Southerners have long been familiar with Buckhead, Atlanta's fashionable shopping, dining and financial district. The area, which is recognized for its outstanding eateries and shopping malls, is quickly becoming known for an entirely different reason. 

A building that once housed a high-end food retailer is now home to Atlanta's Buckhead Church. Each Sunday, close to 4,000 adults walk through doors that once led to fresh-baked bread and organic produce. Those who enter now experience exciting worship, engaging children's programs, and compelling teaching, all in high-impact environments.

A Multi-Site Approach
There can come a point when a congregation becomes so large that it is no longer inviting. Traffic congestion and crowded services become a deterrent to those wishing to attend a service. One alternative is to create additional campuses that share the same doctrinal values and human and financial resources. 

A few years ago, leadership at Atlanta's North Point Community Church (NPCC) began looking at the possibility of opening another campus to reach some of the regular attenders who drove more than 20 miles each Sunday to attend its services. Also, Buckhead businessmen David McDaniel, Scotland Wright and Keith Eigel were part of a group searching for a church that would communicate the time-honored message of the Gospel in a relevant environment. They wanted a place in their part of town where they could bring coworkers and friends who would not attend a traditional service. After being introduced to NPCC, they realized that God's timing could not have been better. After operating independently for a time as Buckhead Fellowship, Buckhead Church, a campus of NPCC, was officially launched. 

Its five Sunday services are evidence that the move to Buckhead was a prudent decision.  Buckhead Church (and the soon-to-be-opened Brown's Bridge Community Church in Cumming, Georgia) operates under the umbrella of North Point Ministries.

Target Audience Defined
While Buckhead is home to several other churches, the leadership of this congregation made sure their target audience was people who would be unlikely to come to a traditional service. 

"Right now there are 300,000 people who live within a 10-mile radius of our building who don't go to church," said Sandi Glidewell, Buckhead's Service Programming Director. "Based on our study of the demographics, we plan our services for the 31-year-old male that does not attend church." 

Glidewell spends two days a week at the main campus helping to plan services. Afterwards, it is her job to come back and work with her team to adapt the programming portion of the service, if necessary, to make it more appropriate for the Buckhead audience. Since the median age of their regular attenders is 31, and most are single, the music might be a bit edgier. However, the exact same message and content are delivered. 

Virtual Pastor
Undoubtedly the most unique aspect of Buckhead's ministry is the delivery of the pastor's message. At the conclusion of the live band's worship music, an 18-foot by 22-foot center video screen descends, and through the magic of technology, North Point's pastor, Andy Stanley, comes to life. 

Each week, a previously recorded message from the main campus is played back for the Buckhead congregation, using a Panasonic high-definition video camera and Christie Roadster projector. Lest people think these folks feel like second-class citizens because their teaching is not live, nothing could be further from the truth.

"Traditionally, churches aren't known for keeping up with technology," said Tim Fancher, Buckhead's Production Director. "We are using cutting-edge tools to compete with what the secular world has to offer. The screens, switchers and other equipment we have are all being used for the glory of God. The church is always looking for the best technology available while maintaining good stewardship in the process."

The Role of Performance Technology
Clark ProMedia (CPM), the national performance technology firm used by North Point, was chosen for the Buckhead project.

"This was a fast-track design," said George Clark, CPM co-founder and chief engineer. "Designs were basically being made at the same time as demolition."

In addition to timing issues, the CPM team was essentially charting undiscovered territory. 

"We were doing something that, to our knowledge, had never been done," said Clark. "We worked to get a static-shot, high-definition re-imaging of the stage. Based on our experiences, it was what we thought it should be at the time, but it was unknown how things would translate from recording in high definition in a 3,000-seat room at the main campus and playing it back in a 1,000-seat room. We wanted to emulate the presence and effect in this new room to make it as lifelike as possible." 

One of the ways this was accomplished was to utilize a sound reinforcement system from Meyer Sound, configured in surround sound mix, complete with the original audience's reaction piped in during the video. 

A Model for Other Churches
North Point Community Church was a pioneer in the video teaching format.  Since then, churches all over the country have bought into the notion that a pastor does not have to run from one service to the next at two or more locations each weekend.  

 "We can now duplicate quality teaching, one of the most effective components to growth," said Clark. "It is now a workable model. The teaching does not have to be compromised."

Buckhead is testament to this principle. Buckhead is also a great model for congregations that want to effectively market themselves to their target population. 

Future Plans
The congregation has closed on almost three acres of property in the middle of Buckhead, very near their first home, the Doubletree Hotel, where they met every other Sunday night for more than a year. All of the current environments will be in place, but larger. A 2,500 to 3,000-seat auditorium will anchor the building.   

Buckhead residents no longer need to drive long distances to find a church that understands them, one that communicates an eternal message in a user-friendly environment. One now exists in their own backyard.

Sherry Asbury is a freelance writer in the Atlanta area.