Astera Titans take the right Direction for Maranatha Community Church

Maranatha Community Church Johannesburg, South Africa, has invested in two sets of Astera Titan Tubes for its busy 3000‐seater auditorium in Kempton Park. They were purchased as part of an ongoing commitment to delivering excellent technical production for their services and events.

Nereen Bradshaw is head of media at Maranatha, and is responsible for creating content and overseeing lighting, media and video weekly at the Kempton Park campus, with which she has been involved for 10 years. The auditorium is used for three Sunday services each week, and a live event is staged every Friday. Services include a set of 4‐5 praise & worship songs, followed by a motivating message. All these presentations and services include live musical performances.

Nereen and the team at Maranatha – headed by Senior Pastor Leonard Stone – are always looking out for new technology and elements to enhance their productions, but it was an album launch by resident church band, Direction, which prompted the Titan Tube purchase. “We wanted something really extra special for this event,” explained Nereen. The Church had bought other kit including Robe moving lights from Astera’s South African distributor DWR Distribution in recent years, so when DWR’s Robert Izzett came onsite and demonstrated the Titan Tubes, both Nereen and Leonard were suitably impressed and went on to order two sets, 16 Tubes in total. The battery powered operation and ability to regulate and optimise consumption and run time was a big selling point for them, explained Nereen, adding that they also still have the option of running them wired if required.

The Titans are hung above the stage area attached via carabiners to different length catenary wires and add real depth and dimension to the performance area. This setup means the Tubes can be easily moved around if needed. Currently they are programmed to run in pairs in a 4‐pixel configuration, from the house lighting console.

Nereen works with one other full‐time staff member, Kaylin Dickson, plus a large crew of regular volunteers covering all the different technical departments. Nereen & Kaylin run regular training sessions to ensure that ‘The Crew’ stay informed, sharp and updated with the kit.

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Photos © Masranatha Youth