Pathway Church Bolsters Security Across Multiple Kansas Campuses
AI-powered surveillance and grant funding help a Wichita church protect congregants and preschool students while streamlining operations.
- By Jesse Jacobs
- March 04, 2026
Pathway Church has overhauled its security infrastructure across its three main campuses, deploying advanced surveillance technology to manage large crowds and sensitive areas with limited staffing.
Founded in 1959, the church operates facilities in Goddard, Westlink, and Valley Center. The Westlink site alone spans 195,000 square feet, serving thousands of congregants and a large preschool. Facing budget and personnel constraints following the pandemic, church leadership sought a solution to monitor numerous entry points and provide oversight for children’s ministries.
Dan Doerflinger, facilities director at Pathway Church, said the church lacked the manpower to monitor every corner of its buildings manually. He said the goal was to find a system that allowed a single staff member to oversee spaces that previously required multiple people.
The church funded the project through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, a federal initiative that provides up to $200,000 per location to help faith-based organizations and other high-risk nonprofits strengthen physical security.
Pathway Church selected i-PRO for the rollout, installing S and X-series cameras. The deployment includes multi-sensor units for building exteriors, fisheye and dome cameras for interior coverage, and bullet cameras for parking lots. The hardware is managed via the VideoInsight video management system.
Doerflinger noted that the lack of recurring license fees was a significant factor for the nonprofit, allowing for long-term scalability without unpredictable costs.
The new system utilizes artificial intelligence to reduce false alarms by distinguishing between environmental movement, such as wind-blown trees, and actual threats. Church staff also use analytics for people counting to track service attendance and clothing color search features to locate specific individuals in crowded areas.
To maintain privacy in the school and preschool areas, the system includes facial masking features used during incident reviews to ensure compliance with privacy laws.
Since the implementation, the church has used the footage to resolve insurance claims and provide live oversight during weekend services. Doerflinger said remote access allows staff to verify alerts without traveling to the campus at night.
The church plans to expand the system to include cameras in all 46 classrooms at its main campus by next year.