I really believe that the environment reflects as well as influences the values of the church. This was very evident at Vintage Faith. I really like their web page that answers “What makes this church unique?” On there they mention things like reflecting ancient roots and values of early Christianity (while translating it to Santa Cruz culture) and having arts and creativity in their blood. They have been very intentional in creating an environment that communicates and encourages these values.

For one thing, the church is in an old brick church building. That alone is unusual — to find brick in earthquake-prone California!

Visibility is great. It’s right on the corner of a major intersection, right off the freeway. It sure is hard to get to when you’re coming from town, though. Just a heads up if you’re visiting… keep a sharp eye out if you need to turn left to get the church! It’s kind of confusing.

Anyway, once there I really appreciated their clear signage everywhere.

It became evident to me at once that this church was not your typical church environment. Ironwork on the walls and a pew sitting outside. Hmm… definitely a unique flavor.

The church has a coffeeshop.

If this doesn’t say Santa Cruz and California flavor, I don’t know what does!

Man, if I had to study, I would go here!

Such a great environment to study, meet with God, or chat with friends!

The place totally had a coffeehouse vibe that encouraged creativity.

Right outside was a courtyard — more places to sit, eat or drink or chat.

The decor is funky and eclectic but totally works!

Heading a little further down, we saw the sign for the children and youth areas.

The room used appeared to be a gym. A lobby was created with pipe and drape.

Computers for checking in. They use the same system my church does — Church Community Builder!

Love the seating area with the oversized cushions. Seeing as I have balance issues, I think it wouldn’t be long until I toppled out of those! I’m not exactly sure what the seating was for but it added to the atmosphere!

Hallways were simple with minimal signage.

Rooms were functional.

There was artwork everywhere.

This was the entrance to the office — lobby and receptionist area, I think? It was actually dark in there but I lightened up the photo in Photoshop.

This appeared to be their video overflow room. Not sure what it is during other times. A meeting room?

The view from the other side… the video displayed a live feed of the sanctuary.

There was a sign that said “10 minute meeting.” After service they invited us to attend the 10 minute meeting just to meet people and get to know a little more about the church. It was held in this room.

Art all on the hallways.

Different flavors, different styles. Nice track lighting!

Even the bathroom was totally funky! Pink tile and black decorative elements.

I can’t remember what this room was for.

But I totally loved the oversized furniture on the other side! How cool is that!

There were stained glass windows in the doors of what appeared to be an entrance of some kind.

This was the actual lobby. The table below had materials for newcomers and about the church.

On the other side was an iron candleholder with various candles lit. A container was there for people to deposit cards and giving.

A recycle bin — very important in California! I liked how all their signage was very consistent.

The worship center was an old sanctuary, complete with stained glass windows and red carpet.

Here’s how the front looked.

I love the blend of old and new. Old pews and sofas, with modern chairs for the main seating.

Here’s the “new.” Soundboard in the back.

Along the walls were paintings of the values of the church.

These were between stained glass windows.

I had to change my camera exposure to capture the artwork in the windows. It’s amazing how the human eye can look at the white walls and see the stained glass at the same time, something difficult for cameras to capture in one shot.

The stage was decorated along the theme of “Pursuing Character,” their current sermon series.

In the corner was a prayer cove, where people could go up afterwards to receive prayer.

On the other side was a cross and painting. Someone told me there was something significant about the painting, with people’s names in it.  There seemed to be a strong sense of community there.

New and old… graphics were a blend of both.

The worship service was relationally-oriented, simple, heartfelt and meaningful. It was also totally packed. I think every seat was taken. Afterwards I was very impressed at how quickly they followed up with an email and later a handwritten note. (I’m in charge of our follow-up team at my church, so I am always interested in how other churches do this.) I appreciated the experience and how intentional this church is in living out its vision and values.

The outside had a contemporary feel. They had a table with donuts and coffee.

The stage was a very simple setup but gave a very nice feeling.

The chairs were really comfortable! Video screens were on the side.

They were recruiting people for a new site they were starting. There was a great visual display of all the people needed.

They also had a video venue for a more traditional type of service. Which to me seems kind of like a strange juxtaposition… the traditional venue watches the sermon via video. But it appeared to work!

The venue for the Heritage Service looked more traditional in nature by the stage.

