceway Media prizes are 1-year subscriptions.)
10 Secondary Prizes: 10 people will win 3 months free of Proclaim Church Presentation Software which includes over $100 in free media worship media.
Plus, each entrant gets a free subscription to Sunday| magazine – an online mag about the creative side of Sunday mornings.
Proclaim is the new cloud-based church presentation software that allows team members to access and present from any computer, mac or PC. With Proclaim a creative team can send Bible passages, contact cards, calendar events, and even PayPal donation requests to iPads, iPhones, and Android devices in the congregation. Proclaim is free to download and make a sample presentation. Get more information at the Proclaim website.
A Graceway Total Media subscription gives you unlimited access to over 10,000 well designed worship media stills and video backgrounds. With 100 new designs and over 20 new motions added each month, your team will have the killer backgrounds they need to make your church presentations look great. Even more, all Graceway Media comes preloaded in Proclaim for easy access. Subscribe to Graceway Media from within the free Proclaim application.
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April 16, 2012
15:00
Here’s to Hope
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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David Glowacki from Columbus First Assembly in Columbus, IN brings us this Light Bright inspiration.
This set was built with water bottles and Christmas lights. They started by building a 10ft x 4ft rectangle from 2×4′s and plywood. They asked their local recycling plant for water bottles. After a bit of puzzling…they held back all the water bottles and donated them to the church. They washed all the bottles, let them dry…then were ready to build.
After they built the frame they drilled 840 holes into it. The holes were spaced so they could use every bit of space on the board. To attach the bottles to the frame they used silicone caulking.
Once all the bottles were glued in place they marked out where the letters for the word “Hope” would be. They used 4 mini Christmas lights in each neck of the bottles they wanted to illuminate. To add some RGB mixing to the bottles they got creative. They ordered sets of red, green, blue, and white lights and stuffed four in each bottle. Then clumped them together and put them on dimmer packs so they could mix the colors however they wanted.
Total materials and costs:
Lumber/hardware – $50
Paint – $15
Bottles – Free
Christmas Lights – Around $600
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April 15, 2012
15:00
Crumpled in a V
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Mike Foudy from Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, TX brings us his take on the Screens Are Falling Down stage design.
This is a satellite campus, and their message is rear-projected onto a center screen that motors down from the proscenium. So they can’t do anything in the center with much height.
The screens were the bright aluminum screen, 6 ft. wide and 22′ high for the taller ones, about 17′ high for the next highest, and about 10′ for the middle. They bought a 6′ x 100′ roll at Lowes for around $220. The pieces are stapled at top and bottom of each with 1” x 4” planks and hung with tie line through eye screws – then weighted at the bottom.
They were lit from a catwalk position with Elektralite PaintCans. The trusses (Applied Electronics Medium-grade truss) were lit from the bottom with German Light Products LED Base4 Truss Toners. The movers were Elektralite my575.4 spots, with Elektralite PaintCans as overhead/back lighting color washes.
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April 14, 2012
15:00
Cut Out
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Kevin Smith from Faith Assembly of God in Winterville, NC brings us this fun kidmin stage design.
Each week they lit up a different word in the puzzle based on their Bible point. Then at the end of the series when they lit up all the individual words from the series in the puzzle, they spelled LOVE.
They used five sheets of 4′x8′ foam insulation from Lowes and painted them green. They connected the 5 sheets in the back using wood strips and velcro. They hung the sheets by wrapping wire around the wood strips in the back to the grid in the ceiling. After the green background dried, they painted the letters for the word puzzle with black paint using stencil cutouts.
For each week of the series, they cut out the letters for the particular word they were talking about using a razor blade.
To create the light effect they put a white sheet behind the foam and then put light behind the white sheets.
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April 13, 2012
15:00
Jesus, Light it Up
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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David Little from Elevate Church in Morton, Illinois brings us this great design featuring a lit up Jesus sign.
To create this set they used 2’2 Coroplast panels affixed to each other with 1 1/2″ binder rings. The center section was rigged to a pulley system to raise up during worship to expose the drummer. The textured columns on the sides were made from aluminum screen material from Lowe’s – crinkled then lit with Chauvet Color Strips.
They had 3 WXGA projectors for the 3 screens – Epson EX7210′s 2600 lumens for about $500 each. The moving light fixtures in the picture were Chauvet Intimidator 250′s. They ran about $800 a fixture.
The stage was painted blue, with a metallic overlay, then clear coated with water based polyurethane. All water/latex based paints were used to reduce smell and dry time.
The “Jesus sign” is made from 4/4 poplar and had 2 and 3 foot t8 fluorescent light fixtures mounted to it. They had it hooked up to a cheap electric winch from Harbor Freight tools. They spent a total of about $650 for the whole element and got the idea from a Hillsong conference opener.
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April 12, 2012
15:00
Bubbling
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Mike Campbell for Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas brings us this bubbling stage design.
In addition to moving lights and haze, they used 4 light boxes (wooden frames with a plexi sheet in them) and covered them with this custom print. Then they backlit them with HES Color Commands. The rest of the rig consisted of 6 Martin MAC250 Kryptons, 2 HES Studio Color250, 2 HES Studio Spot250, 4 HES Trackspots, and 2 DF50 hazers.
They also took spandex and created small projection screens by pulling it through a circular truss.
