Michael Janetis and his wife, Jaime, were worship pastors for 20 years before moving to Destin, Florida in 2018 and founding Oceans Church a year later. When they first arrived, they explored pursuing a set up and teardown church but couldn’t find the right location. Eventually they secured a building to lease and performed a full renovation, providing a permanent location to grow with. “It gave us the opportunity to create the kind of environment we wanted in a church,” said Michael Janetis.
That environment included a display solution to highlight content and encourage more participation among the audience during services. For their first display, they pieced together nine 55-inch LCD displays (from a non-Planar vendor) to create a 12-foot-wide by 7-foot-high display installation. “The ongoing problem with that solution was the thick bezels framing each screen,” Janetis said. “If we didn’t create our content properly, parts of the text could get obscured. Everything required graphic design work to ensure it would fit within the grid. It served us well for starting the church, but the end goal was to upgrade to LED technology.”
In the meantime, the congregation continued to grow and Oceans Church went from one Sunday service to two and then to three. Understanding the benefits of what an LED video wall could bring, Janetis began exploring solutions and got connected to Planar. This eventually led to the installation of a nearly 16-foot-wide, 9-foot-high (8x8) Planar® MGP Complete™ 217-inch LED video wall with a 2.5mm pixel pitch (MGP2.5).
Enhancing Worship
Upon adding the Planar LED video wall directly behind their stage, Janetis immediately began noticing beneficial changes across different facets of their service. “Seamless, high-quality imagery and video can really enhance the worship experience,” Janetis said. “You can be leading worship in front of beautiful drone footage of a mountain range and just feel the room’s energy come alive.”
Oceans Church has a music production program with a full live worship band. The LED video wall provides a vibrant canvass for displaying dynamic visuals and videos that work to complement the music. According to Janetis, a backdrop of motion graphics helps build a stronger connection with the audience during songs.
The church is also beginning to incorporate content with seasonal themes. “Heading into December it will be snow and holiday themes on the video wall to help emphasize the message of Christmas and remind people of the meaning behind it,” Janetis said.
Another important benefit relates to the church’s online presence. “Your live stream is now truly the front door of your church,” Janetis emphasized. “Generally, most people are going to check out your live stream if you have one before paying a visit in person. For us, the LED display has really boosted the quality of our live stream.”
And, as a versatile technology, the Planar MGP Complete LED video wall provides the church with a variety of uses for promoting fellowship among the congregation. “We are super excited about using the video wall for movie nights and other events which gives young families the opportunity to come together,” Janetis said. “I know we will be hosting a Super Bowl party and the guys are really excited about that. It’s a great resource for creating a sense of community.”
Amplifying the Power of Stories
Harnessing the immersive quality of the LED video wall, Janetis plans to start a project that will involve presenting people’s stories on the LED video wall in special screenings for the congregation. The goal is to foster meaningful connections through storytelling with the LED display acting as a compelling medium to engage viewers.
“We will be capturing the testimonies from different people discussing their life changes since coming to Christ,” Janetis said. “When those stories are shown on the large screen, the message will undoubtedly come across much stronger. The quality and impressive image clarity of the LED video wall can really help to focus attention and draw people into the moment. And those moments can be moving and powerful they can inspire hope.”
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.
