Live streaming your church service online can be as simple as switching on a camera and connecting to the internet.
It’s not the best way because there are other factors to consider too. But when you know the most common problems and what your audience is looking for, it can be pretty easy.
Keep reading to find out how to stream your service!
Why Bring Your Church Service Online
The most obvious reason to bring your service online is to access an audience who wouldn’t be able to attend.
It could be because they’re busy or traveling. It could be because they live too far away. It could be because they’re ill or not well enough to travel.
And of course, it could be because of government restrictions on church gatherings.
Bringing your service online allows you to keep serving your community when they’re not present. It also gives you a chance to reach a wider, global audience.
The Church Online platform more than quadrupled its normal reach when it started live streaming.
The Most Common Problems
There are some common problems with live streaming that put churches off using it and can put viewers off too.
If you can deal with these, you can provide a great virtual experience for your congregation.
Connection Problems
You will need to make sure that your internet, whether wired, Wi-Fi, or cellular, is reliable. It needs to keep a stable connection between your streaming device and the site or sites you stream to.
If not, you risk cutting out completely, video and audio not aligning, and a bad experience for the viewer.
Positioning
Placing your camera high up somewhere far away can be off-putting for online viewers and will feel like watching a security camera instead of feeling engaged.
Online church service won’t feel the same as being there in-person.
But by placing the camera somewhere where the viewer can see and connect with the service, it will feel much closer to being there.
Sound Quality
The audio requirements for an in-person service will be different to live streaming.
A booming microphone that delivers loud, clear audio in a church might be subject to echo, static, or feedback when it gets streamed online.
Check and test the audio quality on your stream ahead of time. This will give you a chance to make sure it’s clear. If not, use a separate external microphone that directly connects to the device you are using to live stream from.
Captions
One of the benefits of live streaming means services can be watched again.
Adding captions to videos helps viewers who have impaired hearing. Even if they can’t grasp the live stream, they can access the captioned version to watch it back.
This does mean taking the time to add or edit the captions to make sure they are correct.
Things to Consider Before Live Streaming
As well as the most common problems, there are some other things to consider for live streaming.
Start with reviewing your current setup and checking if you’re ready to manage the common problems.
Do you have the right hardware, camera, audio system, and someone able to manage it for you?
The next step is to decide where you want to stream to. Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube all allow you to live stream. So do other platforms and some apps also integrate with smart TVs.
Know where your audience is and which platforms they use.
Also bear in mind the costs involved. Live streaming from a phone to a social network will be free but the viewer experience won’t be great.
There are platforms and apps specifically dedicated to live streaming for church.
What to Look for in a Live Streaming App
If you do decide to go ahead with live streaming your church services, a dedicated app will provide a smoother experience.
Different apps will have different features at different price tiers and before looking at which one is right for you, you need to know what features you need.
Compatibility
The app you choose should be compatible with your camera and your setup. It also needs to be compatible with what your viewers use.
If most of your congregation uses Facebook, it will need to be compatible with streaming on Facebook.
If your viewers will mainly be streaming from their phone, it needs to have mobile support built-in.
Storage
Facebook and Youtube will store your services online forever.
But if you are planning on keeping the original audio and video of your live streams, you will need an app with built-in storage.
Ads
Some live stream apps will offer a lower-priced or free plan which will also allow them to include some of their own ads.
For a church, this might not be appropriate. You may need to upgrade or pay a premium to have ads removed.
Analytics
One of the benefits of live streaming is that you can gather data on how long your viewers watch for, where they watch from and how many times they watch.
This can give you some indication of what topics your congregation is more interested in and help tailor future services.
Donations
While you can’t pass around a donation box online, you can still collect donations.
Apps have a built-in donations option for viewers to donate during the live stream and some will also allow you to create a subscription option to get exclusive access to certain services or sermons.
Start Streaming
There are no major downsides to streaming your church service online.
If you already have the hardware required and a reliable internet connection, there are no major costs involved either.
So now might be the right time to start streaming your services online.
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