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April 11, 2012
15:00
Paint Can Lids
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Isaiah Franco from Sandals Church in Riverside, California brings us this last minute stage success.
It was Wednesday afternoon and they needed to have a set by Thursday at noon. They had ordered 200 one gallon paint cans the week before for a different set. They also had several pallets that were lying around in their warehouse. They put the two together and this is what they came up with.
They screwed 35 paint can lids onto each pallet and attached the cans to the lids. They did this with four regular sized pallets and one larger 8′ pallet.
Then they flew the pallets using chain, wire rope, and tie line to pull the back and give each suspended pallet some angle.
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April 10, 2012
15:00
23
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Mary Mokher from Christ Fellowship in Miami, Florida brings us this pastoral scene.
Their church was in a lengthy study of Psalms, and they finished the study with a series on the 23rd Psalm.
So they used fake rocks, fake green astro turf, grassy plants, and moss. To save money they reused some old wooden pallets, turned them side ways and removed some of the slats. They looked like wooden fences. Mary bought a small water fall on sale a Walmart (end of the season). Then she built it up with fake rocks, moss, and plants to give it the babbling brook look.
The large 23 was made of Styrofoam – she had a company cut it for her. Then they painted it and put it together.
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April 09, 2012
15:00
Circles and Boxes
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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David Little from Elevate Church in Morton, Illinois brings us this great combination of circles and squares.
This was for their building campaign based on Nehemiah – hence the look on the front of the stage.
The vertical screens on the side were 2×4 frames with rear projection fabric from Rosebrand. The projectors were Epson ex70′s, turned on their side, and run from a separate computer.
They hung some paper lanterns from Ikea to add to the look.
The LED’s on the sides were stage ape lights from cheaplights.com. They cost about $60 each.
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April 08, 2012
15:00
Wood Screens
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Mike Riess from Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas brings us these real wood projection screens.
One of their creatives, @JadyGriffin, decided to throw up some cool pinewood squares to use as texture for their stage.
Rather than lighting them they used a projector to project logos onto the squares. Cool look!
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April 07, 2012
15:00
Swirled
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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David Little from Elevate Church in Morton, Illinois brings us this nice design featuring a swirly stage.
They created this design on top of their already swirly painted stage. They started with a bunch of cotton fabric hung from 2 points – adjusted until it looked how they wanted. They used pars with gels to light everything.
They assembled the side walls screens with 2x4s and some of the same white fabric. They used gaff tape to make all the black divider lines.
To create the design on the floor they projected onto it with an LCD projector, then traced, masked, and painted.
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April 06, 2012
15:00
Crumpled
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Robert Walker from Bowmar Baptist Church in Vicksburg, MS brings us this great use of the popular scrunched screen material.
They started by purchasing some screen material from Home Depot. Then they stapled the screen to their back walls (be sure to use gloves).
To crumpled the screen, they unrolled the screen and started balling it up from one end to the other. For 10 feet of distance they used 12 feet of screen since it shrinks.
Then they lit it! Simple and great layout.
Check out their production blog for a few more pics and details.
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April 05, 2012
15:00
Acoustics and Pallets
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Steve Adams from First Assembly of God in Gainesville, FL brings us this nice mixture of squares and pallet pieces.
They built two 4×8 pallets with black cloth behind them. They used four LED light bars to light them from the bottom.
They also made 8 foot trusses out of 3/4 inch PVC and 1/2 inch PVC. Steve used a LED slim par can inside the truss to warm it.
The materials for the pallets and PVC trusses cost $110.
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April 04, 2012
15:00
Scrabbled
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Josh Cummings from Elim Gospel Church in Lima, NY brings us this fun stage design.
They made the board out of 1″ thick styrofoam insulation. The insulation comes in approximately 4′ X 8′ sheets. They used 6 sheets (2 horizontal at the top, 4 horizontal across the bottom) to build their Scrabble board, plus 1 more to make all of the letters. They painted the background color of the board, drew out the grid of the game board, and painted in the spaces for double-word score, triple-letter score, etc. They made the white lines with white duct tape and artists tape, and made the letter tray out of cardboard. The letters were all painted, with printed black paper letters glued on top. They lit the whole thing with Altman 360Q spots with no gels. Any colored gels could clash with or alter the colors they selected to match a real Scrabble board.
Each week they had a word (e.g. “strong”) in the tray down on the floor at the front of the stage. Then they put them up on the board for the next week.
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3:03
Winner!
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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We picked a winner for the free wireless mic system from All Pro Sound.
Congrats Tucker Sorrels!
If you didn’t win this round, don’t worry. We’ll have more giveaways in the near future. Subscribe to CSDI via RSS or email and you’ll be one of the first to know when the next giveaway comes along.
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April 03, 2012
15:00
Glass Stains
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Diane Chesnutt at Saint James United Methodist Church in Montgomery, AL brings us these great stained glass panels. (not real glass)

