st. MARCUS LUTHERAN CHURCH AS SEEN IN CPM APRIL09 by Jack Kontney The Little Church That Could In this era of megachurches and program consists almost entirely of Jeske s designed to look like an office and library/ powerful media ministries, many message, delivered with little embellishment den. The goal is to change what started as a local churches feel that there s but strong, professional production values. straight sermon into more of a program. little opportunity to spread the Pastor Jeske never had aspirations to be Mark s strength is in his conversational pre- Lord s word on television outside on TV, notes producer Curt Hanna. He s sentation; it s very direct, Hanna says. We their own markets. But there s a a very humble guy with no pretense. But want to take advantage of that, to reach the modest ministry in Milwaukee that he has a unique gift as a storyteller. He s viewer who doesn t know the Lord, who may is following its own path. very unassuming, just a regular guy who not want to watch a guy in a pulpit. Time of Grace is a Christian wants to talk to you. He can take a biblical multimedia ministry centered on story and make it something you can relate the messages of Pastor Mark to, without talking down to you. And that s Jeske, emanating from St. Marcus what we present. Lutheran Church, an historic parish The program combines Jeske s Sunday located in Milwaukee s inner city with about message to the congregation at St. Marcus 1,000 members. Where most media Lutheran with studio footage shot at the ministries tend to use big production: Time of Grace studios, located just a block powerful contemporary music and forceful, away in a remodeled funeral home. There, dynamic delivery, Time of Grace is notable the production crew re-shoots segments for its low-key, direct approach. The TV of Jeske s message on a two-room set Branding the Ministry The reasons for combining a studio presentation with the sermon footage center on the notion that Jeske s style would attract more new viewers in an informal setting. This approach was recommended by Christian media consultant Phil Cooke of Cooke Pictures in Los Angeles. We brought in Phil Cooke a few years ago, notes Time of Grace s president, Jim
st. MARCUS LUTHERAN CHURCH As seen in CPM APRIL09 St. Marcus Lutheran Church in Milwaukee has survived through difficult times, giving birth to Time of Grace, a broadcast ministry that s making a difference Johnson. Our mission is to reach as many Grace is just fascinating, he relates, tak- through media clutter, describes his mis- people with the good news of Jesus Christ ing a Lutheran service and presenting it as sion with a chuckle as helping create as is technologically possible. Phil helps us a non-denominational message. A lot of Christian television that doesn t suck. We achieve that by advising on how to translate Christian television is stale and traditional. analyze what our clients are doing, who our strengths, our essence, into a crisp, To see someone trying to break the mold they are, the media tools they re using and, professional presentation that s consistent is inspiring. Here you have a very laid-back of course, their goals. Time of Grace knew with our intended audience. pastor with a really compelling presentation. they had a unique presentation that just Known primarily for his work with larger They just needed a little help to turn that needed direction. television ministries like Joel Osteen s, Phil into something with national appeal. As a result, Time of Grace has been Cooke took an interest in Time of Grace Cooke, whose book, Branding Faith, shows expanding rapidly. From its initial growth to because it was different. To me, Time of how to get a faith-based message to cut Minneapolis as its second market in 2003, Photos courtesy of Jack Kontney. A historic parish and broadcast ministry Photo left: Historical St. Marcus Lutheran Church sits in Milwaukee s inner city and physically draws some 1,000 members. Time of Grace is a multimedia ministry of St. Marcus that s housed in a refurbished funeral home studio just one block from the church. Photo right: Pastor Mark Jeske is the laid back face of Time of Grace s popular broadcast message.
st. MARCUS LUTHERAN CHURCH AS SEEN IN CPM APRIL09 On set with pastor mark Pastor Mark Jeske stands on the set in the converted funeral home. A Sony camera mounted on a Porta-Jib helps Time of Grace techs navigate the shoot in relatively tight quarters. outside the pulpit. Having the studio allows Pastor Jeske to address the viewer directly, looking right into the camera, which is very inviting and powerful. We alternate those studio shots with segments directly from the sanctuary, so you always have that reminder that this is the word of God. Shooting the Show Producing Time of Grace starts at the 10:30 service on Sunday mornings. Rather than capturing the full service, the crew The program combines broadcast experience on the team. This [Pastor] Jeske s Sunday addition to recommending the hiring of was another part of Phil Cooke s role. In message to the con- Curt Hanna as producer, he lent a hand in gregation at St. Marcus a professional look. Lutheran with studio One of the challenges was the sanctuary, footage shot at the Time a huge stained-glass window. We had to of Grace studios, located work around the changing light patterns just a block away in a remodeled funeral home. maximizing the available facilities to create Cooke recalls. It s an historic building with come up with a lighting design that would during the service, while respecting the visual and structural integrity of the building. The next step was bringing in a set designer to create a production studio in an old funeral home. The existing dark wood and the ministry now covers 22 cities in all, with fireplace were retained to evoke an informal no signs of slowing down. In addition, the feel. A professional look was achieved by program has been added to the Daystar installing a compact lighting system in the Television Network and the American Forces 10-foot ceiling. To help create a sense of Network. Mark Jeske may be the most movement and space, one of the cameras laid-back pastor I ve ever seen, observes was installed on a