Northridge Church's fusion of technology and creativity as evidenced by their praise band playing against an LED backdrop of digitally rendered but stunningly effective stained glass windows' is immediately compelling.
That fusion is integral to their mission at their Plymouth, Michigan main campus, says Brandon Schultz, Northridge's Live Video Director, emphasizing behind-the-scenes communications role in their wide-ranging ministry services. More importantly, he notes how critical their pre-existing Clear-Com infrastructure and the recent integration of Clear-Com's Arcadia Central Station are as tools for realizing their broader vision.
Brandon cites the perspective of Senior Pastor Brad Powell, who has been with the church for 35 years, as a principal influence on their approach. [Pastor Brad] places high value on technology and innovation, he says. He regularly says, God is a creator, and his people are made in his image.' We love to be creative, to use technology to bring about that creation, and we've been blessed to try out all kinds of technologies, experiment with them, and push our creative boundaries.
The adoption of Arcadia as part of an overall upgrade to their intercom infrastructure is a prime example of optimizing technology to allow for more creativity, as it allows the church's production team to leverage their intercom system more effectively to create ever more immersive and high-impact worship services. We already had an extensive comms system based on the Clear-Com Encore Analog Partyline system that we've grafted' onto over the years, but we wanted to bring it forward in a way that our growing creative ministry needs, Brandon says.
Northridge had already been evaluating Arcadia as a solution, but the release of the integration of Arcadia with HelixNet Digital Partyline, Schultz says, sealed it for us. Once we understood what Arcadia was capable of, it was a slam dunk. We looked at competing options, but nothing had the same comprehensive feature set and native integration.
Arcadia checked all the boxes: Not only for our existing needs but the more creative ideas we have had about how we can use our intercom system beyond how we've used it before, Brandon says. Plus, they were able to retain their legacy wireless system and integrate it into the new Arcadia-based system seamlessly. We didn't have to change out our entire system to go digital, or redo how we send comms to cameras and distribute them to video control, he adds. And, frankly, the price point was far better than I had imagined it to be, given what Arcadia is capable of.
Ultimately, Arcadia was installed in the campus' production booth, with FreeSpeak Edge 5GHz IP transceivers distributed in multiple zones in the church to support FSE wireless beltpacks.
Overall, Arcadia has delivered far more functionality and flexibility, allowing IP connectivity and greater channel capacity over a single network cable instead of via multiple runs of copper through the building, thereby substantially increasing wireless coverage across the entire campus (as well as the number of production staff who can be on comms simultaneously), and, by extension, simplifying their workflow.
That was a game-changer, particularly for Northridge's annual Christmas production, The Glory of Christmas which requires up to 50 users to connect via intercom at once. Arcadia gives us the ability to have unique user profiles that can be re-assigned with the click of a button or remotely, instead of getting into the matrix or moving knobs and faders like we used to and having multiple systems we need to configure independently. Arcadia just works, and it's all in one place. We can do that from anywhere with an Internet connection.
That, he adds, is a feature they didn't know they needed until they had it. Then, suddenly, we felt like we didn't know how to go without that. And with so many channels on a single pack, we can assign unique, point-to-point private lines rather than have everybody on one channel, so our comms experience is much more peaceful and efficient than ever before.
More importantly, Northridge Church s leadership and production teams are no longer bound by their older system's limitations. Instead, in the future, they re free to expand at will and give their creative impulses free rein.
The integration of Arcadia, how the whole system works together two-wire, four-wire, HelixNet, FreeSpeak Clear-Com's offerings are so numerous and well-integrated, it's plug and play. As long as we're in that massive Clear-Com ecosystem, I'm confident we ll have smooth integration anywhere in our building.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
15/05/2026
Netflix has announced an expanded NFL schedule for 2026 and beyond under a four-year partnership extension with the NFL through the 2029-30 season. Each season,...
15/05/2026
Ateme is supporting TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) with a contribution and d...
15/05/2026
Concacaf has announced the launch of a new website and mobile app built on Deltatre's FORGE platform. Concacaf.com and the mobile app, available on iOS and ...
15/05/2026
Eutelsat has announced the launch of QBC Business Economic Channel by Qatar Media Corporation, broadcasting in 4K/UHD via Eutelsat's 7/8 West video neighbo...
15/05/2026
Major League Soccer has announced four original content series timed to the 2026...
15/05/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced it will exhibit and present at InfoComm 2026, taking place June 13-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Cente...
15/05/2026
InfoComm 2026 will take place June 13-19 (exhibits June 17-19) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show will include sessions and exhibits covering broadcas...
15/05/2026
Tracy McGrady's Ones Basketball League (OBL) and FuboTV Inc. have announced ...
15/05/2026
Disguise has partnered with Creative Technology (CT) to deliver visual playback ...
15/05/2026
Sony Electronics has announced two new products for professional imaging: the Alpha 7R VI full-frame mirrorless camera and the FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS super-te...
15/05/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
15/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
15/05/2026
For sports organizations, the most valuable assets are often the most sensitive:...
15/05/2026
The NFL's broadcast partners released their 2026 regular season schedules ye...
15/05/2026
When MMA icons Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano meet inside the Hexagon at Intuit Do...
15/05/2026
Daniel Roher attends the Tuner Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Theatre on January 22, 2026 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Neilson Bar...
15/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
15/05/2026
Rebranded show announced
Ahead of their 2026 return, Music Expo have announced that they have now officially changed their name to the MONO Music Conference...
15/05/2026
Fuzz pedal joins UK companys line-up
UK-based pedal makers Buzzing Bugs Audio Devices have recently unveiled their latest creation, the Bolster. Said to pay...
15/05/2026
Joint Statement: News Bargaining Incentive
28 April, 2026
Media releases
The vibrancy of Australian democracy relies on the robust and open exchange of new...
15/05/2026
Call it Deltavision, Australia's through to the Grand Final of this year'...
15/05/2026
Join Calrec at MPTS 2026 | May 13-14 | Stand A40 | Olympia, London We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year's Media ...
15/05/2026
86% of media planners would move more linear TV budget to CTV if they had show-level targeting and reporting - and 65% would also shift dollars from programmati...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Clear-Com will showcase new communications solutions and major platform updates at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7005), June 17-19, in the North and Central Halls of t...
15/05/2026
Following an outstanding inaugural year in 2025, Rise AV is proud to announce the return of its flagship leadership initiative, Elevate. The programme continues...
15/05/2026
Berklee Announces Lineup for Inaugural AI Music Summit The three-day event puts musicians at the center of the future of music creation, ethics, and the indus...
15/05/2026
Lightware returns to InfoComm 2026 with a focused showcase of scalable USB-C connectivity, next-generation AV-over-IP solutions, and technologies that help over...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Delivering a live, arena-scale production of a massively popular band is no small feat. Between expansive in-arena LED walls and a global live stream fed to onl...
Northridge Church's fusion of technology and creativity as evidenced by their praise band playing against an LED backdrop of digitally rendered but stunningly effective stained glass windows' is immediately compelling.
