Church of Christ
AV Vision Becomes Reality

The Central Church of Christ family has happily settled into their new home.

In the spring of 2008 they purchased the 170 St. Mary’s Road location which was unusable at the time.  The existing vapour barrier blew like drapes in an open window from the drafts coming through the walls and a completely new HVAC system was required.  Obviously the structure was in need of major renovations so they quickly got to work and spent the summer clearing out the building.  By October the plans were complete and the building permits were obtained.

A 15-member committee planned and designed their ideal building, maintaining the look and feel of their existing sanctuary/auditorium while making it much more energy efficient.  Their plans included a multi-purpose room and a youth room as well as a full kitchen that utilized the new AV system.  Sharing meals together is an important part of the church's inclusive family philosophy and the committee wanted to ensure members working in the kitchen could see and hear the service.  The AV system would also facilitate music during services.  Singing is an important part of the church and it was important to the committee that anyone who aspired to lead a song would feel comfortable doing so.

As the church is located close to downtown Winnipeg it is in demand during the week, often for funerals, so the multi-purpose room and foyer were designed to be used as overflow space on these occasions.  The youth room offers the younger members of the church a place for fellowship and relaxation and also acts as the home for their outreach program.

The committee felt confident that the Inland AV sales and systems design team best understood what the AV system was to achieve.  Together they developed CAD illustrations of the building layout as well as detailed riser diagrams allowing equipment specifications to be determined.

This vision was actualized with the integration of the comprehensive AV system that included facility-wide paging capability.  The auditorium has a sophisticated yet user friendly audio console that allows for podium microphones, wireless microphones, DVD, CD and computer audio sources.  On the photo gallery page note the custom millwork of the console desk that houses many of the audio components as well as an illuminated control panel for the projection system.

The auditorium video system includes a powered screen, ceiling mounted Hitachi CP-X809 projector as well as two LED podium reference monitors mounted on the stage.  The reference monitors make the speaker feel more comfortable at the podium because he/she can see what is projected on the main screen without having to turn away from the podium or the audience.

The distributed audio and video signals can be routed to the main auditorium, balcony, infant cry room, multi-purpose room, foyer, youth room, office and the kitchen.  Some of the video displays have the provision for displaying from a local input; useful if there is a meeting in the office while private functions are held in the youth room and/or multi-purpose room.

The Central Church of Christ family is proud of their new home and Inland AV is pleased to have helped make their AV vision a reality.  Grant McMechan, Inland AV Systems Designer commented, “They obviously had a great amount of experience with presentations and knew what they wanted to achieve.  They now use the system to its’ fullest extent and the benefits are just as perceived.”