The lobby was large and two stories tall. There was greenery everywhere, giving the place a wonderfully comfortable feel.

Ministry tables were like little booths.

The center even had very large palm trees…

…Which were by a fountain.

Here’s another view of the lobby, by the bathroom entrances.

I wish I had walked around to take more pictures but that’s all I have.

And this ends the historic facility tours of all my old pictures from years before. As I visit new churches in the future I will be more thorough in documenting facilities, as judging from the hit counts, these facility tours have been the most popular posts in this whole site!

Hillsong had buses that would pick up people in the city and take them to the church. Apparently Australian bus regulations are quite different than American ones. We were crammed in there so much that we practically had our noses against the windshield! Or maybe that was another tour bus we were on… I kind of forget now, four years later…

The side of the bus advertised the conference that we were going to attend.

Here’s how the outside looked.

As we walked over we could see signs.

Another sign.

Apparently kids are a high value around there.

Here was the entrance but I didn’t go inside to take pictures.

I captured a blurry picture of the signage.

Here’s another sign, smaller but not so blurry.

I can’t remember where this was.

But perhaps it was close by this wall?

I do remember this sign though. It was outside the lobby.

Inside it looked like this. After the service we went up and they served tea and cookies and a very kind young lady chatted with us. Great people!

Here’s how the inside looked when we walked in.

Another view as I walked around.

The tech booth.

I was pretty impressed by their video technology. Even their announcements were all done in video.

The place filled up with people for the service.

There’s the band on the stage. I guess the screen can be split into three different screens or be one big one as a large widescreen.

And then there was a random chandelier above. I’m not sure as to the significance of that but I thought it was a pretty cool chandelier.

Out in the lobby, there was a window for information, I think. I can’t remember exactly.

This was the central information center. I think. Sorry I am not so sure of all these things as I am going by memory and never planned to post this up on a blog!

I thought the resource center was ultra cool.

This is blurry but it shows a view of the other side of the books. Bright and orderly!

There were tables situated throughout.

And also a really cool postcard stand. The postcards were for different ministries.

There was also a large banner above the lobby. I tried to take pictures of other tables but it was just too crowded. There were people everywhere. However, this picture did capture a really cool piece of glass or plastic artwork below.

We were not there very long because we had to catch the bus back. The rest of the week we were at the Hillsong Conference — one of the most amazing conferences I have ever been to, in one of the stadiums used in the Olympics for 5 days and 5 nights with 28,000 people. It was an experience I will remember for a lifetime!

As appropriate to the name, the nautical theme was evident in places.

Here’s a nice water feature…

…next to the student ministries building.

Surfboards, netting, and barrels make it look like a beach house.

Here’s a directional sign that was outside.

I really liked the banners. They brightened up the otherwise kind of drab concrete buildings.

Here’s another one.

The central patio had a huge tent.

There were tall tables there as well as stands behind for the ministries.

Small groups table. I wonder what they did if things were really windy?

Building entrance.

These banners seem to reflect the five purposes+.

The banners seem to cover the five purposes.

Upper view of the patio tents. Very nice! Reminds me of sails.

A view from the top of the stairs.

One of the rooms for the kids.

Another view.

Info Center for the kids’ area.

The lobby had a big display for the fundraising campaign.

This was the worship center.

A view of the stage.

The side had windows.

A view from the back.

The video camera setup.

This was in a dark area.

The view at night. I like the lights!

The entrance/exit.

Another roadside sign from the window of my car.

The church appears to look quite different now, based on the pictures I saw their their website. Maybe one of these days I’ll have a chance to go down and visit again…

The first impression of a church is often its entrance or parking signs. North Coast had clear signage.

Then we headed to the main building. I was prepared ahead of time as someone told me to prepare to be underwhelmed. It was a bunch of business park buildings.

But at least the signage was clear as to where to go!

We headed into the entrance.

And in the lobby there was a resource center.

A closer look at the resource center.

Here’s the hallway. The entrances had clear signage.

Example of signage.

The live venue is where they record and broadcasting the video to all the venues. It’s the largest room they have.

We actually checked it out earlier for the conference. It was all dark so I used my night setting mode. This was the stage.

And here’s the room before the chairs were all stacked. As you can see, it’s not a very large room… thus their need to expand through use of video venues.

