From its humble beginnings with 12 charter members in a small wooden frame structure during the railroad boom in Lakeland, Florida in the late 1800s, the First Baptist Church has grown to its present position, having taken over an entire shopping mall with a sanctuary accommodating some 2,500 congregants.
The mall was the local shopping hub in Lakeland throughout the 1970’s and 80’s with over 400,000 square feet of space with major anchor stores. As time passed, the mall was surpassed by the Lakeland Square Mall and ultimately closed and sat vacant until it was purchased by the church. The space that housed an old Woolco and Sam’s Club was rehabilitated by the church into the current sanctuary.
With Pastor Jay Dennis at the helm, he notes on the church’s website, “Keeping current on technology and learning how to communicate with a new generation of followers has proven to be a challenge.” With that, the main sanctuary underwent a major audio-visual environment renovation.
For the audio portion, the system for the sanctuary called for 12 RCF TTL33-A active three-way line array cabinets in a left-right array hang of six boxes each coupled TT22-A dual 12” cabinets for sidefills in the fan-shaped sanctuary with TT52-A active dual 5” two-way cabinets used for front stage lip fills. Six TTS36-A dual 18” subwoofers provide necessary low frequency enhancement.
All is controlled through RCF’s RDNet control software, which allows for all the speakers to be properly time aligned. In addition, the RDNet gives the facility the ability to alter the system parameters based on the type of service and event as the church holds one traditional and two progressive services on Sundays, as well as contemporary concerts and other programs throughout the week.
“It’s hard to find a system that can meet a studio quality sound and response in the live environment,” says Church At The Mall Senior Worship Leader Conrad Johnson. “RCF has done it and more with these TT series boxes! I couldn’t be happier with the headroom, coverage, and clarity that we now have in our room!”
