Montana’s Journey Church Upgrades Production Capabilities with grandMA3light CRV

Bozeman, Montana’s Journey Church, part of the Western Conference of the Evangelical Church, has invested in grandMA3 light CRV (Control Room Version) console, provided by Bozeman’s Jereco Studios.  ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of MA Lighting products in North America. 

The grandMA3 light CRV differs from the standard grandMA3 light model in that it is supplied without the monitor wing.  It features external monitor ports to facilitate the convenient location of external, third-party touchscreens without compromising the grandMA3 light console functionality. It’s convenient for smaller control booths with limited stage-forward visibility. 

“We’re a technology-forward church and try to use tools to the best of our ability and maximize anything we already have,” explains Journey Church Production Director Kevin Butler.  “We wanted to move toward reinforcing the energy and emotion of our music with concert-style lighting.  But the lighting fixtures and the console we had were limiting factors for us.”

However, “Kevin had a beautiful workstation set up with two touchscreens and didn’t want to lose that,” notes Jeremiah Slovarp, Technical Director and President of Jereco Studios.  “When he wanted a lighting upgrade and asked what console people were using, we told him MA Lighting consoles were the number one choice for the concert market.  We showed him the grandMA3 light, but he didn’t want to lose the touchscreens he had, so we said the grandMA3 light CRV comes without displays.  With that model, he could get the hardware he needed without buying more displays he didn’t need.”

According to Butler, the church’s production department was able to get up and running on the new console “super fast.  Our Lighting Designer, Jimmy Boland, picked up things quickly.  Our touchscreens were compatible, and everything worked very well.”

Journey Church also invested in a completely new stage lighting package, which are easily accommodated by the new console,” he says.  “The platform’s feature set and parameter capabilities are designed with room for us to grow and expand, too.  This purchase and others we’ll make are designed to help create more immersive and meaningful services.”

The church, which seats about 950 people, has two Sunday morning services each week.  They are livestreamed for parishioners who cannot attend in person and new people in town who are exploring worship options.  Services feature an on-stage band with 12-14 members, plus video elements and IMAG.  Butler oversees all production with Boland and other volunteers operating the equipment.

“We have showed the volunteers what they need to know to run the console for services, and they will go on to learn more about designing lighting looks,” Butler says.  “What I love about grandMA3 is that we can store the look of our songs — over time we will repeat songs, so storing sequences and recalling them will save us a lot of time.”

Journey Church is located at The Commons at Baxter & Love, a space built not only for the church to meet in but also for the growing Bozeman community to utilize.  “We host a wide range of conferences, expos, fundraisers and concerts, and those guests get to enjoy an elevated production experience with our audio, video and lighting gear,” Butler notes. 

While Jereco Studios acted as the integrator for Journey Church’s recent lighting console upgrade, it is also an event production company with an inventory of MA consoles for its own use and for rental.  “We own two grandMA3 lights and have a full-size system on order,” reports Slovarp.  

Jereco Studios sells and rents Ayrton lighting fixtures, too, another brand exclusively distributed in North America by ACT Entertainment.  “We’ve had a long relationship with ACT,” says Slovarp.  “We have Ayrton Perseo Beams and Karifs and just got eight Rivales.  We plan to acquire another eight Rivales to accommodate fall concert tours that are asking for more.”