How's My Light?
Preset guidelines for special church occasions

By Julie Riddle

Clutching her bouquet and sheathed in a shimmering ivory peau-de-soie gown, a young bride beams radiantly. Upon reaching the altar, she steps into the pool of light occupied by her husband-to-be to take her vows. And a hush falls over the crowd.

Unbeknownst to her, she has stepped into the "bad light" zone.

Okay, so maybe it's a little dramatic--but the fact is, lighting is as much a part of wedding as the pastor. The same goes for other ceremonies inside a church, from baptisms to funerals to theatrical presentations. Use the wrong light, not enough or too much, and the scene is set for disaster--unless you get a kick out of watching actors fall off the stage.

According to Terry Baker, owner of Humboldt, Tenn.-based TB Lighting, presets allow customized lighting at the touch of a button.

"Presets are a combination of control channels set to certain values, creating a look on stage for a purpose," Baker explains. These presets are normally recalled by a button push or sliding a fader up, recalling the preset from a lighting control desk or a wall station.

Baker says certain presets, sometimes called "zones," are usually named:

• House
• Platform
• Choir
• Under Balcony
• Wall Sconces
• Stage (production lights)

In churches, presets are considered looks, Baker says. The following are typical names:

• Cleanup (light setting used day-to-day for walking through the room)
• Pre-service
• Choir Special
• Sermon
• Wedding
• Funeral
• Sunday, Wednesday night

"[These] are made up using a lot of the same light, just at different light intensities," Baker says. And initially, setting up the presets can be a complicated task if the person isn't trained, he adds.

"There are a lot of systems to program them, [and] usually a technician [does it]," he says. "Some are software-based, some are not." Some software creates a look on the console called a "snapshot," by which technicians can snapshot the look and record it to the preset.

Once presets have been locked in, anyone with or without experience on a board can use them, Baker says. "It's as simple as a wall switch," he says. "You can push buttons to recall, [use] individual handles or faders, or bring it up individually."

Some of the biggest mistakes a church makes when it comes to lighting are making controls either too accessible or not accessible enough, Baker says.

"Not having good access to wall controls, [churches] cut costs and don't put controls in a place where [more] people can use them." Conversely, Baker also warns against controls that are too accessible to the congregation-at-large because they could potentially turn on the wall control. "There should be a lockout station in the control area booth," he advises.

Certain occasions at a church call for specialized lighting, such as weddings, baptisms and even funerals.

Creighton Jordan, catalog sales manager at All-Pro Sound in Pensacola, Fla., has been in the audio and lighting industry for 20 years. He specializes in church lighting and sound reinforcement.

"For a wedding, I like to give a candlelight-type lighting atmosphere," he says. "When the candles are being lit, I adjust my lighting to be at the same intensity as the candles--I like to dim my lights in the auditorium to meet the candlelight so it gives it a nice, warm feeling--especially at a spring wedding, that is very important, if you are inside."

Throughout the wedding, Jordan says he is constantly adjusting to lend just the right atmosphere to whatever is happening.

"During the presentation, I will actually make five lighting changes," he says. His first change is made as candles are lit, when he brings the auditorium to a warm setting. The second change occurs at the time when the bride and her father are at the front of the sanctuary. "I'll usually backlight the bride," Jordan says, "so we kind of radiate [her] because she is the focal point of the wedding." He uses an ellipsoidal--a correctional-type light--and lets it come on just a bit warmer than everything else so the bride is highlighted.

"My favorite part is the trinity candle, if they have one, where the mothers have lit the candle and are waiting to light the centerpiece," Jordan says. "I do what we call a starburst at that point. When they light that center candle, at the immediate time, I will have a light already focused on them."

If a singer will perform during the wedding, this entails even more adjustments; usually Jordan prefers to highlight this person with blue or rose.

"The bride and groom are the focal point," he explains. "With any soloist, I like to give them a little extra light."

Jordan says many churches make the mistake of "overbearing" white lighting. "They lose their focus, trying to highlight things that should not be highlighted," he explains. "The bride is the focal point and the groom takes the second seat. Anything else takes the back seat. Only white light should be on the bride. Anything else should be subdued."

Unlike a wedding, the lighting for a baptism can varying depending on the church's affiliation, he says, since some denominations change the lighting during the performance.

Often, he says, red, white and blue are used to light baptisms: red to signify blood, blue for Christ and white for cleansing of sin.

Lance Williams, project manager at Entertainment Lighting Services in North Hollywood, Calif., said the skin tone of the people in the baptistery should be considered.

"It largely depends on the skin color of the person performing the ceremony, and the person being baptized," he says. "With darker skin, you want to avoid greens or yellows because it is very unflattering. A nice pink, a warm pink is always very satisfactory to any skin tone."

For a funeral, he says, there is little technique used beyond the obvious focus at the front of the sanctuary or auditorium.

"Typically, it is just a muted light on the coffin and whatever light is normally used," he says. "Most churches have a limited inventory. Generally, they work with what they've got. No blues or darker shades. Probably just white light as produced by the fixtures, softened with pink.