On 62 acres of rolling prairie just west of Minneapolis, Grace Church has found a new home. From its humble white-frame beginnings on a quiet city street to this 350,000-square-foot facility in the suburbs, Grace Church has built a community within a community. With a congregation that numbers close to 4,000, activity is constant within these walls. Music, inspiration and the laughter of children are readily apparent on any given day, as the campus also includes a pre-school, elementary school, youth ministry, Latino ministry, various missions groups and a handful of support groups.
At the heart of this faith community is a 4,200-seat worship center. “It was designed and built not only for regular Sunday services, but also for rental throughout the year for local high school graduation ceremonies, Christian music concerts and an array of corporate, community and faith-based conferences,” explains Troy Hillstrom, Tech Director at Grace Church. “Needless to say, high-quality audio and video are key to adding vitality and inspiration to the messages shared here.”
Grace Church uses the Williams Sound Personal PA® FM base station transmitter (PPA T35) and 25 PPA Select (PPA R37) FM body-pack receivers to provide hearing assistance to members of its congregation who have difficulty hearing. This professional transmitter features a powerful microprocessor, sleek digital display, and easy-to-use menu controls. The tech staff at Grace can easily choose between Voice, Music, or Hearing Assistance in the Application Preset menu. The PPA T35 configures itself to the appropriate setting, taking the guesswork out of complex audio installation. With an operating range of up to 1,000 feet, the PPA T35 is ideal for this large venue, where superior coverage is essential. The PPA Select FM receivers feature easy-to-use, seek-button channel selection with access to 17 pre-set wideband frequencies between 72-76 MHz.
A Williams Sound Personal PA FM body-pack transmitter (PPA T36), headset microphone and accompanying body-pack receivers will soon play a key, hearing-assistance role in Grace Church’s smaller, but thriving, Youth and Latino ministries. The PPA T36 transmitter broadcasts a speaker’s voice or audio program on one of 16 available channels, 72-76 MHz, to listeners using Williams Sound receivers. Lightweight and portable, the PPA T36 operates at a range of up to 150 feet from the listening audience – ideal for audiences attending services held in smaller venues on the Grace Church campus, including the 300-seat Youth Ministry Room.
Notes Troy, “I’ve seen these listening solutions from Williams Sound dramatically improve an individual’s worship experience. It feels good to know we have this technology readily available for those in our congregation who need it.”
