Seth Thiesen has been a techie since he was in the fifth grade. At an early age, he worked for his church, helping to light concerts in an outdoor amphitheatre. After graduating from college with a degree in recording industry management, he returned to his calling at Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Ill. We caught up with Thiesen to discuss his work at the church, its growth since it was built a year ago, how it differs from others and why it’s important to enhance, not distract from, the message.
PLSN: How did you get involved in lighting for churches?
Seth Thiesen: It was probably fifth or sixth grade. The church we were at had an outdoor amphitheatre, and all summer long, they had concerts come in. Most of them didn’t tour with anything, and they had a basic lighting setup at the amphitheatre. I got involved with running spotlights. Occasionally, some of the groups would bring in a 60K rig or some moving lights, and that got me going. Then, Heartland, the church that I’m at now, got started with six PARs, and I would help out. When our lighting system grew, I learned more about it.
Then, I went to college at Middle Tennessee State University where I studied the recording industry, and I started working for Bradfield Stage Lighting in Nashville to pick up some extra work. I was really enjoying that — learning more about moving lights — and that’s where I was introduced to the Flying Pig Systems WholeHog II. At MTSU, we had an on-campus production company. Craig Doman, who ran the program, was an audio guy, and he would have me take care of the lighting. So I would be crew chief for the ins and outs and design, program and run the shows. It was a great opportunity; I got the chance to run lights for some great bands.
After I graduated, I freelanced with Bradfield for a summer. Heartland, though, kept offering me a full-time job. Though I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted to do, I felt that’s where I was being called. So I took the job a little over two years ago, and I’ve worked there ever since.
What did you get your degree in?
Recording Industry Management; it was like living in a recording studio. That’s the career path, if I was still in my major, but I realized in my junior and senior years that I didn’t want to be stuck in a room all day — 80 hours a week — setting up a tape machine for somebody to record on. I was out doing shows and realized that was a lot more fun than getting paid $6.50 an hour to get somebody coffee.
What kind of work were you doing at Bradfield?
I was mainly just crew. Toward the end, when I was working for them on a freelance basis, I was doing more board op’, but mainly I was just labor.
Fast forward to Heartland… What was your position when you were hired, and what are you doing now? What’s your title?
Titles, I think, are interesting things. My official title is Technical Arts Specialist. What that means, I don’t know. My main duties are: I oversee the lighting in three different venues that range from a room seating 300 people, with a handful of PARs and Lekos with an architectural (control) sys-tem, to our main auditorium with over 50 moving fixtures and the Jands (Vista) T4 lighting console. I also fill in as needed by running camera on the weekend. I’ve also done all the video directing for a service and run the front of house mix. Every now and then, I cross lines and fill holes.
But your primary focus is the lighting system. Do you program and operate the console?
I’ve got a team of eight volunteers who are on a rotation. Some of them are completely proficient and can program an entire weekend service. I still go through the cues with them. And the others — I sit down with them while they program because they are more in the beginning phase. I’m still training and helping them develop their skills, as far as a programmer goes. Our services can have anywhere from 30 to 80 cues, depending on how many songs there are and what else is going on.
That brings up an interesting point. On the outside of your church it says “Heartland: A Different Way to Do Church.” What does that mean, and how does it affect what you do?
We were trying to break the stereotypical images of a church; they broke away from the typical church structure. We started with videotape teach-ing, using the internal video library from Willow Creek Community Church. One of the Heartland founders had a relationship with the senior pastor at Willow Creek, which led to us asking if we could use their video teaching. They gave us six months to do it, and nine years later, we still have a great relationship with them.
Do you still use video teaching?
Now we’re more into live teaching, but we still do a handful of video teachings every year. The concept with “A Different Way” is that it’s not a church organ and a choir; it’s a band, and the songs are more like a rock band instead of a praise team. We’re not trying to put on a show, but we are trying to be culturally relevant. We’re over a hundred dB with the music, but we’re not like a total rock concert with the lighting because our goal is to enhance the moment and not distract from the message. We do some crowd sweeps, and we try to do more of the flashy stuff during in-strumental breaks so it doesn’t distract from what they’re singing. We want to make sure it enhances the moment, yet doesn’t distract from the moment.
What does your typical week look like?
Tuesday through Friday, I work nine to five. On Saturday, it all depends on how much is still left to do for the weekend. I can go in as early at 10 o’clock or as late as one o’clock. We have two services each on Saturday night and Sunday mornings. And I get the rest of the weekend and Mon-day off.
That must keep you pretty busy. Do you still freelance on the side?
I do some work for SVL Productions. At the church, we have VectorWorks and ESP Vision, so we do 90% of our programming downstairs. We’ve got a Jands T2 and a 32-inch plasma to view it on. Then we bring it upstairs and check it in the room to make sure everything looks right. Because of that, I’ve been able to take advantage of some other freelance opportunities. I just did a show — it was actually the day of my sister’s wedding — where I went to the load-in at six in the morning, and I showed up and helped them get everything set-up, checked my positions and I was out of there an hour-and-a-half later. So I still squeeze in some freelance work as it fits into my schedule.
Was that a pre-vis and programming gig?
Yeah. I basically said, “These are the buttons you need to push.” And I was able to hand it over to their tech and enjoy the rest of my day.
Technology is a wonderful thing. How different are the services you run during the weekend?
On a weekend, there are two on Saturday night and two on Sunday morning, and every service is identical.
They are? You don’t do different services for different groups of people? Are you giving people the opportunity to fit church into their schedule?
That’s correct. It’s also for space. We moved in a year ago, and at the four o’clock on Saturday afternoon, and the eleven o’clock on Sunday morn-ing, we’re almost out of room.
What’s the capacity?
It’s a 1,600-seat room.
Very impressive. What are some of the considerations that go into lighting a service?
I feel like you can either light for the room or light for video; we have to fight that battle constantly. For the music portion of the service, I lean more toward lighting for the room, so I’ll use very little front light on the band and do lots of backlight and color. But, once we switch over to the teaching, we want a great-looking image — it’s IMAG, so I make the switch to lighting for video. There’s lots of balanced light on the stage for that part. There are other aspects to consider, too. One thing we did six months ago was build stage wagons for the band to be able to pull them apart, so there’s a 25-foot gap in the center of the stage. When the teaching is live, we’ve got a clean camera shot with just the scenic elements in the back-ground, so we don’t have a drum set or guitar neck in the camera shot. It provides a nice clean look.
You have said that your church will do a series that lasts anywhere from three to 10 weeks. Can you explain what you mean by a series?
We try to tie everything together during the series so it’s not so much an individual service as it is an experience. When people leave, we want them to wonder what’s going to happen next week.
Now that you have answered your calling and you’ve got some experience working with Heartland, are you happy to be there? Are you enjoying what you do?
I love it. The fact that I get to use these gifts I have in a way that has life-changing effects is really fulfilling. Concerts are great, and I love going to concerts, but (at Heartland) the people don’t just walk away saying that was a great light show; people say that experience has changed their life. Knowing that I get to be a part of it is really cool.
