For Matt Blankenship, lead pastor of Life Church in Aloha, Oregon, the experience of worship is greatly enhanced when there is more engagement among the congregation. “There should be an enthusiasm about worship,” he said. “It’s not just supposed to be liturgy, it’s also music and hands being raised. It’s all of your heart, body and soul-putting everything into it.”
To create a setting that could inspire more of this kind of participation, Life Church set out to upgrade an older projector system with more current display technology and began a consultation with audio visual solutions provider MeyerPro. After a visit to Planar’s Hillsboro, Oregon, showroom and global headquarters with Bryan Lundstrom, equipment sales manager with MeyerPro, Blankenship and his team decided that LED display technology would best deliver what they were seeking.
With support from Planar, MeyerPro installed a nearly 16-foot-wide, 9-foot-high Planar® TVF Complete™ 219-inch LED video wall. Mounted directly behind a stage at the speaker level and flanked by two existing projector screens installed higher up, the Planar TVF Complete LED video wall brings a dynamic and vibrant background to the service.
“There is something about a lot of light, color and movement on the stage that adds to the level of excitement and the full experience of the worship,” Blankenship said. “We can use background graphics and abstract imagery that complement the direction of the music and really work to bring the audience along. It’s also helped some of our crowd who are a bit older to see things more clearly.”
Getting the message across
As a pastor, Blankenship needs to effectively connect with his audience during sermons, and this is where the Planar TVF Complete LED video wall is tremendously useful. “It provides a great advantage for me as a communicator,” he said. “If I’m leading a group through a Bible lesson, I can walk right up to the video wall and point to pictures or graphics. I can take people back to a biblical landscape from 2000 years ago.”
During one segment, Blankenship spoke about a missionary journey involving believers who traveled from city to city preaching the gospel. The sermon was aided by a map of the Greco-Roman world displayed on the LED canvas. He said that having a visual representation like this helps the story come alive for people. “They can really identify, and it helps me to drive home the message I’m trying to convey.”
Engaging online worshipers
Life Church streams its services every Sunday so it was very important that the new video wall solution would also appeal to its online viewers.
“Ultimately, they were looking for versatility,” said Lundstrom. “The LED video wall is great for multi layers it gives them a beautiful backdrop and a versatile, creative approach for displaying content. It elevates the production value for both the in-person audience and their streaming Sunday package.”
According to Blankenship, the in-person and online feedback has been consistently positive. And the new LED video wall has been very effective in terms of appealing to current culture. “Our generation today is very used to connecting through an interface of multimedia,” Blankenship said. “They are experience-driven. So, investing in something that meets them where they are is very beneficial. They can come in and think, ‘this is a place that gets me.’”
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