The window boxes were made out of plywood. The front was left open for the window and the bottom left opened so they could put lights in them.
2 boxes were 4′ x 8′
1 box were 4′ x 10′
The “window pane” was static cling vinyl – a 54″ X 30′ roll.
They constructed the boxes then painted them flat black. They staples white table paper inside each box to help reflect light.
They drew the design on the vinyl using a wide black marker. Then they painted the vinel with random colors. After it dried they staples it to the front of each box. They applied molding to the front of the boxes for a more finished look.
Then they placed a work halogen in each box.
Costs:
- Boxes – $232
- Vinyl – $75
- 3 Lights (purchased @ Harbor Freight) for $30
Total man hours: 84 hours.
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April 02, 2012
15:00
A Crossed Cross
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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John Parmalee from Faithbridge UMC in Spring, Texas brings us this great Easter cross.
John borrowed this design from Frank Lloyd Wright who often had ladders in his stained glass. The first cross was built of 1×6 pine, screwed together. There were three sections: the top, the arms and the bottom. They stood up the bottom and lifted the top connected to the arms and set it on the bottom which was on a 4′ by 4′ platform. The hoist remained attached as it was pretty top heavy. They used metal tee plates for the joints (a little paint and they go away).
They used a hoist available at Harbor Freight for around $120.
The second cross for their larger room was made of 2×6′s – put together with a framing air nailer. That cross was hung and screwed to the floor using angle brackets. They regularly punch a small round hole in the carpet and drill an insert into the floor.
Last year they put black luan plywood around the cross, cover the back with two layers of white Scuba knit polyester and back lit it with eight S-4 pars.
Behind the cross was six 5′ x 30′ strands of Scuba knit polyester woven in a big X. It cost only $2 per yard (white or black) from Glickfabric.com.
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April 01, 2012
15:00
Most Popular – March 2012
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Here are the most visited stage designs for the month of March. Just want to say another big thank you to all the stage designers who submit their stuff for us to see.
1. Zigs and Zags – 2, 327 views
  Josh Hubble from Faith Family Church in Victoria, Texas
2. Bubblewrap - 2,097 views
  Van Metschke from South Hills Church in Corona, CA
3. Waiting in Lines – 1,969 views
  Camron Ware working with Planet Wisdom Conference
4. Line ‘Em Up – 1,924 views
  Justin Spina from New Beginnings Family Church in Monrovia, CA
5. We’ll Have a Ball – 1,908 views
  Garrett Walker from Bayside Community Church in Bradenton, FL
6. Cylinder Cones – 1,766 views
  Todd Bougher at The Rock Family Worship Center in Alabama
7. The App Wall - 1,749 views
  Van Metschke at South Hills Church in Corona, California
8. The Antitruss - 1,438 views
  Bruce Schwarz from First Protestant Church in New Braunfels, Texas
9. Bublé Wrap - 1,405 views
  Jeff Poole from UBC Miami in Florida
10. Soft Waves – 1,392 views
  Diane Chesnutt at Saint James United Methodist Church in Montgomery, AL
Great job, stage designers!
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March 31, 2012
15:00
Puzzling
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Taylor Clyde from Summerville Family Worship Center in Summerville, SC brings us this stage design for their youth group.
While looking around their storage room they found some sheets of spare styrofoam. They cut the styrofoam down into the shapes in the pictures, and drilled them into the wall with drywall screws (covered with sheetrock mud). Pretty simple but great job. (It was their first stage design.)
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March 30, 2012
15:00
Hurdles
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Mat Crisp from Lifecentre in Ottawa, ON brings us these short, woodsy walls.
Mat got inspired by a few different designs here and around the Internet.
He spend about $300 on materials and with the help of a few great volunteers, they were able to have this up and running in 1.5 days.
To create this they fastened 1×4′s onto some 2×4 frames. With the extra scraps, they put a darker stain on those and fastened them randomly to the walls. The spacing between the boards was a bit bigger than they would have liked (5/8), but it worked out to their advantage. Now they can stick the leftover 1×4 boards in those gaps to act as shelves.
Because they don’t change their entire set very often, they just change out what’s on the walls for each series. Example: February was candles, March was hearts, and April/May will have a bunch of 2′ wooden crosses that will be hung on the walls that are painted white and will bear the names of all those they want to see come to Christ in black Sharpie marker.
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March 29, 2012
15:00
Spandex Squares
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Steven Hall from Northland Church in Longwood, Florida brings us these great spandex squares and some pretty tasty lighting as well.
To create the frames for the boxes, they bought outdoor deck hand rail spindles. They are 3′ long and have a 45 deg. angle cut already. This makes it super easy to make them the same (no cutting involved).
They put 1 screw through the ends of each spindle to hold the pieces together (in a square). They found it was best to pre-drill all the holes – to keep the wood from splitting. They also pre-drilled the eye hook holes.
Next, they attached a piece of spandex to the frame by stapling it across the back.
Then they added their eye hooks and hung each piece off some extra chain link they had.
They found that front lighting it worked wonderfully. They’ve had the panels for almost 2 years now, and all but one has survived (the prototype). It cost them about $350 for the set.
You can find more detailed instructions on how they built these on our Steven’s blog.
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March 28, 2012
15:00
Tape Burst
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Brandy Gibson from Chestnut Ridge Church in Morgantown, WV brings us this strandy stage design costing less than $20.
Materials: 6 rolls of clear packing tape
Though not quite as versatile as duct tape, packing tape certainly has its utility. While virtually clear without lighting, the tape glows dramatically as it slices through the luminous beams. This set was simply constructed by connecting their catwalk to a central point on a stage batten [which was first coated with plastic wrap to aid in easy, adhesive free removal]. Between 20-25 strips ran overhead, while 15-20 strips spider from the stage batten to two trusses flanking the stage.
March 27, 2012
15:00
Stacked
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Jeff Abbott from Ada Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI brings us this stack of mixed medium.
Jeff’s goal was to use several different textures to reflect the light differently…and to use the 4×8 panel sections themselves to create a “bigger” pattern across their stage. He also wanted to create something that could serve as a stand alone “art piece” when not lit.
The panels were constructed from 2×2′s, Coroplast (white) & 1/4″ threaded rod. There were 10 different smaller panels on each 4×8 panel. The smaller panels were all at different heights from the base, increasing the shadows cast and adding to the depth of the piece. The different textures used were: Burlap, 2 different florescent light covers, wrinkled screen, 2 colors of paint & a metal gutter cover. The small panel sections were held in place with nuts, washers and zip ties. The panels were lit from 2 directions with LED’s. The large center panels were left white and one of the lights focused on it to give a strong color blast in the middle of each 4×8 panel.
Each 4×8 panel cost around $120 each and uses 1-1/2 sheets of Coroplast. They had the panels installed in their large auditorium and in their smaller venues that do not use theatrical lighting. One panel on each side of the platform looks great.
As usual, if someone would like a copy of the design, please email Jeff at mhzministries@gmail.com.
March 26, 2012
15:00
Fishers
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Jon McKinley from Calvary Christian Center brings us this fishy stage design for under $100.
They have a fisherman who attends their church. He donated an old metal boat to the design. They got an artist from their congregation to paint the ugly green boat to look like a wooden boat.
Then they bought some net on Amazon.com ($60 for 9×100 net) and hung it with some dramatic drapes from the ceiling. They lit the net with led bar lights they got from amonstar.com.
They made the pulpit out of lattice pieces bought from Home Depot for around $.98 each ($20 total). The barrel was donated by a local coffee distribution warehouse. They ages the barrel and pulpit with a blow torch (outside).
They built the dock from an old fence and the pylons were made from some old telephone poles a member of the church had at his warehouse.
The rope was bought at Home Depot for $.59 a foot (40ft).
The total cost for the stage, minus existing lights, was right around $100.
March 25, 2012
15:00
I Have a Crush
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Chad Elliot from Revolution Church in Canton, GA brings us this this delicious stage design.
Crush sign:
How they made it:
- 2 4×8 sheets of 2 inch insulation
- Projected their logo for the series on to the insulation boards and traced it out
- Cut it with a sheet rock saw
- Sanded and painted with water based paint.
- Glued it together with superglue and added screws from the back side to give it stability.
- Hung on stage with fishing line.
The top Crush portion was back lit with rope lights and controlled from a dimmer pack.
Other stage components:
- 24 spandex framed circles with red fabric in the center
- 5 mega bar led fixtures lighting from the bottom
- 4 led fixtures lighting from the top truss
- 4 led par cans lighting from the top truss
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March 24, 2012
14:00
Climbing the Walls
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Cody Brown from Family Worship Center in Carrollton, KY brings us a rock wall on his back wall.
To create this they started by building two 20-foot frames out of some scrap lumber. Then they bent chicken wire into rock-like shapes stapled it over the frames. Then they dropped some paper mache on it. Then they mixed up some greyish brown paint and added sand to the mixture to add texture. After they painted the walls they added some rock wall hand holds to the walls.
They stuck a few LED panels behind the rock walls to light them and added some extra projection on the side walls.

