Systems for Churches and Sanctuaries
"The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. "
- Ezekiel 42:2

Even in the time of the Old Testament, design and detail were well known for the successful building of any great work. Never as important as today is the design and building of the sanctuary for the flock it will serve.

Sanctuary systems provide a way for a minister to reach larger audiences. Large sanctuaries are signs of a vibrant and growing church body but such growth is often accompanied by a "disconnection" the audience feels when they are so far away from the person speaking. Large projection systems, camera systems and graphic generation equipment allow the audience to see the speaker and feel closer to the message as well as see the text or song graphically represented.

The items of most import during a church or sanctuary AV system design generally center on:

• Sound systems - voice reinforcement that offers the best possible intelligibility of the spoken word.
• Video systems - resolutions of the higher bandwidth computer systems are NOT needed but good quality video and brightness are major factors. Most sanctuaries do not have the luxury of space for rear screen systems (though sometimes this can be retrofitted much more easily than one expect.
• Ease-of-use/automation - seldom can a church provide full-time professional AV operators. Automation is important so that anyone can make major events happen.

For more information on church and sanctuary systems, fill in our Information Request form or email Solutions@genproj.com

Success Stories
General Projection has built numerous facilities for religious applications. They are often unique in their acoustical and ambient light challenges.

Sanctuary AV Systems

Article from Religion Magazine about Sanctuary Large Screen Projection - written by our President, Drake Wayson

First Baptist Church of Perrine (Miami), Florida

First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida

Broadcast Facilities
Broadcast facilities for distribution to national networks or local programming are a large part of many churches today. Whether broadcasting a morning worship service to a local market or to a major national network, the quality of the video produced, robotic camera systems and control networks are a major part of the design.

World Outreach Center/Faith World - Orlando, Florida

Training Centers
Teaching the teachers is an important element of any religious organization. Like any school of higher learning today, AV systems play an important role. While the ability to project computer graphics is slightly less necessary in many religious training programs, Power Point and other graphic programs often are a part of the training program. Thus, at the least, display systems that can handle basic VGA presentations as well as video from VCR's are required.

Presbyterian Hospital Teaching School - Dallas, Texas

Design Resources Targeting Church Applications
We are in the process of compiling a list of resources on the web for the design and integration of AV into the sanctuary. Don't forget to visit our AV Systems Design section for more detailed information on a variety of topics as well as our Vendor Support page for links to vendors who's products may be of use to you.

Here are a few we have found are useful:

Shure's Guide to Microphones in the Sanctuary - (1.5 mb .pdf)

Audio Technica's Guide to Wireless Microphones - Excellent information for the selection and use of wireless mic products. They have a great Wired Microphone Guide for Sanctuaries as well.

JBL's "The Relationship Between the Sound Contractor and Religious Organizations" - A white paper, though targeted toward Sound Contractors, is excellent in its examination of sanctuary sound considerations.