Northside Christian Centre are switched on

Amidst a thriving multicultural community on the north side of Melbourne is Northside Christian Centre, Bundoora.

Senior Pastors John and Lois Spinella wanted to make sure their church was a 21st century church, and were looking to upgrade their lighting system.

“In 2002 we finished a complete renovation of our auditorium. At that time we were only able to do some basic lighting because of budgetary constraints.

So when we were ready to upgrade our lighting we searched around for a company, who could give us value for money, understand the latest in modern lighting, had expertise in installation and also could implement it appropriately in a church setting –we came across Forefront Productions.

It was very obvious from the first conversation on the phone and the subsequent visit to our church that they had the combination of knowledge, skills and church experience to give us a top class job.

They listened to our requirements, understood the restrictions of our budget and came up with 3 workable options.

They were professional and handled every contingency with calm and ease. The project was delivered on time and on budget.

Nick also organised for training of our volunteers to operate the new lighting system, which meant that the very next weekend we were able to use it efficiently.” says John Spinella, Snr Pastor.

The project included a total revamp of the existing lighting system. Re-deploying all the existing lighting fixtures into the new design meant a considerable cost saving.

“A crucial element was to keep light from spilling on to the large video screen located centre stage. This was made a little more complex given that the choir stands directly below it, without much clearance, but with the right equipment almost anything is possible” said Nick Burns of Forefront.

In keeping with our 21st century values, LED Tubes and 6x moving heads were included in the revamp – all controlled by a GrandMA onPC system.

The completed project turned a great result – “The difference to our lighting is simply incredible. It gives us great versatility in the Sunday services as well as special outreach events, said Ps John.

It has completely transformed our stage and is powerfully conveying the message, that we are a contemporary church, totally committed to reaching our modern world, with the message of Christ.

Nick is passionate about helping churches to use sound, multimedia, and lighting in a way that communicates strongly to all generations, in the 21st Century. His understanding of how each of these areas relates to one another means he is able to give wide-ranging advice to senior pastors and their team - something that is very hard to come by in the industry.

In February 2008 Forefront Productions returned to our church to install a new sound and lighting system in our youth and children’s hall.

My only regret is that when we were installing sound and lighting five years ago, I did not use them.”

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