LD Bridget Williams specified ETC's Unison Paradigm architectural lighting control system for Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Parish in Santa Clarita, Calif. "They wanted to fully modernize their lighting system while highlighting their unique interior design," said Williams. William's plan for Paradigm gave the church one-button access to a variety of custom lighting looks while still allowing for individualized control from the tech booth. "The new lighting system brings out the building's natural beauty," said Randy Johanson, audio/visual technician for Blessed Kateri.
Starting in the 1990s as a mission church that met in local schools, Blessed Kateri has emerged as a permanent house of worship.
The church's architecture was designed around a sense of the exterior environment held sacred by Native Americans, employing natural and often native materials. (The church itself is named in honor of the 17th-century Native American Catholic convert and candidate for sainthood, Kateri Tekakwitha).
The interiors abound in cherry wood and stone. American red oak pews seat 1,350 parishioners. Rough-hewn stone pillars and walls, as well as a Jerusalem Stone altar and baptismal font, anchor the house of worship's space. Natural light pours in through the large rear-chapel window and side windows.
Williams designed the artificial lighting to be calibrated to this natural light via a system that would prove accessible to almost anyone using it. Through the ETC Paradigm Touchscreen in the tech booth, church volunteers can access presets available on the ten-button panels located outside the sacristies. They can also use the Touchscreen to set the levels of individual lighting channels.
"We programmed presets for TV, masses, concerts, special events and other adoration/spiritual times," noted Williams, who also made use of Paradigm's "green"-minded timeclock function to turn presets on or off automatically based on regularly occurring events in the church and available natural light.
"The church uses the presets all the time, but they also can run the lighting system live through the Touchscreen," Williams added. "When Archbishop Mahony officiated for the dedication of the church, they discovered that they liked being able to turn the pulpit lighting on and off at different times."
Since then, the church's lighting techs use a basic preset for mass but work spontaneously with individual channels (also via the Touchscreen) as a service progresses.
On frequent AV duty, Johanson credited the system for this new functionality. "The Paradigm system is very easy to use-from recalling scenes to recording scenes. And one of the best things is having the ability to control each light or lighting type and to set how bright each light is, as needed. It's also nice to be able to take the control surface almost anywhere in the church as adjustments need to be made."
Blessed Kateri officials wanted to keep their future lighting options open. "The Paradigm lighting system was engineered specifically to enable growth and flexibility in building control," said Joe Bokelman, ETC Architectural market manager.
Along ETC lighting control, Blessed Kateri employs numerous ETC Source Four spotlights and PAR wash lights to illuminate the sanctuary stage area and a variety of low-voltage PAR fixtures to highlight architectural accents and the Stations of the Cross.