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March 23, 2012
14:00
Solar System
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Charlie McNeill from Hope Creek Church in Durham, NC brings us this outer spacious look.
The wanted to make an outer space look on their black wall. So they took an old sign and drilled 10-15 different sized holes into it. Then they took white spray paint and sprayed the holes at different angles to create stars.
Then they took seven 4×8 sheets of blue styrofoam and cut 9 circles for planets. They bought about 25 cans of sprays paint of all different colors. Then they started painting with metal flake paint to eat away at the foam and create texture on the foam planets.
Then they took the spray paint and layered the colors on the planets taking some cardboard and cutting shapes to give them different ridge lines. Finally they took the spray paint and sprayed it over the stars to give it the glow of outer space. Then they hung the planets over the starry glowing outer space wall.
This took them about a day and cost about $250.
Tip: Spray paint has a very bad over spray and will go everywhere so make sure to cover stuff will that you don’t want paint on.
March 22, 2012
14:00
Planet Styrofoam
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Sam Albito from New Life Christian Fellowship in Elk Grove, California brings us this post-picnic piece.
Sam got inspired by another stage design on the site that used paper plates. Since their budget was low, Sam went to a Dollar Store and bought styrofoam plates and cups.
Without a sketch, Sam put them together on the back wall using black gaffers tape.
Then they lit the pieces with some Chauvet LED lights they had and there you have it! A $15 dollar stage design.
The Curtains:
They already had the curtains from a previous design. They’re a nylon spandex material bought from JoAnne Fabric and Crafts. Sam hung them on the beams with mini clamps bought from Home Depot. They also hit up the Dollar Tree for a bag of clothes pins to help support the weight of the curtains along with the mini clamps.
- Fabric from JoAnnes: $8.99/yrd
- Clamps from Home Depot: $8.00
- Clothes pins from Dollar Tree: $1.00
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March 21, 2012
14:00
Flourished and Glistening
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Angela Hoffman from Church at the Springs in Ocala, Florida brings us this beautiful Christmas design.
They were inspired by String Theory to make some string Christmas trees. To make the tree in the center which was 20′ tall, they created a scrap wood base, 8′ in diameter, and painted it black. Then they placed screws every 2″ on the side of the circle leaving 1″ of the screws sticking out from the circle. They strung Polypropylene Pulling Twine (which is used by electricians and comes in 6500′ buckets for around $35) around each screw and up through a carabiner hanging from a chain in the ceiling. They created 5 trees, an 8′, 2 at 6′ diameter, and 2 at 4′ diameter. The twine has to stay tight the whole time so they had one person up in a lift and one person on the ground passing the twine between them on another carabiner. This twine is a clear nylon with a small blue thread running through it which adds a blue color to it.
They surrounded the trees with contractor’s plastic sheeting which comes in large rolls.
The background around their large screen was created using black landscaping weed block cloth which was in a long roll 4′ wide (special ordered from Home Depot). They laid it out and painted the swirl pattern on it with layers of white acrylic paint. Because the paint seeps through the cloth they had to have it on top of a drop cloth and do several coats. Then they stapled it on to their black back wall.
This was a great hit at the holidays and was done for less than $350.
March 20, 2012
14:00
Interlocking
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Kaleb Wilcox at Topeka Bible Church in Topeka, Kansas brings us this deliciously simply, yet awesome stage design.
They needed a design that could easily fill a lot of vertical and horizontal wall space but didn’t take up too much real estate on the stage. Using the vertical wood slats that are already part of the wood panel walls of their stage, they bent strips of Coroplast and wedged them horizontally between the slats. After affixing each piece with a small nail on each side, they were very secure. The curve of the Coroplast gave some depth and dimension to the back wall and no frames or supports were needed! It took approximately 15 4′x8 sheets of Coroplast and cost $215.
The set was lit with 8 ADJ Mega Tri Bars, 4 ADJ Mega Bars, 8 Elation Opti Tri Pars, and 2 Elation Platinum 5Rs.

