Niles, IL, Sept. 3, 2015—Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV) started in 1982 in the founding pastor’s living room. Now, more than 30 years later, the church has grown into one of the country’s largest houses of worship, welcoming more than 23,000 people at services each week across six CCV campuses in Arizona’s Phoenix valley. To ensure audio is delivered flawlessly at each CCV location, Brad McCraw, Director of Live Production, turned to Shure wireless systems.
CCV’s main campus is supported with 12 channels of UHF-R® Wireless to mic the minister, lead vocalists, and band members. McCraw designed the audio system to include a mix of UR1 bodypack transmitters and UR2 handhelds with Beta58A® and KSM9 capsules. Aside from amplifying music and readings at the main campus, McCraw relies on UHF-R to live stream the minister’s sermon to all other CCV locations—a big undertaking that requires networked control and crystal clear audio.
“Every campus has a live band and pastor to oversee the regional service, but the sermon is streamed from CCV’s main site in Peoria, Ariz. It’s imperative the sermon’s audio feed is seamless with no dropouts, which is why we’ve got UHF-R,” said McCraw. “Our FOH engineer monitors channels using Wireless Workbench® software to allocate spectrum and assign compatible frequencies to each of our bodypacks and handhelds. This not only saves us time—which would otherwise be spent tinkering around to find available spectrum—it gives our CCV A/V team confidence that audio won’t be an issue during services, even when it’s live streamed.”
McCraw, alongside his colleague Blair Drake, CCV’s Director of Live Sound, is also starting to roll out Shure QLX-D™ Digital Wireless Systems at CCV campuses. For the House Of Worship market, QLX-D is a cost-effective solution that delivers exceptional wireless performance with transparent 24-bit digital audio. QLX-D’s automatic channel scan and IR sync make finding and assigning an open frequency quick and easy.
“A typical campus features eight channels of QLX-D—three are the bodypack and the other five are handheld transmitters,” said Drake. “It’s got solid RF performance and is used during services by campus pastors and the band, many of which are professional, contracted singers, guitarists, and drummers who tell us how pleased they are with the QLX-D gear.”
The price point of QLX-D was also a big selling point for CCV.
“When we searched for new wireless systems for the smaller church campuses, one of the reasons we went with QLX-D is because it gets us into a product line with incredible features at a price that makes sense for a church that requires us to really manage money well,” Drake continued.
In 2014, CCV’s congregation grew by 11 percent and in 2015, the church remains committed to making an impact in its local community and around the world.
“As CCV continues to grow, we’ll continue to trust Shure for our wireless needs,” added McCraw.
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.
