The need for a new facility for Pinelake Baptist Church was based on a number of factors, not the least of which were sheer numbers. The church’s contemporary style of worship and the sermons of Senior Pastor Chip Henderson have drawn thousands of congregants from throughout the local area. The original 700-seat sanctuary was at full capacity at each of its four Sunday services, and an additional Saturday evening service filled up just as quickly.

While it’s impressive enough to draw overflow capacity in a large metropolitan area, it’s quite another thing to pack a 2,500-seat auditorium in an area the likes of Rankin County, Mississippi. Located on the outskirts of the town of Brandon (population 17,000), Pinelake’s new facility has already proven popular enough that the church recently added a third Sunday service to meet the increasing demand.

Beyond the basic need for space, there was a strong desire to create a new environment that was better suited to the personality of Pinelake. The new facility needed to convey both a warmth and intimacy, as well as a powerful worship experience. Visually and acoustically, the design of the new church needed to be more in tune with Pinelake’s style of worship.

The room’s layout has been designed for scalability. About 35% of the seating is on the main floor, with the remainder located on terraced tiers. A zoned layout was designed where they could dim the lighting and speakers in the balcony areas when they were holding smaller teaching sessions. This reduces the vastness of the room and creates a much more intimate environment.

When the upper seating is not in use, the outer delay rings can also be switched off, creating an aural intimacy to match the reduced lighting.

Further adding to the room’s sound is a series of acoustic fins on the venue’s ceiling for early reflections. When the congregation sings, the energy reflects off the ceiling and reinforces the sound from the audience’s perspective, while the stage-facing edges absorb energy from the speakers’ perspective.

Equally important to connecting with the congregation is the visual aspect, supported with image magnification video that allows even worshippers seated in the back rows to clearly see the facial expressions of the pastor and worship team.

Rick Estes, the Media Arts Pastor comments. “We have a system and a facility now that we can really grow with. We discover something new almost every week. All in all, we’re simply ecstatic with the system.”