I’m always fascinating by lighting. Here’s the lighting they had. Wow, that’s just about as many lights as we have!

Another area was the activity center, where there were other venues.

The venues had different types of music. The Edge was a little more cutting edge in terms of music.

Awnings marked the entrances.

There were booths that marked the children’s ministry entrances.

The resource center was outdoors.

These were cool portable carts for books and resources.

Information booth was clearly marked.

Refreshment booth.

Entrance to the video cafe.

Inside of the video care.

Coffee inside.

Video camera in the back.

This was an interesting and useful feature. They installed a curtain on a track that could be pulled over once the service began. This prevented distraction from the door opening and closing and light flashing in and out.

There was also a Traditions venue that sang hymns. I didn’t take any pictures though.

This was the inside of the Edge service.

Here’s the stage.

I think the rigging on the right was for speakers but I can’t remember.

Here’s a photo during the service. The place was packed!

There was a stoplight at the back for the worship leader to know when to end. When the light went red it meant the video was about to start. Having led worship for a video venue, I know how tricky timing can be. As a worship leader, you have to end by a certain time if the video is streaming live! The stoplight must be a very handy tool.

This was what was up on the walls.

It was kind of dim so here was a shot in night mode. I can’t remember what the tables were for. The facility appeared to be used for many different purposes.

There were sofas on the side.

I think this was the same area but now I can’t remember.

I think this was another venue.

Children’s ministry room.

The entrance to the children’s ministry had nametags hung up.

We went down to visit one of the offsite campuses, Roosevelt Campus. I noticed online that they no longer have a Roosevelt Campus. Back then I believe it was in start-up mode and meeting at a school.

There was a station for people who took the shuttle. I can’t remember where the shuttle was from though.

This was the entrance.

Inside was a check-in area for the kids. Everything had to be set up every week because they were at a school. You can see the portable nature of everything at this site.

Refreshment stand.

Refreshment table.

I took a picture of the sign because we were going to use the same types of boxes.

A sign showed who the teacher and worship leader was for the day.

There were stands nearby the entrances where the ushers stood.

Here’s a random picture. I can’t remember what premier north meant but if you took the shuttle, they would give you a shuttle sticker. (I think. Or maybe that was at another church later. This is the problem with writing blogs 6 years later!)

North Coast’s philosophy is that their bar is 80%. They don’t go for 100% excellence in everything because they have such a wide volunteer base that leads all the services. They have defined 80% as their bar (or did back then… no idea if this is true now). It’s a philosophy that works well, as they have not only developed many venues, but also had a low staff ratio considering all the venues they were running. I was really impressed by the simplicity of their philosophy and the health and strength of the church!

This was the entrance to the nursery area.

A close-up of the sign.

Inside, the check-in area was a bit dim. But what a cool atmosphere!

I took a picture with the flash to show the details. But with full lighting on, it sure doesn’t feel the same!

On the side was an area to rock babies.

The hallway had a great feel to it.

Notice the overhead hanging signs.

Very colorful feel.

Lots of blocks of color.

Even a narrow hallway ending in a door was nicely painted.

Artwork on the wall.

Nursery and preschool rooms were all colorful.

Such nice, colorful environments!

This was an alcove in the hallway. That’s a lot of babies to wheel around at once!

This is downstairs in the kids’ lobby. This was the check-in counter.

Another view of the check-in counter.

They had a lot of lighted signage, I noticed.

This was another one in the hallway.

The other side.

The children’s area was amazing. I think it was a separate building and when I walked in, this is what I saw.

These pictures are me standing in one spot turning in a circle.

Very bright and colorful! As the sign says below, the theme appears to be “Imagination Studios.”

A desk in the corner of the lobby.

Another check-in area.

This was the view down one of the hallways. Feels like a theater.

Here’s what it looked like as I walked down the hallways.

There was cartoon artwork on the walls. These looked like they were painted by pros.

The rooms appeared to be named after animals.

Here’s how the inside of the rooms looked like.

There were also 3D reliefs on the walls.

Another check-in area.

This time the walls were blue. Even the signage was colorful. The ceilings were painted too.

An example of the blue hallway.

A very large wall sign.

Even an aquarium! I wonder who cleans this.

This was an interesting view of the lobby from the hallway. Notice all the photos of kids around the border.

An close-up of one of the wall art windows. It appears they are all pictures of Bible stories.

