Since its establishment in 1959, Pathway Church, located in Wichita, Kansas, has expanded to include three main campuses—Goddard, Westlink, and Valley Center—plus an additional 16 worship sites.
Facilities span from the 25,000 square feet Goddard campus to the expansive 195,000 square feet Westlink campus, catering to thousands of congregants weekly and overseeing a significant preschool and children’s ministry.
Addressing New Security Challenges
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought new security challenges for Pathway Church, including the need to monitor extensive campus environments with limited budget and staff. The church aimed to meet insurance requirements, ensure the safety of children’s areas, and streamline facility management without escalating costs.
"We didn’t have the manpower to cover every corner of our buildings," explained Dan Doerflinger, Facilities Director at Pathway Church. "We needed a camera system that could help us extend our reach, so one person can monitor spaces that would otherwise take multiple staff to oversee."
Camera System Implementation
Pathway selected i-PRO for its technological advancements and seven-year warrantyTo overcome financial constraints, Pathway Church applied for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), which supports high-risk nonprofits with up to $200,000 per location. By utilizing these funds, Pathway selected i-PRO for its technological advancements and seven-year warranty. Various camera types, including multi-sensor units, fisheye, dome, and bullet cameras, were deployed across the Goddard and Westlink campuses. These systems are managed through the VideoInsight™ Video Management System, chosen for its scalability and lack of licensing fees, aligning with the church's budget and growth strategies.
"The lack of recurring licenses made a huge difference for us as a nonprofit," Doerflinger noted. "It meant we could budget gradually and know the system would be scalable long-term." The VideoInsight system provides a comprehensive view across campuses, easing security management for Pathway.
AI-Driven Enhancements
Pathway Church benefited significantly from i-PRO's AI features. Object detection minimizes false alarms, while analytics like people counting and clothing color search simplify monitoring and enhance safety without infringing on privacy.
Privacy protection, including facial masking for students, helps ensure compliance with privacy laws during incident reviews. Support from ADS of Wichita ensured smooth system integration and training for church staff.
Operational Results and Future Plans
Implementing the i-PRO system has brought immediate improvements in Pathway’s operations. Enhanced monitoring capabilities offer round-the-clock oversight, and remote access helps quickly verify alerts, reducing unnecessary late-night campus visits. Insurance claims are easier to resolve with video evidence, as demonstrated by a recent incident where footage clarified the cause of a vehicle’s window damage.
Pathway Church intends to continue expanding its coverage, planning to install cameras in all 46 classrooms at its main campus in the coming year. The church is also looking into advanced applications like vehicle counting and integration with i-PRO’s ClassSecure™ system to further enhance security.
"Our congregation values knowing we’re proactive about safety," Doerflinger commented. "The cameras help us protect our members, support our staff, and steward our resources wisely."
i-PRO Grants Support Program
While Pathway independently applied for the NSGP, i-PRO offers a Grants Support Program that provides free assistance to nonprofits, including customized funding research and consultation.
This program helps secure funding for technology-driven projects and supports the scaling of existing initiatives.
Pathway Church, founded in 1959 and located in Wichita, Kansas, operates three main campuses – Goddard, Westlink, and Valley Center – along with 16 additional leased or hosted worship sites.
The facilities range widely in size, from 25,000 square feet at Goddard to 195,000 square feet at Westlink, serving thousands of congregants each week.
In addition to worship services, Pathway manages a large preschool and children’s ministry.
The challenge
Like many organizations, Pathway faced new security challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Budget constraints and staffing limitations made it difficult to reliably monitor across its large campus environments and numerous entry points.
The church also wanted to address insurance requirements, safeguard children’s areas, and streamline facility management without adding significant recurring costs.
“We didn’t have the manpower to cover every corner of our buildings,” said Dan Doerflinger, Facilities Director at Pathway Church. “We needed a camera system that could help us extend our reach, so one person can monitor spaces that would otherwise take multiple staff to oversee.”
The solution
To offset budget limitations, Pathway independently applied for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), which provides up to $200,000 per location to support high-risk nonprofits, such as faith-based organizations, in strengthening physical security and reducing vulnerability to potential threats.
Utilizing funding awarded by NSGP, Pathway selected i-PRO for its advanced camera technology, cost-effectiveness, and seven-year warranty. The church deployed a mix of S and X-series cameras at its Goddard and Westlink campuses, including multi-sensor units for exterior coverage, fisheye and dome cameras for interior spaces, and bullet cameras for parking lots. The cameras are managed through i-PRO’s VideoInsight™ Video Management System, chosen for its scalability and no-license-fee model, which aligned with the church’s long-term budgeting and growth.
“The lack of recurring licenses made a huge difference for us as a nonprofit,” said Doerflinger. “It meant we could budget gradually and know the system would be scalable long-term.”
With the ability to manage hundreds of cameras across multiple campuses, VideoInsight provides a unified view of operations and simplifies security oversight for Pathway.
AI-driven features
i-PRO’s AI-driven features were another key factor. Object detection reduces false alarms caused by environmental movement, such as trees blowing in the wind. Analytics like people counting give Pathway a clearer view of service attendance without compromising privacy, while clothing color search – such as looking for someone in a blue shirt or jeans – make it easy to find specific individuals in a large, busy building. These tools have also significantly reduced the time required to review footage.
Privacy protection features, including facial masking for students, are equally important for Pathway’s school, helping ensure compliance with privacy laws when video must be downloaded for incident reviews.
The system was implemented with support from ADS of Wichita, Pathway’s systems integrator, which also provided training to help church staff operate the system independently.
Results
The impact of the new system has been immediate. Monitoring stations now provide live oversight throughout the week and during weekend services, while remote access allows Pathway to quickly verify alerts, eliminating unnecessary late-night trips to campus.
Insurance claims are easier to resolve as well. In one case, i-PRO footage confirmed that a damaged vehicle window resulted from an accident rather than vandalism.
The church is continuing to expand coverage, with plans to install cameras in all 46 classrooms at its main campus by next year. Long-term, Pathway is exploring advanced applications like vehicle counting and integration with i-PRO’s end-to-end safety system, ClassSecure™, to further strengthen security and operations.
“Our congregation values knowing we’re proactive about safety,” said Doerflinger. “The cameras help us protect our members, support our staff, and steward our resources wisely.”
i-PRO Grants Support Program
While Pathway applied for the NSGP on its own, the i-PRO Grants Support Program provides free, no-obligation assistance to nonprofit customers. This includes customized funder research and consultation to help develop project ideas, guide efforts to secure funding for technology-driven initiatives, and support the expansion of projects already underway.
