Collide Magazine

Church Spotlight: EastLake Community Church

COLLIDE Staff - Originally posted Tuesday, May 26, 2009 -

Summer is upon us and if you find yourself escaping to the sandy beaches of San Diego, CA, we suggest a visit to EastLake Community Church. Located just south of San Diego in Chula Vista, EastLake ministers to more than 5,500 people every weekend in its five worship services. EastLake’s casual atmosphere, relevant Bible-based teaching, and media-rich worship environment serve as a great example for other churches to follow.

Kevin McPeak—Creative Director

COLLIDE: What roles do media, technology, and the arts play at EastLake?

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McPeak: All three are very significant to what we do on a weekly basis, and we place a high value on trying to do quality work. That said, none of it is an end unto itself—every media piece, every gadget, and every artistic piece is viewed as a tool to advance the communication of the gospel. Our leadership team has strong allergies to anything resembling “art for its own sake,” so we don’t get too strongly tied to any particular style or vibe. Our view is that media, technology, and the arts are all substantial aspects of our wider culture and therefore should be substantially—and, one hopes, effectively—used to communicate to those people we’re fortunate enough to welcome to our campus on any given weekend.

COLLIDE: Do you create your own media or outsource it to others? Why?

McPeak: We generally create our own media for use in services, although we’re certainly not averse to using elements from outside sources. Our initial look-and-feel artwork is developed by an outside agency, Jamison Advertising Group, with whom we have a longstanding partnership. There is typically a bit of back and forth with their team on the graphic elements they’re creating for us, and then we run with it once we’ve approved a final look. Once we’re into a sermon series and the weekly turnaround of media-intensive services, we do our work in-house, primarily because we’re on such tight deadlines.

COLLIDE: What is the importance of using media in the Church?

McPeak: In our context, it’s critical. But that’s because we’re trying to communicate to a media-saturated community and culture. I wouldn’t suggest for a moment that it’s critical in a context where media isn’t such a paramount aspect of daily existence. Our church is located in a fast-growing, relatively young, digitally literate suburban community, so we communicate in a way that makes sense to people in that setting. Were we in a different place and a different time, I’d like to think that we would carefully consider and adopt those methods best suited for that environment. It’s all about using the right tool for the job, and the tool that works in one place may not be the tool that works in another.

COLLIDE: What suggestions would you offer churches that are trying to utilize more media?

McPeak: First, I’d say that it’s best to manage your expectations. Start small and learn how to do a few things well before taking on additional challenges because you can’t realistically expect to be brilliant at everything, or to be honest, anything, overnight. Second, I’d strongly encourage continuing education. Having nifty tools is great, but knowing how to use them effectively is better. Continuing to study and learn is also a great way to be reminded of the value of humility because the first step in learning is admitting that you don’t already know it all. Lastly, I’d encourage us all to make sure that we don’t get caught up in chasing after style at the expense of substance. We all should make sure to be more C.S. Lewis than P.T. Barnum.

Jeremy Nicks—Production Director

COLLIDE: From the look of it, your church’s services seem heavy on the production. What kind of production team do you have?

Nicks: Our production team is made up of more than 100 volunteers and a few full- and part-time staff. We rely heavily on our dedicated volunteers and a fairly detailed service grid to ensure that each of our services is delivered with excellence. Our volunteers serve in positions such as stage crew, camera operation, lighting operation, video directing, service producing and various screen controllers, which we use for image magnification, confidence, and atmosphere.

COLLIDE: What kind of tools are you using to execute that level of production?

Nicks: Because volunteerism plays such an important role at EastLake and, at the same time, excellence in creativity and delivery is vital to what we're doing, we use tools that are powerful enough to make a strong impact in our services and, once programmed, simple enough for our volunteers to manage. For lighting we use the Jands Vista T4 controller, for IMAG and keying we use Chyron's Lyric, along with the Panasonic AV-HS400A HD video switcher. For our center screen we are using Pro Video Player, and for our confidence monitor we continue to use PowerPoint.

Marcus Jones—Worship Pastor

COLLIDE: Tell us about your creative process in preparing for worship services.

Jones: The [EastLake] creative team is really the creative brain trust of the church. We meet each Friday to plan services, review the upcoming weekend, analyze cultural and community trends, and set the spiritual course for our church.

We use an online service planning tool called Planning Center to plan our service orders, roster volunteers, and aid in rehearsal preparation. We try to sketch our service calendar as much as 12 months out and really refine the specifics up to four weeks out.

This meeting involves ideas for special music (we often cover Billboard charts in the weekend services), marketing and advertising strategies, artwork, message content, and other media elements in the services, including inspirational videos, testimonies, movie/TV clips, etc.

COLLIDE: Where do you see yourself going as a church and what role will media and technology play in your growth?

Jones: It would be impossible to separate the use of media with what people have come to know as their experience at EastLake Church. It is one of the primary communicative tools at our disposal. As such, we are continuing to develop and stretch as new technologies become available. For example, with San Diego being such a significant military community, we have utilized media tools such as the Web and DVDs to extend the service experience to servicemen and women on deployment. As we expand as a church, in both off-site venues and web-based campuses, media is the primary delivery vehicle.

The message we share has never changed, but the media tools we implement to amplify it change all the time. The truth is timeless, but I’m always looking for a bigger bullhorn.


For more information about EastLake Community Church, visit www.eastlakechurch.com.