How Many Lighting Scenes Does a Church Service Need?

Most sanctuaries built a decade or more ago run lighting on just a few settings: on, off, maybe a slow fade in between. That works fine for a Tuesday board meeting in a corporate environment, but a Sunday service moves through several distinct moments, such as greeting, worship, the sermon or message, and maybe a baptism or communion. Having just one brightness setting can't serve all of these vital moments well. 

Oftentimes, a volunteer is left standing at a switchboard mid-service, guessing at a setting while the room waits for lighting adjustments to settle. Church lighting shouldn't call attention to itself mid-service, but should shift with the moment as easily as pressing a button.

Scene-based lighting solves that switching problem. How many lighting scenes does a service like yours need? Keep reading to learn how the team at Elite Technology Solutions figures out the answer to this question.

MORE FOR CHURCHES: Modernizing Church AV Systems While Respecting the Sacred Atmosphere

What Counts as a Lighting Scene?

A scene is a saved combination of light settings that includes how bright each zone runs and, depending on the fixture’s capabilities, color temperature. All it takes to recall the scene is a button press, so there’s no need to make adjustments by hand, zone by zone, in real time. 

A standard wall dimmer only offers general illumination, moving the whole room brighter or dimmer with no memory of where it was last set. You may have a few additional spotlights, but they rarely offer more functionality beyond on or off. 

Most sanctuaries don't need a theatrical rig with moving lights and a full lighting board to get what they need during worship services. A handful of dimming or relay zones, tied to a small control processor programmed once with the presets, cover most sanctuaries. Everything after that first programming pass is a button press, not a setting for your volunteer lighting and AV team to relearn each week.

Pro Tip: Map a Sunday Service to Three to Five Scenes

Walk through an average service, and the number of genuine lighting needs is smaller than most churches expect. 

• Arrival and fellowship call for a bright, warm room that reads as welcoming from the parking lot to the pews. 
• Once worship starts, the house typically dims a bit, so attention shifts toward the stage without going dark. 
• During the message, most churches want the sanctuary dimmer still and the screens brighter, so eyes go forward rather than being distracted by their smartphones or the person sitting next to them.
• Special moments, including communion, a baptism, or a candlelight portion of a Christmas Eve service, usually get their own soft, low-contrast scene held for a few minutes. 
• Closing and departure return to the bright welcome setting.

That's easily five different lighting settings that would work for most services. Of course, you could get more particular and add more, but it’s definitely not the dozens a first-time researcher might assume from watching a concert lighting rig.

What Does This Mean for Older Sanctuary Lighting?

Many sanctuaries were wired decades ago, with dimmers hardwired directly to whatever fixtures existed at the time, and no low-voltage control cable run anywhere in the building. That history worries some churches out of even asking about scene-based lighting, assuming it means tearing into walls with original woodwork or stained glass to add wiring. 

In most cases, it’s a non-issue. Line-voltage dimming and relay panels can often work with the circuits already in the electrical room, with a control processor and a touch panel added at the booth rather than a new cable run through finished walls and ceilings. The scope of a house of worship modernization or retrofit project typically involves work where the wiring already runs, not throughout the sanctuary.

Better Lighting, Improved Participation Await

Figuring out how many scenes your sanctuary needs starts with looking at how your own services move from moment to moment, not a generic checklist borrowed from someone else's building. 

Elite Technology Solutions has designed audio, video, lighting, and automation systems since 1988. Contact our team here or use the live chat below to talk through your sanctuary's needs.