MountainHouse Church: Stage and House Lighting Built for the Room and Camera
MountainHouse Church in South Lake Tahoe, California needed a sanctuary lighting system that could do two jobs well: create a warm, flexible environment for the people in the room and provide clean, consistent light for the livestream.
Qohr replaced the aging stage, house, power, and control systems with a coordinated lighting design built around worship, teaching, community events, camera exposure, volunteer operation, and future expansion.
The Challenge
The existing fixtures did not provide the flexibility or reliability the church needed. Stage lighting had to balance key light for faces with color and movement for worship. House lighting needed to shift between a bright, welcoming room and a more focused worship environment without creating poor color on camera.
The aging dimming and control infrastructure also needed to be updated. The new system had to serve experienced operators while remaining simple enough for rotating volunteers.
What Qohr Designed and Installed
Elation Stage Lighting
The stage-lighting package includes Elation KL Profile fixtures for controlled key light, Fuze SFX moving fixtures, Rayzor 760 fixtures, and Six+ Bars. Together, the fixtures provide front light, color, movement, texture, and flexible looks for worship services and community events.
Fixture selection and placement were coordinated around ceiling height, throw distance, stage positions, camera angles, and the church's desired worship environment.
Tunable RGBW House Lighting
H.E. Williams RGBW house lights allow the congregation lighting to change in brightness and color while maintaining a clean architectural appearance. The system can support a bright room before and after services, focused worship scenes, and lighting that works more naturally with the cameras.
Updated Power and Architectural Control
Qohr replaced the aging dimming infrastructure with updated ETC power distribution and architectural control. ETC button stations and an EchoTouch controller give the church practical access to common room-lighting functions outside the main lighting console.
The house-lighting system was also connected to the building's generator power so essential congregation lighting can continue operating during a power interruption.
Obsidian NX1 and Luminex Control
An Obsidian NX1 console and Luminex LumiNode provide multi-universe control for the stage and house lighting systems. Qohr installed and terminated the control and fixture cabling, then programmed repeatable scenes around the church's normal service flow.
The console still gives experienced operators room to create, but volunteers can run common Sunday looks from a smaller set of prepared controls and presets.
Training and Handoff
After installation and programming, Qohr trained the MountainHouse team on the new fixtures, control system, presets, and normal operating procedures. Training was part of the system design, not an afterthought at the end of the project.
The Result
MountainHouse Church now has stage lighting that supports worship and provides cleaner camera exposure, house lighting that can change with the room, updated power and architectural control, and a console workflow designed for both volunteers and experienced operators.
The lighting system also works alongside the church's earlier dual LED screen installation, giving the sanctuary a more coordinated visual environment.
Does Your Church Lighting Work in the Room but Not on Camera?
Qohr designs and installs stage, house, architectural, and livestream lighting systems for churches across the United States.