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March 19, 2012
14:00
Who Cars?
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Marshall Allen from Point of Grace Church in Waukee, Iowa brings us this collision-filled stage design for their student ministry: The Dive.
For their series, Collide, they used various car parts from a local body shop that gave them to them for FREE. Most of the car parts were in good condition, so they used a sledge hammer to make them look like they had been in a car accident.
They secured the quarter panels, tires, and hanging hood on the sides of the stage and ceiling using chain. The white trunk lid in the middle was secured using two pieces of drywall corner beading that was screwed into the lid and into the floor. (It was very light and didn’t need a lot of support).
They lit the walls and car parts using 12 ADJ Mega Par Profile LED’s ($100/ea).
They already owned the lights and use them every week, so the entire cost for this set was FREE.
All it took was a call to a local body shop and a little luck that they had some good parts in their junk pile to make this set look awesome!

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March 18, 2012
14:00
The Other Side of the Tracks
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Don Schaffer from Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, FL reminds me of my childhood in Guatemala. Many poor families lived only inches away from train tracks in homes less skillfully made than this. What a brilliant reminder of the poverty we’re so fortunate to avoid.
Bethany Crawford, staff member and drama head, saw what Willow Creek Community Church had done with their Third World Shelter, and so she asked volunteer carpenter John Tracht to make a similar design happen at Trinity for their annual missions conference.
Major stage differences required adaptation to the original concept, but John was able to make it happen successfully. While the set was mammoth, costs were kept low by securing old fence panels found via Craigslist and gathering cross-members from old wood palettes.
Lighting was left to Don Schaffer, Trinity’s staff video and lighting guy. Due to the height of the structure, many existing house lights could not be used. So a small collection of strategically placed fixtures filled in as needed. Medium pars were used for up-lights on the structure face. Source four fixtures with 50 degree lenses and blue gels filled the background while two more were used with aqua gels and breakup patterns. Finally, some small LED fixtures were placed to create some variation in the back-lit area.
Of note is the layering required in this design. White and gray walls and a rising choir loft required this to reduce the lines already present in the structure of the building. While darkness would have been preferred behind the set, it simply could not be done with the high reflectivity of the area. Hence, color was needed to draw viewer’s eyes to the built structure. Also, placement of the lights brought attention to the grain of the wood and it’s varied surfaces, adding to the sense of realism that was needed to pull off the desired effect of being in a third world location.
Attenders at the services noted that they felt connected with the structure even though it also held abstract properties. Not taking one to a specific/isolated location on the map, the backdrop created a mood and feeling Trinity thought was vital to communicating the need to spread the Gospel throughout the entire world. It further communicated the importance of the event to church members.
March 17, 2012
14:00
A Questionable Stage
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Sean Smallman from Gracespring Bible Church in Richland, MI brings us this question-filled stage.
Their Easter message was entitled “Doubt to Dancing”. They kicked off the series by asking the congregation to write down a question/concern/doubt that was becoming a roadblock in their relationship with God.
They wrote these down on a standard sheet of paper that, on the back side, had a single, simple, large question mark.
Then they took the question marks with everyone’s doubt and lined the stage walls to serve as a reminder during the Easter season.
First they took 20 ft. sections of mono-fillament (fishing line) and tied on paperclips every 16 inches.
Then they attached the strings of paperclips to the ceiling and gaff taped them the the floor about every foot. They left about a foot of space between the line and the wall to allow the sheets to revolve freely in the air currents.
Then a simple 1,500 copy job gave them the sheets with the question marks that were slipped into the paperclips.
Total cost was about $50. Plus a frustratingly long time tying paperclips and the untangling fishing line.

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March 16, 2012
14:00
Brilliant Fabric
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Angela Yee from University Covenant Church in Davis, California brings us this colorful fabric piece.
This stage design was for their series on the Gospel of John (14 weeks long!).
The idea was to use two pieces of burlap fabric and some cheesecloth to create a tent-like look (she was inspired by the look from Israel).
They lowered our cyc booms and started tying up the fabric to the booms. Because the fabric was pretty light, fishing line was threaded directly into the fabric and used to tie the fabric to the black booms.
They had to attach additional lines after it all got pulled up — tying strings on both the front and back of the fabric helped it drape more like a tent.
Then they added lights and palm trees.
You can get more pics from Angela Yee on her blog post.

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March 15, 2012
14:00
Equilateral
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Diane Chesnutt at Saint James United Methodist Church in Montgomery, AL brings us this geometry teacher’s fantasy.
They made the rectangles from PVC pipe in 4 different sizes: 12′, 10. 8′ and 6′. Then they covered them with white muslin. Bar lights were placed inside each column.
The triangles were stretch fabric held in place with griff clips with the front lighting. All items reuseable individually: columns only or triangles only.
The stretch fabric cost $109, white muslin $100, PVC pipe $125, and griff clips $50.
March 14, 2012
14:00
The Art Scene
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Mike from Word Of Grace Community Church in Sheboygan Falls, WI brings us this pop art stage design.
Mike wanted to avoid the ever-so-easy square stage elements. So he went with circles.
He used 363 soda cans in this design. He cut the cans with a jig he built, a chop saw, and a trusty pair of safety glasses. After he cut the cans he attached them to a strip of 3/4 x 3/4-inch wood with a pin nailer. Then he attached that to another strip to create a grid. To accent the cans he painted 3 foot by 3 foot pieces of plywood with a “circle-y” design. Then he framed it all with 1×4′s and painted them to match.
The lighting consisted of purple and red gels on the pieces of plywood and clear lights on the cans and hanging circles. The clear lights needed to be dimmed on the cans – it would’ve been too bright otherwise.
Cost: about $70.
March 12, 2012
14:00
Soft Waves
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Diane Chesnutt at Saint James United Methodist Church in Montgomery, AL brings us this stage design I’d easily want to jump into.
They started by base coating foam boards white and cutting them with a hot knife. Then they hot-glued surgical gloves at the knuckles facing the board in rows. The they screwed to black 1×2 wood slats leaving a 2′ gap between the top and bottom.
It hung as one piece but looks like two individual pieces “floating” from afar. They also put a 2×4 across the back at the top to give it some extra hanging support.
Materials/Costs:
- 4 4X8 ¾ foam board – $54
- 2400 white surgical gloves – $158.14
- 1 gallon white paint – $16.25
- 8 1X2 wood slats – $9.20
- Black paint
- Glue Sticks
Total – $237.59
Total Setup – 47 man-hours

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March 11, 2012
14:00
Spandex Bookends
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Brad Livingston from Hearts of Love Ministry in Pensacola, Florida brings us this design great for low ceilings.
Knowing the challenge of designing for low ceilings, they had to be creative with fabric and a higher quantity of lower cost LED fixtures.
They used a lot of stretchy fabric, and plenty of LED’s to create the effect. The primarily used inexpensive fixtures since they have low ceilings.
To create the fabric triangles they bought stretch material from a local fabric store. They sewed the edges to keep them from tearing. Then they stretched them from the floor and ceiling.
On truss shooting forward:
ADJ Par 38b
ADJ Mega Bar 50 RGB
Shooting up sheets:
Mega Pixel Led
On drum shield:
Two Chauvet Colorsplash 200b’s to light up drums
March 10, 2012
15:00
Line ‘Em Up
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Justin Spina from New Beginnings Family Church in Monrovia, CA brings us this linear design.
To create this set they used primed 8ft MDF. They cut the MDF in half. The MDF they bought was 3 different shades of grey and 2 accent colors. Then they attached the MDF to 8ft and 7ft metal frames.
The center projection was a short throw projector that they got from Camron Ware‘s design: Texturesized.

