PixelFLEX Helps Change the Perception of Worship at Shoreline Church

	Shoreline Church Destin, Florida. Photo: Hillary Vest

Located in Destin, Florida, Shoreline Church has always tried to find creative and unique ways to share their message while changing the perception of a typical church. As their congregation has continued to grow, the church recently had the opportunity to continue their ministry vision with the renovation an old nightclub into a modern worship facility. Knowing they wanted to install the technical elements that would allow them to further the creativity of their worship services, they found a key component to their new design in a FLEXLite II 3.9mm LED video system from PixelFLEX.

"We have used LCD video projection in the past and recently while visiting the WFX Conference, I began seeing how LED video has now become a viable solution for the house of worship market," began lead pastor Eric Partin. "Since we were in the process of completing a new building, we started looking at the quality of LED video over LCD projection. Before, it seemed that only the big churches with large budgets could afford LED video systems, but once we saw it was also an affordable solution for us, we decided LED video would be the best option for our new worship experience."

FLEXLite LED from PixelFLEX is an economical and dynamic solution which provides both indoor and outdoor solutions ideal for any retail environment. With its bright, dense display and high refresh rate, FLEXLite tiles are calibrated directly out of the box to insure perfect color and brightness, and its easy access back panels allow for simple on-site repairs without the hassle of removing the entire back of a tile.

"If we were going to try and use LCD projectors in the new space, it was going to create some problems as far as the throw distance, and space required for rear projection should we need it," continued Partin. "When looking at LED video, it was much more effective due to its high-resolution images that were more clear and crisp. The projectors we currently had were older technology, so we were going to have to upgrade anyway, and when researching the benefits of LED over LCD, it was really no comparison."

With the decision made to move forward with the LED video solution from PixelFLEX, the team turned their attention to the installation. In the renovation of the former nightclub, the stage would remain in place and provided the ideal location to create the focal point of the new worship design.

"Since the stage was already in place, the team installed a cross beam that holds the LED video wall in a top-hang configuration and then ran the Cat6 network cables to the back of the house which connect to the NovaStar links," explained Matthew Metcalfe. "We love being able to use it as a more dynamic background for our worship environment with video clips, lyrics, and then also as a set design feature during our services and special events that occur each month."

Now complete, the FLEXLite II LED video wall at Shoreline Destin measures approximately 16' high and 25' wide, but as with many congregations, the understanding of how to control the technology would fall mainly upon a team of volunteer technicians. Knowing they would need a bit of guidance to get started, PixelFLEX worked with the church to ensure their team could take full advantage of the creative possibilities of LED video.

"We don't currently have a full-time tech director and when we first installed the wall, we were a bit challenged by what we knew technically," concluded Partin. "We really relied on the team at PixelFLEX to help train our volunteer technicians on how to design with the LED wall, and it's been a complete game-changer for our congregation. To have the creative potential of LED video, along with all our new production equipment, it really takes our worship services to a whole new level."