When a church building has to serve worship services, school activities, kids ministry, overflow rooms, presentations, paging, and livestream production, the AV system can’t be a random collection of gear.
It has to work as one connected system.
That was the challenge at First Chinese Baptist Church in Fountain Valley, California. This campus has been decades in the making, and their new building needed the flexibility to support a wide range of ministry and school environments without becoming too complicated for their team to operate.
In this Churchfront Tech Tour, Sean walks through the system our team installed and explains how everything works together — from the mobile production rig in the main multipurpose room to the Dante paging system that reaches classrooms, hallways, outdoor spaces, and the rest of the campus.
A Multipurpose Worship Space Needs More Than a Basic AV Setup
The main worship center at First Chinese Baptist Church is also a multipurpose room. That means the system has to support Sunday worship, presentations, school use, gym activity, and future upgrades.
For phase one, the goal was to build a production system that was powerful, flexible, and easy to operate.
The church already had an Allen & Heath SQ-5 audio console, so our team integrated that into the rest of the new system rather than forcing a completely unfamiliar workflow. That allowed the team to keep using a console they already knew while adding new functionality around it.
Josue walked through the mobile production rig, which includes tools for audio, video switching, presentation control, and livestream operation. The system supports virtual soundcheck with Tracks Live using Dante and playback. A Stream Deck gives the team fast control over band inputs, choir, vocalists, media playback, effects, slides, and ATEM functions.
That matters because many churches do not have a large production crew every week. A well-designed control system helps one operator accomplish more with less stress.
Simple Controls Are Not a Luxury
One of the most important parts of this project was making the system easy to use.
The team built the production workflow around practical controls. The Stream Deck can operate Proclaim slides, media, and ATEM functions. The ATEM Constellation 2 M/E can be controlled through ATEM software, but it can also be controlled through Stream Deck shortcuts. The PTZ camera has quick presets so one operator can move between useful shots without needing to manually reframe every time.
Behind the scenes, the infrastructure is doing the heavy lifting.
The portable workstation connects back to the main rack through a custom cable loom with S-Link and network connections. The workstation also uses a UniFi Pro 16 switch, network aggregation, KVM, NDI decoding for multiview, and IP-based control.
To the volunteer, the goal is simplicity.
To the system, the goal is reliability.
That is the balance every church AV system needs.
The Main Rack Connects the Whole Venue
The main rack is the heart of the venue’s production system. It includes a 48-port UniFi switch connected to the church’s existing UniFi network, patch bays for clean infrastructure, Kiloview NDI encoders, the ATEM Constellation, AdderLink IP KVMs, Mac Minis in a Sonnet rack enclosure, a DeckLink card for Proclaim outputs, and power conditioning.
This is where the system starts to become more than a livestream setup.
The ATEM sends outputs for multiview, program, and graphics into NDI encoders so video can be distributed throughout the venue over standard network cabling. That makes it possible to send video to places like the lobby, cry room, and other spaces without pulling dedicated SDI to every display location.
For churches with large campuses, that kind of network-based video distribution can make the system much easier to expand and manage over time.
Simple Mode Makes the Room Useful Beyond Sunday
One of the most practical features in this install is the custom control for the main auditorium.
Sean showed a control panel with a few simple buttons, including a normal console mode and a simple mode. In console mode, the system operates through the SQ-5 and the full front-of-house setup. In simple mode, the church can bypass the console and use four Shure SLXD microphones individually.
That means someone can walk into the room for a presentation without needing to power up and operate the entire production system.
There is also a reset zones button that prepares the building for Sunday. It resets the main room and distributed audio zones to the correct levels so the team does not have to manually check every space before service.
This is the kind of detail that makes an AV system feel easy.
Not because the system is small, but because the right workflows are built into it.
Dante Audio Across the Entire Building
A major part of this project was distributed audio.
The building uses Dante-controlled speakers throughout the first floor, second floor offices, education wing, hallways, classrooms, and outdoor areas. Sean mentioned 26 zones across the building, each with individual control.
The system uses an Allen & Heath AHM processor for distributed audio control. That allows different rooms and spaces to receive the right audio at the right level, whether that is program audio, paging, music, or another source.
There are also local control panels in key areas, including the lobby, restrooms, exterior speakers, classrooms, and kids areas.
This is especially important because First Chinese Baptist Church is not just a church facility. It also supports school activity. That creates a different set of needs than a typical worship-only venue.
Paging for Church, School, and Outdoor Spaces
The paging system is one of the most unique parts of this install.
Because the building supports a school, the team needed a way to page kids, parents, teachers, or outdoor areas. The custom CC-7 panel gives the church control over different zones and paging destinations.
They can page every speaker in the building or only the outside areas. A paging zone reset button makes sure the speakers are at the correct level before an announcement is made, even if a room had previously been turned down.
The workflow is simple: reset paging zones, choose the paging destination, press push-to-talk, and make the announcement.
That is a great example of designing technology around the real life of the ministry.
Video That Works in a Gym Environment
The main room also needed a video solution that could survive a multipurpose environment.
Instead of using traditional screens that could be damaged by balls or heavy room activity, the team installed projectors that shoot onto walls painted with Screen Goo. This creates a high-reflectivity projection surface without the risk of damaging a physical screen.
That is a practical solution for churches using gym-style spaces, multipurpose rooms, or rooms with kids and sports activity.
The goal is not just image quality.
The goal is image quality that fits the actual room.
Flexibility for Youth, Overflow, and Future Growth
Upstairs, the education wing includes another multipurpose room designed for flexibility. It uses Yamaha DZR Dante-controlled speakers and a Yamaha DM3 Dante-enabled mixer.
That gives the room local input capability for a small band, worship team, or youth gathering. But because it is connected through Dante, it can also receive audio from the main multipurpose room downstairs and function as an overflow space.
This is where systems thinking matters.
A room can serve more than one purpose when the infrastructure is designed correctly.
Build the System Around the Ministry
The First Chinese Baptist Church project is a great example of what modern church AVL should look like.
It is not just a console, a camera, a few speakers, and some displays.
It is a connected system that supports worship, school, kids ministry, overflow, paging, presentations, livestreaming, and future expansion.
That is the difference between buying equipment and building an AVL system.
If your church is planning a small upgrade, a full renovation, or a new building project, Churchfront can help you design and install a system that is simple for your team and scalable for your ministry.
Start your next AV project here: https://churchfront.com/apply/