What an amazing facility!

Getting to the location was a bear. This was before the days of Google Maps on my phone. I had a map but I drove in circles over and over again — somehow I missed the turnoff and ended up having to go around the (very large mile-long) block, and ended up on the freeway going home! I could see the church but couldn’t figure out how to get to it. I think I wandered in circles something like 15 or 20 minutes, watching the church go by every time I made a turn.

I was in a really bad mood by the time arrived… and then everything changed.

They had so many traffic directors, like every 10 yards it seemed, all wearing orange vests and smiling at me before I even made it to the entrance.

More smiles as they directed me to the parking spot. After I got out of my car, there were greeters outside greeting me. I was blown away and my mood instantly changed!

Here’s the side of one of the buildings. I went out during break and looked around. That is one very long covered walkway.

I liked the fountain to the side.

You can just sit there and enjoy the (hot) outdoors if you want.

Some sail-like overhangs for shade. Notice the fans mounted on the posts.

A fountain in the lake.

Here’s how the inside looked. Huge lobby. The centerpiece is the Guest Services booth. Sure can’t miss that!

I’m sure this is not everyone’s taste but I thought it was a pretty cool modern eye-catching tower. At least you could see it across the room and knew where to go to get information!

The lobby had lots of places to sit.

Like these sofas.

Inside, the stage was amazing. They were doing a sermon series “Retro” so it was decorated to look like the past, including a bow to lava lamps. I got a picture right as the countdown clock went to zero!

The C3 logo was made of little words, I think. It was a long time ago but this conference made a lasting impression in my mind. I even remember where I was sitting.

Another view of the stage with different lighting.

This was Rob Bell speaking. It was the first time I had heard him speak before.

And here’s how the stage looked with the instruments on it. That’s a really big stage. The drum kit at my church alone takes up half the stage! Here it is like a little drop in a big bucket.

The had a video on a crane that swept back and forth.

Here’s another view of the video, including a shot of how the walls on the side looked. It was quite dim in there.

I always drool over this video equipment. That is one huge camera lens! Not to mention a large tripod. Looks like 3 video cameras. That’s probably hundreds of thousands of dollars of video equipment just in this picture!

In the lobby was a case illustrating the sermon series. I guess they must change this out every series. This was a perfect church to put on a creativity conference!

This was an interesting stand promoting … their bookstore? Not sure.

Overhead sails again, this time indoors. I can’t remember what area this was.

The youth center was in another building. (I think.) There was an Apple iPod type of feel to this place.

These lighted kiosks were their check-in stands. Fellowship Church was the church that started Fellowship One, the church database system used my many churches now. The check-in stations used their software to check kids in.

Here’s the other side.

After that, you could walk in past a caged sports area.

More artwork on the walls.

Inside, the place split into two levels.

Downstairs foose ball tables.

Pool tables.

I think this was upstairs — a cafe area.

And video gaming areas.

This was a room for large group gathering. I think it was another building but I really can’t remember. Maybe it was the same on.

Left view of the back of the room.

End of Part 1. In Part 2, I’ll cover the Children’s Ministry areas.

But about the facility. This is at the Farrington High School. What is so amazing is that they get there really early every week and set up this facility. It’s pretty awesome that they have a relationship with the school and as a result do not have to set up from scratch every week. I can’t remember what time they arrive there but it takes a lot of time to set up! They have been doing this for years and probably still do it now, though I haven’t been there in a couple years. It could also look totally different today!

Here’s the outside — lots of tents, since there is no lobby. With Hawaii weather, who needs lobbies?

Here’s an inside view of the tables.

The resource center.

I thought this cart was really cool. Afterwards, everything can be packed away and rolled into storage.

On the large lawn there was a big tent for the video overflow area…

…with lots of chairs…

…including a huge jumbotron showing the live feed from inside.

The children’s ministry areas used all the classrooms. It was quite impressive how everything was so portable. No pictures though.

Inside picture… blurry, though.

So I took a picture afterwards.

Video screen to the side.

I took pictures of the production room. But they were all blurry. But they also had the TV broadcasting trailer, which was super cool.

They have done an amazing job of streamlining things, considering the immense amounts of setup and teardown they have to do each week!

