Look Up!

Brad Hillier from Bay Life Church in Brandon, FL brings us this stage design that points the eyes upward. (originally posted August 2015)

This sermon series set was part of their “Rise Up” debt-reduction campaign. It incorporated several extra elements that came into play as the series progressed and helped them reinforce a number of sermon action steps. They spent around $1500 to create the whole thing, but they recycled so many things that it’s difficult to put a real number on it. The professional printing and the rentals were the bulk of the cost.

For the backdrop design, the team was inspired by an Israel Houghton video and the need to push the visual attention to the center of the stage and video screen. They used metal stud framing and blue painted Coroplast for the accordion-folded backdrop and lit it with par cans. The round pieces on the truss were just zip-tied on and were an adhesive print, mounted on foamcore. They rented chain motors so that they could move the aluminum truss up and down. They incorporated a tiered shelf for roses, easels to display large vinyl banners and a special vinyl adhesive fingerprint (an element of our logo) on plexiglass for a coin depository – used in their kids ministry participation element during their pledge service.

One of the special action steps that the set supported was a full-congregation activity. They professionally printed large banners and had their people press their fingerprints and sign their names on the banners. Once everyone had submitted their pledge card and participated in the banner activity, the banners were attached to the lowered truss and then raised as they reached the climax of the campaign theme song.

Finally, in their weekly services, they take a rose to the platform for every decision for Christ. To represent these decisions, they had a procession during the pledge service and placed 950 roses on stage. They made a tiered shelf for the roses to create an emotionally significant display of all of the roses recorded since their church opened.