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March 09, 2012
15:00
A Christmas Tri
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Vaughn VanSkiver from Victory Highway Wesleyan Church in Painted Post, NY brings us this Christmas set with trees and large columns.
Vaughn was inspired by Tree’s Company. The trees were two-sided and hinged – covered with white polyester penne fabric. They added strands of white christmas tree lights. The tree heights were 2′, 4′, 6′ & 8′. Then they also added five-sided 18′ columns covered in two way stretch polyester fabric. They lit the set with Par 64 LED cans.
The tree lights and LEDs were all operated independently – giving them versatility to create a light show for the Tran-Siberian Orchestra’s arrangement of Carol of the Bells.
This was a collaborative effort of their set design team: Ernie & Jeanette Stanton, Vaughn & Joyce VanSkiver, Steve Stone & Dave Homer.

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March 08, 2012
15:00
Pushers
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Kristina from Life Church in Aston, PA brings us these pushy stage design elements.
They are a mobile church that meets in middle schools Saturday nights and Sundays mornings. So they are always trying to find new things that are cheap, durable and portable.
To create this set they took 4 pieces of insulation board and painted them black. Then they used a lamp to make a shadow and painted them white.
They used 4 can lights on a piece of scrap wood from an older project – with green and blue filters to match the logo.
This design cost $65 and it held up even 4 moves each weekend.

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March 07, 2012
15:00
Boxed
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Clinton Self and Mason Kent from Abundant Life Church in Denham Springs, LA brings us these great Coroplast boxes.
They went for an equalizer effect with this set. They cut Coroplast at different lengths and scored them on the sides. Then they created “boxes” out of them by folding the sides. Then they lit them with 40 Elation LED Strips.
They also used 13 HighEnd X-Spots, 6 Elation Powerwashes, and a diffusion hazer to create the foggy effect.
March 06, 2012
15:00
Side Show
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Gary Brownell from Sagebrush Community Church in Albuquerque, NM brings us this carnivalous stage design.
To match their series artwork, they made it look like the band was playing on a vintage carnival ride (similar to a Tilt-a-Whirl). They constructed the “rides” out of sheets of 1/2 inch styrofoam for the front halves of the rides and secured it to their stage risers. The railing at the top of the rides was painted foam pipe insulation placed over the edge of the curved foam sheets. Then they ran chasing rope light around the edges of the rides.
The chain fence behind the rides was painted plastic chain draped from 1 1/2 inch painted PVC pipe to help give the look of a circus ride. LED “party bulbs” ($4.95) flashing different colors sat on top of the fence posts. All construction material was from Home Depot.
They used their existing chrome painted PVC truss as the backdrop.
The wacky shaped video screens, with a little bit of forced perspective, were 1″ styrofoam sheets edged in black gaffers tape and projected on from their front video projector to complete the circus ride look.
Gary had to make a few repairs during the series because determined 5 year old kids would get up on the stage and attempt to climb in the styrofoam rides.

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March 05, 2012
15:00
Roughing It
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Ryan Murphy from East Hill Church in Gresham, OR brings us this rough back wall.
They created a huge textured wall as the backdrop. They started by creating 6 wooden frames with 25 2x4x8 studs. First they split the boards making 2x2x8′s. With those splits they made 2 8×8 foot square frames and 4 8×7 foot square frames with one center beam in each of the frames.
Then they covered the frames in Weed Block with the reflective side facing the auditorium. They added the aluminum screening that was as warped as they could get it.
They attached the weed block and the aluminum to the frames with 2/3-inch staples. Then they attached all the frames together with 2 inch screws. To help them stand up they added feet on the back of each of them.
They made the screen above the texture using Coroplast. The screen was an 18×10 foot screen and cost under $150.00. The normal cost for a screen that large is between 4-5k. Awesome look for the price!
The largest sheets they could purchase were 4×8 and they cut everything to size. They attached each of the sheets with Gaffers tape. Then they spaced a 1 foot long strip about every foot laterally to disperse the weight a little better. Then along the top they added a 2×2 board all the way across, so it would straighten the entire screen.
Unless the panels are exactly square (which they were not) you are forced to put white strips of tape along the front of the screen along each of the seems to cover them a little. Depending on what you project you can slightly see the tape.
The stage cost was under $500.00.

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March 04, 2012
15:00
Most Popular – February 2012
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Here are the most visited stage designs for the month of February. Just want to say another big thank you to all the stage designers who submit their stuff for us to see.
1. We’ll Have a Ball – 2,948 views
  Garrett Walker from Bayside Community Church in Bradenton, FL
2. Bubblewrap - 2,699 views
  Van Metschke from South Hills Church in Corona, CA
3. Hyper Techno Dots – 2,076 views
  Eric Bradley from Life Center Church in Spokane, WA
4. Bublé Wrap – 1,880 views
  Jeff Poole from UBC Miami in Florida
5. Shine Your Light – 1,820 views
  Josh Gilson from New Life Church in El Cajon, California
6. Beautiful in Lights – 1,752 views
  Garrett Walker from Bayside Community Church in Bradenton, FL
7. The App Wall – 1,692 views
  Van Metschke at South Hills Church in Corona, California
8. Tied – 1,596 views
  Jake Wandel from The Crossing in Columbia, MO
9. The Weave – 1,591 views
  Jeff Abbott at Christ Church in Hickory, North Carolina
10. The Antitruss – 1,359 views
  Bruce Schwarz from First Protestant Church in New Braunfels, Texas
Great job, stage designers!

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March 03, 2012
15:00
Bucket Branches
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Sarah Tornquist from Evangel Church in Scotch Plains, New Jersey brings us these highly portable Christmas elements.
They have a small platform so they needed something low budget and impacting.
The trees were about 5-6 ft tall and placed in black 5 gallon paint buckets. They spray painted the trees a light sparkly silver and filled the buckets with salt rock and big stones. (You could also fill it with plaster of paris or cement if you wanted.) Since they picked up the trees after Hurricane Irene hit, the total cost was about $40 for spray paint and salt rock. They already had the buckets, stones, and lights.
They hung small battery operated tea lights on each tree and hung light bulbs from the ceiling that they controlled from the tech booth. The trees were lighted with LED’s that they placed at the bottom so they had multiple colors to choose from. They paired it with a bench and a lamp post that they had in storage to create a Narnia look for a short drama.