Since I’m a graphic designer, I can’t help but notice how churches do signage. Willow had signage everywhere — probably part of the reason why I at first felt like I had walked into an airport. Their signage was well-done and made it very easy to find things. Part of the reason was because they had their signage sticking out 90 degrees into the traffic. Like this sign.

Or this one. I also appreciated the nice design. Very classy.

Here’s a better view where you can see the 3D details.

Even their stairs have numbers. They must have a lot of stairs.

Room numbers were clearly labeled as well.

And there were maps in case you wondered where you were.

Another blurry picture showing hanging signage with arrows to direct you to where you wanted to go.

And now a tour of the downstairs. When I went downstairs, the first thing I saw was this — the children’s info center.

Here’s a better non-blurry picture. The conference was in October; thus the fall decorations. I just noticed that glass case has fall decorations in it too!

Next to the info center was a sitting area for parents and kids.

This part was totally cool — a play wall for kids!

Games to keep little ones occupied.

Wow, if I were a kid, I would totally find this fascinating.

This would keep me occupied for a very long time.

I really liked how they painted the hallways. What could have been a boring walkway was quite interesting.

The photos on the wall carried the color theme.

Here’s the entrance to one of the rooms for the large group gatherings. I was puzzled why it was called Blue Sky because nothing in the room was blue or looked like sky. Later I read the term can mean stepping back from the details to look at the big picture, or dreaming of the future. No idea if that’s why they called it that.

Here’s the inside of the doors. The semi-frosted windows were a nice touch where you could look in if you wanted to but not be distracting to those inside.

The inside of the room. Cool ceiling!

The stage. Very simple.

I think this was the chapel but now I can’t remember.

There was also a resource center upstairs. This bookshelf looked like a library or something.

Many resources were sold at the center. Do people still listen to audio tapes? Well, this was 8 years ago. Maybe they only sell CDs now.

There was a large food court too. I forgot to take pictures of all the windows where food was served.

And now the auditorium…The word that came to mind was “huge.”

Here’s the stage.

The people look so tiny in this picture! That’s a pretty big stage.

The other side of the auditorium.

There were motorized drapes that came down to dim the room. Notice the huge screens on the side. They were super bright and not even at 100% capacity.

The auditorium at night.

So interesting how the colors changed just from the lighting.

Special needs seating — even a monitor there to see more easily.

The ceiling.

Screens embedded up there for those in the balcony.

Another color change.

And another one. Sorry, I’m into stage design… you can ignore these pictures if they all look the same to you.

This is a picture of the screen — super bright!

End of tour. Signing off.

This first one has to do with the lobby and hallway areas.Here’s how the outside looked.

Clear signage… the place was huge!

I liked the waterfall outside.

The new auditorium had a bit of a more modern look to the outside.

When I walked in, my first thought was, “I feel like I’m in an airport.” You don’t find huge lobbies like this in California as much because the weather out here is nicer. But Illinois is a different story, especially in the winter! You need lots of space for people to be warm and out of the elements.

There was a large stairway in the middle of the lobby.

Here’s how the lobby looked from overhead. To the left are the entrance doors. Straight ahead is the coffee shop.

Here’s a wonderfully blurry picture. I don’t know why these pictures are blurry… maybe my camera wasn’t set right or I didn’t know how to use manual settings. Who knows? It was 8 years ago.

A glimpse inside of the coffee shop.

A nice warm feel!

The counter where you order.

An area for seating.

And back out in the hallway. There were computer stations to go to sign up for stuff or look for info, and a monitor overhead that had announcements.

An overhead view.

And a close-up view.

On the other side was the entrance to the auditorium.

There were benches along the wall to sit. I could see just walking from one end of the building to the other could be exhausting, given how huge the place was!

The lobby was two stories tall.

There was an escalator next to the stairs.

This was my favorite part — a falling water feature!

The water looked almost like glowing lines.

Here’s the other side. You can see the water falling down into a black wall.

There’s the bottom of the black wall, ending in pool under the stairs.

…And spouting water, with a ledge to sit next to. What a great place to sit and read your Bible if no one’s around!

There were also computer monitors in other areas. I’m not sure what they were for.

And monitors in various locations to communicate what was happening.

It was such a beautiful setting that served many functions well — traffic flow, places for people to sit and connect, and communications kiosks and monitors for people to get information they needed.

Next, Part 2…