Audio Video Ministry Documentation

This context defines the document types and core documentation language for Cleveland Baptist Church’s AV ministry. It exists so the ministry’s docs use consistent terms as the documentation set grows and so future AV leaders can inherit a documentation set that is structured for real operational handoff, not only volunteer orientation.

Language

Documentation

Landing Document: The top-level page that orients readers and links them to the right next document. Avoid: Home page, main guide

Room Overview: The primary technical reference for one room’s AV setup, including systems, connections, operator positions, and links to its role guides. Avoid: Room guide, room index

Volunteer Role Guide: A task-focused guide for a specific serving position that explains how to operate the assigned system reliably. Avoid: Technical reference, system design doc

Operational Reference: A leadership-facing document that captures system ownership, dependencies, failure modes, and change workflow so a future ministry leader can maintain or inherit the system. Avoid: Private notes, one-off handoff

Cross-Room Reference: A shared reference for one discipline or recurring pattern that spans multiple rooms and points readers back to room-specific guides. Avoid: Master role guide, universal checklist

System Diagram: A block or signal-flow representation that shows how equipment and feeds connect. Avoid: Photo, screenshot

Ministry and system terms

Discipline: A ministry area such as Audio, Livestream, Projection, or Lighting that can span multiple rooms. Avoid: Team, department

FOH: Front of house; the operator position responsible for the in-room mix or presentation experience in a room. Avoid: Main booth

Operator Position: A physical or logical serving station assigned to one operator in a room. Avoid: Spot, seat

Signal Flow: The path an audio, video, or control signal takes from its source to its destinations. Avoid: Wiring diagram, hookup list

Audio Booth: The operator room or booth used for FOH audio control in a room. Avoid: Sound desk area

AV Room: The operator room used for livestream, video, and presentation control in a room. Avoid: Control room

Audience View: The presentation output intended for the in-room audience displays. Avoid: Program feed

Key and Fill: A paired graphics output used to composite presentation elements such as lower thirds into video production. Avoid: Overlay feed

Lower Thirds: Presentation graphics formatted to appear in the lower portion of the video frame rather than full screen. Avoid: Caption strip

vMix-ATEM Sync Service: A custom Windows service that mirrors livestream switching state from vMix to the ATEM when those outputs need to stay aligned. Avoid: The program, sync app

House Overflow Feed: The live video feed sent to overflow viewing locations such as lobbies or nurseries inside the church building. Avoid: Internal stream, TV feed

Program Feed: The primary live output produced for the main audience or stream. Avoid: Main signal

ASL Feed: A livestream output that keeps the ASL signer prominent while also showing the main program feed in picture-in-picture. Avoid: Interpreter stream

Livestream Audio Console: The audio console dedicated to creating the mix used by the livestream-related feeds rather than the in-room house mix. Avoid: Broadcast extension

Dante: An audio-over-IP transport used to move livestream audio between devices on the network. Avoid: Digital snake

FOH Source Mode: An operating mode where the Livestream Audio Console uses the FOH mix as its source while still applying its own downstream processing chain. Avoid: FOH audio mode

House Mix: The main in-room audio mix intended for the congregation in the room. Avoid: Broadcast mix

Sunday Sounds: The app on the keyboard iPad that turns the digital keyboard’s MIDI input into the keyboard’s audio. Avoid: Keyboard app, piano sound app

Keyboard iPad: The iPad dedicated to running Sunday Sounds for the Auditorium keyboard rig. Avoid: Church iPad

Keyboard Speaker: The speaker on top of the digital keyboard, fed from the audio interface’s headphone output. Avoid: Keyboard monitor

Keyboard Rig: The complete chain that produces the keyboard’s sound: the digital keyboard, USB-C hub, keyboard iPad running Sunday Sounds, audio interface, keyboard speaker, and passive DI box. Avoid: Piano setup

Monitor Mix: An audio mix created for performers, musicians, or other on-stage listeners rather than the congregation. Avoid: Main mix

Assistive Listening System: The system that provides audio feeds for listeners using assisted-hearing receivers. Avoid: Hearing loop

Stage Display: The on-stage display used by platform participants to see service content cues and related presentation information. Avoid: Confidence monitor

Stream Scheduler Service: A local service used to create and schedule livestream events on external streaming platforms before the stream starts. Avoid: Scheduling app, stream setup script

Bitfocus Companion: The software platform used to control and coordinate AV systems through configurable connections, buttons, feedbacks, variables, triggers, and operator surfaces. Avoid: Stream Deck app, macro program

Companion Instance: One running deployment of Bitfocus Companion that hosts a shared control configuration and serves connected physical or virtual operator surfaces. Avoid: Container, server

Companion Surface: A physical control surface, such as a Stream Deck, that is mapped to pages and buttons in Bitfocus Companion. Avoid: Deck, keypad

Companion Emulator: A browser-based virtual control surface served by Bitfocus Companion for use on a phone, tablet, or computer. Avoid: QR page, web remote

Stage Lighting: The lighting fixtures and control path used to illuminate platform participants and service action areas. Avoid: House lights

House Lights: The general room-lighting circuits used to illuminate the congregation and room rather than the platform action areas. Avoid: Stage lighting

Clear to Logo: The projection state where the audience screens return to a general logo slide between service elements. Avoid: Blank screen

AV Leader on Duty: The ministry leader currently responsible for operational decisions and escalation during a service. Avoid: Just ask somebody

Post-Service Button: The control that switches the livestream to its end-of-service state and starts the automated shutdown sequence. Avoid: Stop stream button

Relationships

A Landing Document links to one or more Room Overviews
A Landing Document can include a Discipline index that points back to Room Overviews
A Room Overview can link to one or more Volunteer Role Guides
A Cross-Room Reference can link to multiple Room Overviews and Volunteer Role Guides
A Cross-Room Reference can also serve as an Operational Reference when a future leader needs to understand a ministry-wide system
A Room Overview can include one or more System Diagrams
A Room Overview describes one or more Operator Positions
A Room Overview describes one or more Signal Flows
A Volunteer Role Guide depends on exactly one primary Room Overview

Example dialogue

Writer: “If Audio volunteers serve in multiple rooms, should we make one big Volunteer Role Guide?” Domain expert: “No — keep the room-specific Volunteer Role Guides authoritative, and only add a Cross-Room Reference if a shared pattern needs extra explanation.”

Flagged ambiguities

“guide” was used to mean both volunteer-facing instructions and deeper technical documentation — resolved: use Room Overview for the deeper technical doc and Volunteer Role Guide for task-focused operator instructions.
“audio” can refer to both a Discipline and a specific room assignment — resolved: use Discipline for the ministry-wide category and Volunteer Role Guide for the room-specific assignment.
“FOH Audio” was used to mean both the house-mix source and the Livestream Audio Console’s fallback operating mode — resolved: keep FOH Audio for the house-mix source and use FOH Source Mode for the fallback mode.
“stage display” and “confidence monitor” were used for the same concept — resolved: use Stage Display.