The burgeoning growth of megachurches has altered notions of a house of worship’s aesthetics. Truth be told, the days of quiet churches, with rows of hardwood pews with padded seats, and hymnbooks filled with such traditional songs as “Just As I Am” and “Amazing Grace”, may be numbered. Rather than gently beckoning a congregant to a time of silent worship, megachurches grab worshippers and immediately engage them in an hour of praise and celebration with live music and sermons that incorporate videos and graphics that make the message more accessible to attendees.
Usually, signage plays a key role in cultivating such environments. Well-crafted backdrops help define the atmosphere and visually reinforce the minister’s message.
Some churches contract with local sign companies to craft sign programs that generate interest from the exterior monument sign to the sanctuary. Others, such as Wichita, KS’s NewSpring Church, have hired in-house talent to develop such environments. Dale Poore has served as NewSpring’s full-time creative-space designer for seven years. He said the church, which was known as Messiah Baptist until 2007, attracts approximately 6,000 worshippers weekly.
“NewSpring’s strategy is to be joyful, relevant and irresistible in everything it does,” he said. “We want the stage sets and themed environments to make someone who comes here think, ‘I wish so-and-so was here to see this’, even before they’ve heard the message or listened to the band.”
Every onsite environment represents an ambitious placemaking experience. Baby Bay, NewSpring’s nursery, is enveloped in a seascape decoration that includes a yellow submarine. Its 20,000-sq.-ft. preschool campus recreates an idyllic neighborhood that includes a sandlot, train station and garden patch. A coffee-shop sign and wayfinding create the atmosphere.
Since 2009, Poore has designed the signs and environmental graphics with Delcam’s (now an Autodesk company) ArtCAM 3-D software. He said he prefers the program – which he implements on a Dell T3500 workstation with a Wacom Cintq 13 electronic drawing pad – because it doesn’t impart technical complexities, and allows easy interactions along with intricate 3-D capabilities.
“We produce approximately 80% of our materials with EPS foam, because it’s lightweight and great
for interior environments, but no material is off-limits,” Poore said. “We’ve produced signs with HDU, wood, clay, acrylic, PVC board and many other media.”
To fabricate exterior signs, he primarily routs HDU with his in-house 5 x 12-ft. EZ-Router, which has a 15-in., Z-axis clearance. They decorate their signs by either handpainting them or using a Graco spraypaint system.
“I love the creation process,” Poore said. “I love the challenge of making an idea tangible, and am blessed to be able to do so as part of NewSpring’s ministry.”