There have been many awesome changes that have taken place over the last three weeks in AMBC’s new building on Snow Hill Road… and some of the most dramatic have occurred in the Allen Memorial Student Ministry space that we call “Studio 7o7″ as we have completed PHASE:ONE of our build.

Studio 7o7 finds the source of its’ name from a combination of our AM/SM radio tower theme (note the striking similarities between the radio abbreviation for Amplitude Modulation/Frequency Modulation… “AM/FM”… and our abbreviation for Allen Memorial/Student Ministry… “AM/SM”) and Matthew chapter 7, verse 7 (Matthew 7:07).

The Studio 7o7 space will eventually feature a stage (which was actually completed yesterday), two light-tight-rear-project projection rooms, a total sound system (with 3 rows of speakers), an A/V booth (already called ”the cage”… you’ll see why once we finish it), an office for Weaver (located in a more central location to the space than the original office design… that office will become a storage room… for now), and a student-led coffee lounge (complete with loads of stylized coffee and free wifi).

PHASE:ONE of the Studio 7o7 build has been led by a large team of volunteers who have sacrificed much time, energy, and sweat over the last two weeks. It would be short-sighted of me to list their names here… BUT… let me state that those who have worked know how much I appreciate their hard work. There is no mistaking the absolute FACT that I could never have accomplished any of these awesome feats on my own.

Here are some photos that highlight the changes that have taken place since AM/SM had our first worship service in Studio 7o7 on February 4th of 2007. The photo that is highlighted above was taken on that day… the notable differences between the above photo and the photos that follow are nothing less than remarkable… and nothing more than a testament to Holy God.

The ceiling in Studio 7o7 was painted powder black about a month ago. Then during the week of July 9th - July 14th we started the Studio 7o7 stage (frame and centers using 2×12’s)…

And we created the necessary supports and mounts (struts, 3/8″ all-thread, and some strong nuts-n-bolts) as we began the install our speakers (the speaker featured here is a Tannoy Di6… there are two rows of these speakers… six and eight speakers respectively).

Here is another good shot of the initial phases of the stage design (Note: the square box will support our Lowell amplifier rack). 

This past Saturday (July 21st) our volunteer team gathered in the morning (before Chico’s Big UNO pirate party) to finish decking the Studio 7o7 stage with 3/8″ Advantech plywood (Note: the amp box has obviously not yet been attached to the stage or to the floor)…

And we finished mounting the speakers (except for the first row of four speakers that are waiting for the custom mounting brackets… a partial view of rows two and three of the Di6’s can be viewed in this photo), running the speaker cable around the HVAC and through the trusses in the ceiling, and finally covering the speakers with beautiful plastic bags (since the final coats of black ceiling paint and white wall paint have yet to be applied).

This is a good shot of center stage, directly under speaker row three.

This photo is another solid shot of all the accomplishments and changes that have taken place in Studio 707 over the past two-to-three weeks.

Again… THANKS to each member of our volunteer team… to each leader in AMBC who had the fortitude to follow God’s Vision for Allen Memorial and Allen Memorial Student Ministry… to each student who has decided to trust the vision for AM/SM… and to each of our consultants (Blake Engel and Dave Gordon).

PRESS ON!!!

-Weav