Southside Church

Southside Church had the blessing of a challenge to solve. Their growth in their first eight years necessitated them to seek a new home in their Athens, GA location.
“We were doing three services and busting at the seams,” says Worship Pastor Chris Peevy.
Southside located an unused school building and secured a long-term lease on the property. The gymnasium, with its high ceiling clearance and open floor space, was designated to be converted into their worship auditorium.
“We wanted this to be a space that would look and feel like a space for worship,” comments Peevy. “Our previous space had so many distractions—both the lighting and the audio were of very poor quality.”
They had already gotten two bids for the AVL part of the project when Peevy had a chance encounter with Branden Pendley, who was mixing at a youth event when Southside was visiting the facility.
“I was chatting with Brandon that evening, and the next week our pastor asked me to get a third bid for the AVL design. I called Brandon, and he blew us away with his preparation, presentation and professionalism, and we chose his company to do the work.”
With many young families making up the majority of the congregation, the renovation had a very tight budget. And it also had a very tight timeline.

Chris Peevy, Worship Pastor
Southside Church

Achieving the Vision on Budget

“We needed to be in the new space within four months of signing the lease,” states Peevy. “And right after signing the contract we needed to cut the AVL budget by half. Brandon really understood and embraced our vision, and worked hard to give us systems that would achieve our goals but remain within a budget we could work with.”
“We were able to design the systems to meet their full vision,” states Pendley, “but break it into phases to allow them to expand the capabilities of the system over time without the need to replace any gear or pull any additional cable. We also worked closely with the other building trades to coordinate all activities to complete the project on time.”
“Brandon created an environment of worship for us that takes a lot of pressure off our volunteers,” describes Peevy. “Our volunteers don’t have a lot of experience when they join the production team. His training was excellent, and his efforts have dramatically reduced my stress levels as the church staff person responsible for the worship environments.”
Peevy says the Allen & Heath GLD 112 audio mixer at front of house is very easy for his volunteers to use, and the Electro-Voice PA system provides excellent sound quality and coverage in the room. “The sound is full no matter where you are sitting,” Peevy comments, “and we have the ability to support any musical style. We have the capability to do whatever God is leading us to do.”
To support the worship environment from a lighting perspective, a Jands Vista M1 controls Chroma-Q Inspire house lighting and Chauvet COLORdash stage lighting. “The Vista is easy for the volunteers to work with,” says Peevy, “and the color capabilities for both house and stage lighting greatly impact the worship environment. It’s really the key for creating the right environment for worship.”
“Brandon’s knowledge of what we needed in that room was dead on,” summarizes Peevy. “We consider him a part of our congregation, and I recommend Pendley Productions to everyone I talk to.”