CHAPTER 1: WORSHIP CENTER RENOVATION
From the very beginning, worship and the proclamation of God’s Word
have been central to Houston’s First Baptist Church. The funds
earmarked for Worship Center renovation are a true reflection of that
priority. Our primary gathering place needed refurbishing.
From the ceiling to the floor, enhancements were made to help us see,
hear and understand the spoken and written Word, and focus our hearts
on God – the beautiful object of our worship.
Just a few weeks before the reopening and right before
the new carpet was put in place, Houston's First members were given the
opportunity to write the names of people on the foundation of the
Worship Center for whom they were praying to receive Jesus Christ as
their Savior. Thousands upon thousands of names were written during the
Foundation of Prayer
that Sunday in August: names of relatives and friends, celebrities and
politicians, schools and nations, future children and grandchildren.
They were written in English, Spanish, Korean, Farsi and other
languages. Shortly after the reopening, two areas of carpet were removed so that names could still be written on the foundation. Houston's First continues to "pray over" these
names (literally and figuratively) and has rejoiced with many of the people behind the names who
have come forward to accept Jesus Christ as Savior.
Take a look at pictures from reopening day, Sunday, September 7, 2008.
In October 2009, the construction loan for the renovation
was paid in full, officially ending Chapter 1 of the capital campaign.
Some of the primary Worship Center needs that were addressed in the
renovation include:
Audio/Video System – All New
- Install fixed loudspeakers
- Audio management/control system
- Monitoring systems for the praise band and choir
- Cable management and interconnectivity
- Technical power for feeding audio/video only
- Electronic architecture system for worship services
- Larger 16:9 left/right video screens and projectors
Acoustical Treatments
- Remove the dome over the worship platform
- Remove the ceiling disks over the congregation
- Add a new ceiling over the congregation
- Add absorption and diffusion to reduce the overall reverberation time
- Remove or relocate equipment
- Reshape the worship platform to enhance the acoustical sound properties
New Lighting and Dimming
- All new lighting over the congregation and worship platform
- Dimming panels for control of the new lighting
- New catwalks to allow access to the lighting for focusing and maintenance
- New electrical system and cable management for the lighting system
Architecture