Dallas Trip, Part 7 of Many

Last stop on the trip:  Lake Pointe Church and my friend Jason Cole. This place is huge. I don't remember how many their auditorium seats, but it's like 40 thousand million...something like that.

Here's a shot of their set up close. These pieces are made of metal studs with corrugated plastic and OSB screwed to them. Bare-bones, but oh so cool...

Here's a shot of their stage from the tech booth.

This is where parents pick up their kids from their children's ministries. Kids can walk down the stairs or use the huge slide in the middle. I would assume that this is the most unused staircase in the entire world!

Here's a shot of their youth building. What!? This place is completely off-the-chain, over-the-top AWESOME! Makes me wish I were a teenager in Rockwall, TX.

You may think your eyes are deceiving you, but you are, in fact seeing a double-decker half-court basketball court. Simply amazing.

Here is Jason and me. By the way, he hosted us on his DAY OFF. Thanks so much, Jason. You're awesome!

In all, another great visit at another great facility, hosted by another great guy. I'll have a wrap-up tomorrow, and some comments about all the great guys I met while on my trip.

Dallas Trip, Part 6 of Many

Alright, after leaving Brian and Fellowship Bible, I headed on to Worship House Media. If you've read my blog before, you know that I run Crossroads Creative, and that we have pieces on Worship House, among others. Anyway, the two main guys there are Kent McKeaigg and Dale Carter. They have a video podcast (mostly) every week, and they crack me up.

While in Dallas, I wanted to do a little PR for Crossroads Creative, so, I went to lunch with them. I got to see their facility, which was cool, and we traded swag. Their offices also house Igniter Media (their parent company) and Collide Magazine.

Anyway, I brought my camera in with me, but forgot to take pictures, so I made this today...

Crazy, mad Photoshop skills. I took extra precaution to ensure matching the color of my face compared to theirs!

I had a great time with them (and Kent paid for lunch!).  Great guys.

Tomorrow, I'm on to Jason Cole at Lake Pointe, and their hugenormous facility.

Dallas Trip, Part 5 of Many

OK, so begins Day Two of my Dallas adventure. After a great breakfast at my hotel, and catching a little of the FOX News coverage of the announcement of my new girlfriend, Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate, I was off to Fellowship Bible Dallas, to meet my new friend, Brian Davis.

This was simply one of the coolest places I've ever been. They converted an entertainment complex into their worship facility, and the transformation is amazing!

The first three pics come from the first floor. This is their coffee shop. I'm not sure what this was before, but the result works for me...

This is one of their children's rooms. The entire children's facility was once a laser tag arcade. Nice.

This was once "Club 88" which was owned by Drew Pearson, who played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1937-1983. There was even a big backlit 88 in the dance floor. It had a commercial kitchen, so they decided to make it their fellowship hall.

OK, that was all on the first floor. On the second floor was a movie theater complex. There were four rooms on one side and three on the other. One side comprises their youth facility, and the other is a chapel and their auditorium. Their auditorium is actually three movie theaters all combined into one large, yet surprisingly intimate worship space.

 The third floor was just workspace for the projector rooms, plus catwalk for the complex. They took out the ceilings and converted it all into usable space. Their media facility is actually in two of the old projection rooms. How cool is that? This is the view of the second floor from one of those now-exposed catwalks.

And here I am with Brian. He's a really talented guy, and a great new friend.

Fellowship Bible was a really cool place. It was neat to see how they retrofitted their design into the space that was there before them. Great job!

OK, tomorrow, I'll post about meeting the two main guys from (and my tour of) Worship House Media.

Dallas Trip, Part 4 of Many

OK, on to the next part of my Dallas trip.  Thursday evening, we went over to Watermark Community Church to visit my new friend Ryan Howell. We got there in time to check out their tech rehearsal. All of his guys were very accommodating, and we all learned a lot from them.

Watermark's building is absolutely gorgeous. They used raw materials in a very elegant way, resulting in an unusual but beautiful worship center.

OK, the first pic. Notice the striations at the back of the room. Those are actually 2X4s separated by empty spaces all in front of insulation painted black. Oh, yeah, the 2X4s aren't sealed, so when you get to the last couple of rows, you smell the raw wood! So very cool.

This is their band rehearsing. The huge images on ether side of the stage aren't screens. Those images are projected on the walls (and they're running through their lighting console). Awesome.

Here are the sound deflection panels hanging from the ceiling. They're finish grade plywood (maple, I think) and thick-chipped OSB, hung sporadically around the room. I think there is sound treatment on top of them. So cool.

And here's Ryan. What a great guy. He's one of those dudes that, if you don't like him, it's because you have a problem!

I just can't stress enough how great each of these guys were, and Ryan was certainly no exception.

Tomorrow, and amazing transformation as a church takes over an entertainment/movie theatre/night club/laser tag complex. We'll look at Fellowship Bible Dallas and Brian Davis.

Friday Funny

OK, I was going to post about Watermark and my new friend Ryan Howell, but I found two incredible gems that I feel compelled to share with you. Words can't possibly describe what you're about to see, but you can take a shot at it if you wish...

First up, Jesus is my friend...

glumbert - Jesus Is My Friend

Jesus is my best friend, so you won't catch me singing this. Ever.

OK, here's the next one...

I'm speechless. What say you?

Dallas Trip, Part 3 of Many

After my way-too-large fajitas at La Hacienda, we left with Greg Bacus to tour the ginormous Fellowship Church.  Greg's their Media Pastor, and he's one cool dude.

Here's their FOH area, a Digidesign Venue and a Grand MA. This pair was to be the second of three I'd see for the day. I'm gently breathing out the jealousy as I type...

Here's a shot of their DigiCo TV console. Serenity now...

And here's Greg and me in their way-cool foyer...

This marked my third trip to Fellowship Church. Crossroads owes a lot of who we are to them, and it's always a real treat to go.

Tomorrow, a really cool place:  Watermark Community Church.

Dallas Trip, Part 2 of Many

The last week of August, I flew up to Dallas to check out some large churches there, because Crossroads Church is building a 1500-seat auditorium. I got to make some great new friends.

My first stop was at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship, where Greg Atkinson serves as the Director of Technical Arts. Greg is a highly influential and well-connected guy, and I'm sure he had plenty of things he could have been doing, other than giving me the tour of their truly awesome facility.

Here are the pics...

This is their baptistry in the foyer. This photo doesn't do it justice... 

This is their coffee shop. really cool...

Here's a shot of their auditorium...

And here I am with the man...

(By the way, I'm 6 feet tall. Greg is like 9'47").

Their facility is simply beautiful, and extremely (and tastefully) well-done. We capped off our visit with a trip to La Hacienda. If you've read his blog, you've heard of it. Thanks again, Greg, for your hospitality.

Tomorrow, Fellowship Church.