Volunteer-Friendly AV

Hybrid worship has continued to surge in popularity long after the pandemic made it a necessity for many houses of worship. For Tennessee's RockPoint Church Chattanooga, which has seen about 20% of its weekly congregation join virtually, online engagement has been critical to its ministry outreach.

“Online isn't an afterthought or an overflow; it's a meaningful portion of our congregation,” said Brad Anderson of HyperLite Media, who serves on the church’s production team and consults on technology upgrades. “For first-time guests, the livestream is often the first impression they have of RockPoint before they ever walk through the doors.”

With that in mind, RockPoint recently partnered with Blackmagic Design to deliver a seamless experience for both in-person and online audiences. Its upgraded production environment includes Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus G2s, an ATEM 2 M/E Constellation HD live production switcher, and an URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 digital film camera that supports both I-MAG and livestream production.

Dealing with Issues

Before transitioning to Blackmagic Design, the church operated a mixed-camera setup that had noticeable issues during services. “When we cut between cameras, you could see the mismatch in color, dynamic range, and overall image quality,” Anderson said.

The new workflow is now built around four Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus G2s and an URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, all feeding into the production booth via SDI wall plates throughout the sanctuary. “The fantastic quality of the touchscreen monitors on the Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus G2s—paired with dials to quickly change contrast, brightness, and focus peaking strength—makes everything so simple for operators,” Anderson said.

Two of the wing-positioned cameras include Blackmagic Focus Demand, which helps reduce operator fatigue during services. Volunteer usability is a major part of the church’s production philosophy, and all technology choices are made with that in mind.

“Volunteer friendliness is the whole game in a church environment,” Anderson explained. “Our system must be easily operable by volunteers who may only serve once a month on a Sunday morning.”

The ATEM Constellation switcher is paired with an ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel, along with a HyperDeck Studio Pro deck, UltraStudio 4K capture and playback device, DeckLink Duo 2 video capture/playback card, and a dedicated livestreaming computer. “For reliability, the unified ecosystem is doing a lot of the work—fewer adapters, fewer protocol bridges, fewer points where something can fail,” Anderson added.

For other houses of worship considering similar upgrades, Anderson believes this project offers some good takeaways. “Many churches don’t have clear guidance on where to start with video production and lean toward PTZ cameras due to staffing, but those systems often don’t scale well,” he said.

Anderson emphasized the importance of selecting technology that provides consistency and scalability, supports volunteer-centered workflows, and enables the long-term delivery of live and prerecorded content. For example, RockPoint’s production environment also supports prerecording testimonials, internal communications, and media initiatives. “The same gear that runs your services should be earning its keep the rest of the week, too,” he added.

Budget vs. Needs

RockPoint highlighted the need to select technology that can scale and to put volunteer usability at the forefront. Other integrators that specialize in working with houses of worship couldn’t agree more—and also highlighted the careful balance many navigate between adopting the latest and greatest AV technology, meeting their actual needs, and staying within their set budget.

“The mission should always drive the technology, not the other way around,” said Jared Rich, account executive, faith and performance, for Diversified, He stressed the importance of identifying what matters most for the ministry, whether that is online engagement, atmosphere, or speech intelligibility, and then focusing on investments that remove distractions and strengthen the ability to get the message across.

Then the focus turns to the budget, and balancing the vision with budget realities can be one of the biggest challenges. Rob Bender, CEO of Wave, works with houses of worship facing budget constraints to identify opportunities to reuse existing equipment or build systems that can scale over time, rather than being integrated all at once.

“Dream, figure out what the end goal is,” Bender said. “Put the infrastructure in to support that. Don’t buy the camera or the LED wall right now, but put enough power in so that the LED wall can be hung."

One of the biggest budgeting mistakes Rich sees is “underestimating infrastructure and lifecycle costs while over-focusing on visible gear.” Many spend most of their budget on cameras, LED walls, or consoles, while overlooking the essentials that ensure a reliable experience, such as acoustics, power, networking, rigging, and long-term support.

Rich emphasized the importance of long-term scalability and of designing a system with a future-ready mindset, thereby limiting the need for houses of worship to undertake expensive rebuilds years down the road. “As we say internally, cheap gear is often the most expensive choice long term,” said Rich.

This was evident in the upgrades at RockPoint, where the church made a point of investing in scalable infrastructure. “We'd rather buy once and grow into it than have to revisit core infrastructure every few years,” Anderson noted.

Keep It Simple

The other key is volunteer usability, since many houses of worship rely on a mostly volunteer staff. As a result, AV designs need to prioritize reliability, predictability, and ease of use.

Beyond the selected technology, Diversified emphasizes training to ensure volunteers feel confident and comfortable using it to its fullest. “A well-designed system isn’t just technically impressive, it’s understandable under pressure,” said Rich. “Technology should empower volunteers, not intimidate them."

The Wave team includes many individuals with firsthand ministry experience, which shapes their approach to systems integration and to the understanding that most teams are made up of non-professionals. “They may not have a clue about mixing and being a sound engineer,” Bender said. “So, let’s not sell them the most complicated system. Let’s build a really good system, but then also let’s build in the controls and the pieces that are there.”

To simplify operations, Wave incorporates custom Q-SYS control systems built with a one-button approach. “It turns on the lights, turns on the projector, just does the simple things. It’s very user-friendly,” Bender said.

Training also plays a major role in making sure volunteers feel comfortable operating the technology. It's important for integrators to spend time on site after integration to provide the necessary training for church teams and volunteers.

“We don’t want to sell you the Ferrari and give you the keys, and you’ve never even set foot in the race car,” Bender offered. “So, let’s not give them a Ferrari—let’s give them a really nice car, and then let’s teach them how to actually drive the car.”

For more church AV insights, download your free copy of the SCN Integration Guide to House of Worship.