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March 02, 2012
15:00
Waiting in Lines
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Camron Ware working with Planet Wisdom Conference brings us this great use of projection and wood slats.
They basically took white wood slats, hung them spaced out with chain, and suspended them from pipe and drape which they blacked out. Camron used Hitachi ultra-short throw projectors to project motion/imagery on them. It created a cool, cheap versa-tube effect!
Check out the Visual Worshiper Facebook page to see some videos of the event.
March 01, 2012
15:00
Scenery
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Candace Shropshire from Fellowship Church at Granite Bay in Granite Bay, CA brings us this faux scenery on their stage.
For their 40 Days of Health series they went for a biking theme…mountain and street.
They used yellow tape on the stage to create a “road”. Then they used fake Christmas trees left over from Christmas to create a forest and waterfall falling into their baptismal. For clouds they reused aluminum screening from their Christmas series and bunched them up. Then they hung them from the rafters with fishing line and shot them with blue gelled Par 64 cans.
The sun was a piece of foam board that was painted yellow and orange to resemble a sun. Then they lit it with yellow Par 64 cans and three yellow Par 64 cans shooting away from the sun to create “rays”. They also shot the trees with green Par 64 cans to brighten up the forest area and give the effect of the sun shining through them.

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February 29, 2012
15:00
Party Hats
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Tiffany Burgess from New Life Church in Sullivan, IL brings us these vintage Christmas trees, ornaments, and presents.
They made the ornaments and trees from 3/4 inch thick foam board insulation bought from Menards (about $12 per 4ftX8ft piece). They used 18 pieces. The pieces had the tongue and groove so it made it easier to design the bigger trees.
They printed the designs in black and white onto projector paper. Then they put the foam board against a wall and used an old style projector to project the design onto the foam board. They used a dull pencil to make the marks or indentations for the design.
Everything got one coat of white primer and then its respective color design. They used semi-gloss on all of it and foam brushes since dents could easily be made in the foam board. Some of it was free-hand and some was carefully perfected with painters tape.
The ornaments were hung by the wall with fishing wire from the ceiling. The presents were held up by another piece of foam board glued to the back going in the opposite direction. The trees were held up by 2×4 stands that they made. Since the design was so colorful itself, they just used white lights on the floor in front of each tree.

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4:44
Announcing Sunday| Magazine
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Hey readers! Sunday| Magazine is a project I’ve been working on that launches Thursday. It’s a free online magazine about the creative process of Sunday mornings. It’s filled with incredible contributors and I’m super excited about it. If you haven’t subscribed yet, do it! You won’t be sorry.
Subscribe and check out some of the contributors.
February 28, 2012
15:00
Having an Episode
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Nathan LeJeune from Jesus Worship Center in Jennings, Louisiana brings us this youth remodel.
Their youth took over the old church building. It’s a simple block rectangle building. They had a very small budget ($700) and were looking to make as drastic a change as possible – without taking away any of the ‘old church’ decor.
So they built a faux wall using eight 4×8 frames with foam on the outside. Then they built 3 rises for the band members.
They took the faux walls and painted the foam on the front black. They then used white duck tape to make the large squares and picked several squares to paint different colors.
They made the sign for the top (the name of their service) and placed some simple shop lights on the sign.
Then they painted several foam sheets black, splatter painted them, and wrote Hebrew words for “Christ” on them. Then they hung them to lower the large ceilings.
They placed two light boxes on each side of the drums with simple colored lights in them.
They also placed their four par cans with colored filters behind the faux walls to shine up on the walls.

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3:00
Giveaway!
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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One of our sponsors, All Pro Sound, wants to give away a wireless microphone system to one of the CSDI readers. How do you enter to win? Simply leave a comment on this post (use your real email address) and share this link ( [csdi.info] ) on Facebook or Twitter. All Pro Sound will get the email addresses and pick a winner from the list. Deadline to enter is March 30, 11:59pm CST. Leave a comment now. (One entry per person.)
Here are the details on the system:
This is a UHF wireless handheld microphone system, great for communicating from the pulpit, singing, television interviews, and more. Infrared frequency sync takes the pain out of setting up the system. A noise-free mute switch keeps you out of the mains when you don’t want to be, and auto-scanning and true diversity channel switching keeps the signal nice and strong.
Features:
- Frequency Range 655-679 mHz
- Handheld wireless microphone system
- 32 channel UHF Selectable frequencies
- True diversity
- Auto scan
- Metal chassis
- Rack mount included.
- Infrared Frequency Sync
- Noise-Free Mute switch
- 2 AA Batteries included
- XLR & 1/4″ outputs
February 27, 2012
15:00
Cylinder Cones
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Todd Bougher at The Rock Family Worship Center in Alabama brings us these awesome background structures.
He started these structures by creating 2″ rings cut from 1/2″ MDF sheets (4′x4′). Then he ripped 1/4″ strips from a 2x4x10 piece of spruce. He used spruce because it has less knots and stays more true when ripped (he also chose straight lumber). He attached the rings to 1/4″ x 10′ strips with glue and long staples or screws.
He ripped 1″x2″x10′ plastic trim down the middle creating 1/4″x2″x10′ pieces. Using a chop saw, he cut sections to fit along the rings horizontally between vertical strips.
He found black big hole mesh and white spandex from Stretchhouse.com. You need the spandex that will stretch up to 7′ wide and need 3-4 yards of both types of material. The fronts were stretched and stapled with black mesh and back half and top with white spandex. You can see through mesh and light is reflected well off white spandex. Shadows of frame are seen on inside white fabric creating depth.
He used an air compressor with staple gun to attach structure and fabric. (You will regret trying to use a hand stapler.) Then he added white 1″ elastic down the sides of the structures to hide the loose material and make it look finished where mesh and white meet.
Materials:
- 1/2″ MDF
- White spandex
- Black big hole mesh
- 2x4x10 spruce
- Staples (long and short)
- Glue
- Elastic
- Paint
February 26, 2012
15:00
Ice Pillars
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Candace Shropshire from Fellowship Church at Granite Bay in Granite Bay, CA brings us this towers of ice pillars.
They “wrinkled” 20-foot lengths of aluminum screening and hung them from their truss. Then they shot them with blue gelled Par 64 cans.
They had several fake Christmas trees from years past, and some families allowed them to borrow others, to create a little “forest” along the back. They used batting (used for pillows or quilts) to create snow on the trees.
They made a manger from reclaimed lumber. Then they shot it with yellow and violet light from Par 64 cans.
Finally, they finished it off with some “fog” from a dry ice fog machine.
Total cost of $150 for screening and batting. The rest of the props were borrowed or built from used material.

