--- title: "Ubuntu Studio for Houses of Worship" id: "9420" type: "page" slug: "ubuntu-studio-for-houses-of-worship" published_at: "2026-10-09T01:14:28+00:00" modified_at: "2026-10-09T03:17:51+00:00" url: "https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-houses-of-worship/" markdown_url: "https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-houses-of-worship.md" excerpt: "Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and every other community of faith depend on a handful of volunteers to run music, projection, sound, lighting, livestreaming, and printed materials, often on a very small budget. Ubuntu Studio brings all of those tools together..." --- *Photo: Michael Rowe, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) , via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Altar_in_St_James_Church,_Louth.jpg)* Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and every other community of faith depend on a handful of volunteers to run music, projection, sound, lighting, livestreaming, and printed materials, often on a very small budget. Ubuntu Studio brings all of those tools together in one free, dependable system, so your team can spend its time and energy on the people it serves instead of on license fees. ## Lyrics, scripture, and presentations - **FreeShow** – a free, open-source presentation program designed for showing text on a big screen, from small congregations to large venues. It supports song lyrics, scripture, media, timers, a separate stage display for the platform, and remote control. It is installed by default on Ubuntu Studio. - **OpenLP** – a church lyrics projection application with a song database, Bible texts, service planning, and presentations. - **LibreOffice Impress** – a conventional slide presentation tool for announcements and sermons. - **Inkscape, GIMP, and Krita** – create motion backgrounds, slides, banners, and graphics. ## Livestream and record your services - **OBS Studio** – stream your service live to the web and record it. It supports multiple cameras, scenes, overlays such as lyrics and lower thirds, and PipeWire audio capture with the **OBS PipeWire Audio Capture** plugin. - **Kdenlive** – a full-featured video editor for trimming recordings, adding titles, and producing highlights and announcements. - **VLC and FFmpeg** – play and convert almost any audio or video format, for any projector, display, or website. - **Subtitle Editor** – add captions and subtitles to recorded services, for accessibility or for translation. - **Qprompt** – teleprompter software for speakers who record or broadcast. - **K3b and DeVeDe** – burn audio CDs and create video DVDs for members who can’t attend. ## Music, worship teams, and choirs - **MuseScore** – write and print hymns, lead sheets, choral parts, and arrangements for every instrument in the band. - **Aeolus and setBfree** – a pipe organ and a tonewheel organ, so a keyboard can carry the sound of a full organ. - **Hydrogen, DrumGizmo, and many synthesizers and samplers** – virtual drums and instruments for small teams, plus **Yoshimi**, **ZynAddSubFX**, **FluidSynth**, and a general MIDI soundfont for piano, strings, and other sounds. - **Guitarix and Rakarrack** – guitar and bass amplifier and effects simulators that work in rehearsal or on the platform. - **Mixxx** – seamless pre-service and event music playback, with crossfades between tracks. - **JackTrip** – rehearse or perform with musicians in different places over the Internet. - **GxTuner, FMIT, and KMetronome** – tuners and a metronome for the team. ## Sound and recording - **Ardour and Qtractor** – record rehearsals, services, concerts, and choirs, and mix them into polished recordings. - **Audacity** – clean up a sermon recording for a podcast or archive. - **Linux Studio Plugins, x42, ZAM, and other plugin suites** – equalizers, compressors, reverbs, and more for a clear, intelligible mix. Plugin hosting is handled by **Carla**. - **Ubuntu Studio Audio Configuration and PipeWire** – support USB and many other audio interfaces, from small mixers to multichannel stage boxes, with low latency. - **Ray Session and Patchance** – save a whole sound setup, with every application and connection, and recall it for the next service. ## Lighting - **QLC+** – control DMX and analog lighting from the computer, with scenes, chasers, and cue lists for services, concerts, and special events. ## Publish bulletins, newsletters, and more - **Scribus** – design bulletins, newsletters, posters, and booklets with professional layout and press-ready PDF output. - **LibreOffice Writer** and **Calc** – letters, order of service, schedules, rosters, and budgets. - **Calibre** – prepare and convert e-book editions of devotionals and study guides. - **Thunderbird** – email for the office and for communicating with your congregation. - Scribus, Calibre, and a large font collection are part of the Publishing workflow. See [Publishers](https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-publishers/) . *Photo: Ruthanne Reid, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) , via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mars_Hill_Church,_Ballard_location,_worship_band_stage.jpg)* ## Why houses of worship choose Ubuntu Studio - **No license fees.** Install the full software set on every computer in the building without a per-seat or per-year cost, and share it freely with other congregations and members. - **Dependable for volunteers.** Long-Term Support releases are supported for three years, so a setup that works on Sunday is still going to work next Sunday. Three desktop layouts let new volunteers start with an environment they already know. - **One system for everything.** Presentation, audio, video, lighting, and print are all on the same machine, from the same source. - **Works with the hardware you have.** Ubuntu Studio runs on modest hardware, and supports USB and PCIe audio interfaces, capture devices, cameras, and DMX controllers. ## Get started 1. [Download Ubuntu Studio](https://ubuntustudio.org/download) , or add the Ubuntu Studio workflows to an existing Ubuntu system with the **Ubuntu Studio Installer**. 2. Open FreeShow or OpenLP and build your first service. 3. Set up OBS Studio for streaming, and Ubuntu Studio Audio Configuration for your sound interface. **See also: [Musicians](https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-musicians/) · [Audio Engineers](https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-audio-engineers/) · [Video Production](https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-video-production/) · [Publishers](https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-for-publishers/)**