Best known for Growth Track ( the much-utilized volunteer onboarding system ), Church of the Highlands appreciates the many dimensions that great Christmas services offer , especially in a year like 2020 ! Senior Pastor Chris Hodges thinks of these services as a present from the church to God , and for good reason . These services are the vehicle through which the most people get connected and planted at this twenty-three campus mega-church .
In December , I accepted Worship Creative Director Chris Griffin ’ s request to hop on a plane to see them film this year ’ s massive undertaking . Backed by a socially distanced fifty-piece orchestra , this truly was a Christmas extravaganza . Excellence being the operative word , everything was done with expertise , precision , and heart .
Miking up a fifty-piece orchestra is no small feat in any season , and Paul Andrews from DPA microphones was on hand to make sure that the orchestra sounded amazing , which they did ! We ’ ll be covering that more in an upcoming feature , so stay tuned ! In the meantime , it ’ s my pleasure to introduce you to my dear friend , Chris Griffin . Not only is he an outstanding leader , he ’ s also a brilliant guitarist …
[ WM ] Chris , why don ’ t you take a moment and tell us who you are , and what you do at Church of the Highlands ?
[ Chris Griffin ] Sure , my name is Chris Griffin and I am the Creative Worship Director here at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham , Alabama . We are a multi-site church and my job consists of anything creative that is happening in services . We just came out of Christmas , so that was a massive season . Its original music , it ’ s video , all of the fun creative stuff that a large church would do falls under my department .
[ WM ] I had the privilege of coming out and watching this presentation being put together . Can you break down the phases from conceptualization , to post-editing , and all of the things in between ?
[ Chris ] This is a long one ! Our church is known for a very large and elaborate Christmas experience every year . It typically consists of five to six songs that are highly arranged with lots of different players that we will bring in . So we do crazy experiences , we ’ ll have lasers , we ’ ll have drums that come down from the ceiling . A few