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The music begins softly, then builds as the lights go up on curtains so high they could be concealing Noah's ark. Steadily the drapes part to reveal two, 55-foot singing Christmas trees.

That is just the effect Jon Territo wanted. As a music director at the 13,000-member First Baptist Church of Orlando, Fla., Territo works firsthand with the annual Christmas program at the church.

“The Christmas program is a major outreach for the community,” Territo said. “Between 30,000 and 40,000 people attend each year.”

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So when the directors decided they wanted something new in the presentation — namely a gigantic curtain — they first wondered if it would be possible.

“We wanted to do it in a way that would be awesome,” Territo said. Their search for a company that could make such a curtain eventually led them to Rose Brand, a national supplier of draperies and textiles for the theater and entertainment industry, which also specializes in film and video supplies.

“If people don't know what is possible they may become discouraged,” said Peter Finder, vice president of sales and marketing at Rose Brand.

Finder said that while church business has increased over the last 10 years with the growing number of mega-churches and what he termed a “general resurgence of religion in the country,” churches may not know how to integrate theater technology.

“Churches know what effects they want but don't know how to get there,” Finder said.

Finder said the limitations of a typical church space can be overcome easily with drape. He also said drapes can offer churches affordable options for the effects they have in mind.

Drape expectations

The 50-foot curtains that were eventually strung across the 6,000-seat sanctuary in Orlando were fitted to a rented track with an electric motor to allow smooth openings and closings. Territo said the material looks like rich, maroon velvet, but is actually lighter weight velour. Finder said the fabric and tech expertise from Rose Brand helps make projects such as the Orlando curtain possible.

Rose Brand is accustomed to working with large congregations such as the Orlando church. They also provided curtains for Site and Sound Ministries in Pennsylvania, a Christian theater group that stages major biblical extravaganzas in a 2,000-seat auditorium, and for Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, Ill., a mega-church interested in sectioning off their multi-purpose room.

But, Finder said, smaller churches are interested in an auditorium set up, too. While 500-member churches may not do major productions, they may want a stage setting for presentations, speakers and events. And Finder said that because smaller churches have smaller spaces they can save money. Their curtains are smaller and no motor is required to pull them. “That's a huge savings right there,” he said.

Finder recommends curtains as a simple solution for churches organizing either events or weekend worship. “Fabric is a good way to frame a space,” he said.