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February 25, 2012
15:00
Ultrawide
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Kevis Mulchan from newhope church in Durham, NC brings us glistening bit of Christmas.
They used reclaimed windows from Habitat For Humanity Re-store as their main backdrop. Then they hung clear florescent light tube protectors stuffed with LED and traditional Christmas lights inside. They put each light on a separate dimmer channel for individual control.
Finally, they added four 65″ Panasonic Commercial Grade Plasma TV’s to the set. They served the images with ProPresenter 4. The TVs have built-in video processors that allowed them to split up the image however they wanted to.

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February 24, 2012
15:00
Checkmate!
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Jeremy Davidson from Harrah Church in Harrah, OK brings us this set for their “Top Gear” series.
They made the checkered flags from 2′ x 2′ black and white sheets of Coroplast that were stapled to a frame made of 2″ x 4″ and along the back wall of the stage. They spent about $200 on the set.
Then they borrowed some tires and rims to go on the lower stage where the pastor delivered his sermons.
They played videos from Top Gear Director Nigel Simpkiss’ Vimeo page on the large sidescreens during the pre-service to help amp up the car theme.
They also played a video called The Long Road from Worship Films on the side screens during the sermon. It is a long play video that morphs from scene to scene and lasts around 7 minutes.
The series coincided with the start of the new season of Top Gear on BBCA.

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February 23, 2012
15:00
Twisted Cheer
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Paul Smollen from La Croix United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau, MO brings us these lovely fabric Christmas trees.
They 2011 Christmas design was centered around an organization called Feed My Starving Children. They wanted a non-traditional Christmas tree and the FMSC food boxes to keep their focus on the mission of providing food for the needy.
So their construction team made a 16’ tall tree from 1”x4” lumber with a hinging disc at the top which all the upright boards were attached to. They tapered the top of the boards to come to a point, wired them together and braced the bottom. They attached a safety cable to the top and wrapped the entire teepee-like structure with alternating green and red fabric stapled to the framework. Then they topped the tree with a 20” Moravian star from Ebay, and lit the whole thing with a combination of Studio Spot 250, Technobeam fixtures and Martin Mac 500’s for the rest of the projected pattern textures.
They up-lit the white curtains at the back of the stage with Elation TriBrick fixtures. The curtains, which were 10’ wide, were gathered to a point at the top and tied off.
Each week they added more strands of hanging lights to which their team had soldered random length extensions so we could power them with a single circuit. They were 11w clear bulbs turned way down to a candle-flame look.

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February 22, 2012
15:00
Mancave
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Joey Riggins from Lighthouse Church in Panama City Beach, Florida brings us this set seeping with testosterone.
This set was centered around the letters spelling mancave. They made the letters from 1/2” plywood cut into 4×4 pieces and painted various earth tones to give the stage some manly color. They used a transparency paper and a projector to trace the words on the wood. Then they nailed several nails about 2-3 inches apart along the outline. Then they wrapped string around the entire letter 3 times. Once the outline were there they filled in the letters with string.
Then they bore 1-inch holes in the top corners and threaded thick boat rope through each hole. Then they tied a large knot to give it a rigid feel.
They hung a couple deer heads on the walls and made some goal post out of 3” PVC pipe and draped with jerseys. Some deer hide, a recliner, and a lamp finished the set out.
The whole set only cost about $300 – all supplies purchased from Lowes.

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February 21, 2012
15:00
Zigs and Zags
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Josh Hubble from Faith Family Church in Victoria, Texas brings us this beautiful use of color and texture.
First they built frames varying in size from 2′x4′, 2′x8′, 4′x4′ and 4′x8′. They constructed the frames from 2×4 studs and attached them to supports with 12′ 2×6 uprights on 3/4″ Plywood bases. The bases measured 4′ 3″x4′ and 2′ 3″x4′. They stapled the screen on the top face of the panel. Then they unrolled it and crumpled it up. They stapled the rest down and cut it.
The fiberglass comes in 8′x26″ sheets so they had to cut it to the right sizes.
They arranged the panels in the uprights by making sure they were flush on front and back – with an inch of separation.
They lit the set with 6 Chauvet COLORado Tour LED pars on the front panels, and 5 Wybron Nexera Profiles on the back large panels. The front panels were lit from underneath, and the rear from above. By doing that they created opposing shadows.
They mounted their series logo between two of the supports to eliminate the need for overhead rigging or ground support.

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February 20, 2012
15:00
Bubble Tree
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Stan Brantley from FBC Oviedo in Oviedo, Florida brings us this bubbly, Christmas masterpiece.
They created the Christmas tree in the center from paper lanterns ranging from 20 to 42 inches in size. They first built a tower-like frame out of aircraft cable that was attached to the floor and pulled tightly up toward the ceiling with a cable motor. Then they attached the lanterns to the frame with zip-ties.
They built the base of the tree with Coroplast.
They built the banners in the back with black weed block painted gray with a broom.
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February 19, 2012
15:00
Dropping Twinkles
» ‎ Church Stage Design Ideas

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Andrea Trimbur from Valley Community Church in Peoria, Arizona brings us these showers of Christmas lights.
They decided to take advantage of the height of their stage and hang strands of lights from PVC pipes from the ceiling. It really illuminated the whole room well.
They hung the PVC pipes using some heavy duty fishing line, and anchored them in the ceiling and the floor. To power the blue lights, they just connected several strands of lights together and strung them up and ran the power to a dimmer. Then they controlled it through their light board. For the white lights in the front they used 4-foot long power strips and hung each strand from its own plug and powered the light strip through a dimmer to their light board as well.

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