Losmandy Traveller Cooke, and that makes him unique. He s Porta-Jib, allowing smooth, dramatic shots really an anti-tv evangelist. That s why despite the rather cramped quarters. he s so successful. With this infrastructure in place, it became Production Design possible to incorporate some new produc- One of the biggest problems facing Time tion ideas, specifically the desire to deliver of Grace in the beginning was a lack of significant parts of the message from shoots only Jeske s sermon. It s a threecamera shoot, using Sony DXC-D50WS cameras, notes Production Engineer Patrick Kallas. We capture isolated streams along with a switched live feed. Sony CCU-D50 camera control units provide precise visual control, with the SDI streams routed to a Panasonic AV-HS300 digital switcher. The streams are then recorded on four Sony PDWF75 XDCAM HD optical disc recorders for later post-production. To turn the sermon into a television program, the crew assembles in the studios at the Time of Grace offices around the block. The former funeral home sports a ground floor control room and two upstairs rooms retrofitted as sets. There, Jeske delivers a condensed version of the Sunday s message, using a transcript of the taped sermon to ensure that nothing is lost in translation. Hanna, as producer, directs the action with the same equipment used on Sunday morning. Since the studio building is just a block away, Hanna explains, we designed all the equipment into flypacks. We have the three cameras, plus the switcher, audio mixer and XDCAM HD gear. It all fits into three road cases. Twice a month, our
st. MARCUS LUTHERAN CHURCH AS SEEN IN CPM APRIL09 To help create a sense of movement and space [in the remodeled funeral home space], one of the cameras was installed on a Losmandy Traveller Porta-Jib, allowing smooth, dramatic shots despite the rather cramped quarters. freelance crew comes in; we pack everything up and go across the parking lot. We unload, plug in and we re ready to go. Completely digital, the portable production package incorporates two rack-mounted triple-screen Marshall V-R563P LCD video monitors for camera preview, with a Panasonic BT-LH17000W video monitor for the program output. Monitor switching is handled through a 4x1 Kramer VS41-HD digital video switcher, while a Tektronix 1760 waveform/vectorscope tracks the video. Communication between the crew and production center comes courtesy of a Clear-Com MS-232 PL Pro system. Audio is a straightforward affair. In the sanctuary, Jeske wears two Shure ULXP1 bodypacks, each with a different omnidirectional microphone. The primary feed is picked up by a beige head-worn AT892c MicroSet by Audio-Technica, virtually undetectable to the casual viewer. The second system utilizes a Shure WL93 lavalier mic, used as a safety track in case of dropouts. To ensure solid reception, a Shure UA870 active directional antenna system feeds both signals to a US844SWB wideband antenna distribution system. In the studio, Jeske wears only the Shure WL93. The mixing desk is a compact Onyx 1220 by Mackie, with the output feeding the Sony XDCAM HD recorders directly. Hanna monitors via a Wohler AMP1A-LP4S rackmount audio unit. Postproduction Once all the footage is captured, it goes to the postproduction studio located in the church, where the studio and sanctuary footage is ingested onto Apple G5 computers and edited into a single, cohesive message. The final program alternates between studio and sanctuary segments, with the message itself flowing continuously throughout. All the footage is shot in 16x9 aspect ratio and released in letterbox format, notes Kallas. That s been the look of our program for the past two years. We re still producing in standard definition, but all our equipment is HD-capable. In fact, even though our cameras are standard definition, the images are instantly upconverted and recorded as HD. Similarly, Final Cut Pro will let us edit in either standard or high definition format. Hanna clarifies, When choosing equipment, we wanted to be ready for the future. That s why we shoot in 16x9 aspect ratio already. So when Daystar and most of our other broadcast clients move to high definition, the change won t be too jarring to our viewers. Keys to Success While everyone credits Jeske as the core reason for the growth of Time of Grace, Cooke points to the organization itself. In most cases, a media ministry is launched with the budget of a local church, he notes. But in this case, a group of local businessmen came together, and they have been raising the money to make the program happen. I find that fascinating. Time of Grace President Jim Johnson agrees. The difference is using solid business principles, he asserts. Most Did You Know? You can check out Pastor Mark Jeske s blog, download podcasts, and play the latest message at www.timeofgrace.org. nonprofits have the same kind of passion and faith, but they don t know how to organize and raise funds to support the ongoing purpose. Expanding to new markets is a blessing, but it s a blessing that comes with due diligence and hard work. To fund expansion, Time of Grace goes into each prospective market to gain support, looking for donor commitments sufficient for the first two years of airtime. That s our model, says Johnson. With Mark Jeske s strong messages and a crisp, professional production, we believe that within two years the marketplace will cover the cost of broadcasting. And the Lord has made that happen in every market we re in. Hanna sees his job as bringing this unique combination of Jeske s style and Time of Grace s organizational strength to the public in a way that s comfortable for all. When we changed the program by adding the studio footage, there was some criticism from longtime viewers, he admits. But they understand that our mission is to reach those who don t know Jesus as well, and those people are more open to the message if they can get it in a more relaxed, inviting environment. That s what we try to do with the program. Jack Kontney is president and CCO (chief caffeine officer) at Kontney Communications, a content creation and marketing consultancy specializing in professional audio, video and electronics. Email: jack@kontneycomm.com. cp