Live streaming has quickly become a normal part of life. It is one way that your religious organization can reach out to others in the community, and it gives you a way to ensure homebound individuals can enjoy your services.
Streaming provides you the opportunity to expand your ministry and touch more lives. Plus, it isn’t difficult to start or create a tech setup for your organization, so there is really no reason why you can’t join the many other churches, synagogues and other religious institutions who are streaming their services every week.
Equipment Needs
Whether you are creating a home broadcasting studio or streaming from your place of worship, you do not need to invest thousands of dollars in your streaming equipment. People want to hear from you and see you. They likely do not care if you have the highest quality streaming or most advanced technology. So, what you really need are the basic pieces of equipment to transmit a feed:
• Computer
• Camera
For the computer, you need something fast enough to transmit your recordings. It can be older but pay attention to the processor. You want a multi-processor that is fairly new.
The mobile camera equipment for your place of worship can be pretty much any camera that will attach to your computer. It can be a webcam or even a phone camera. It does help if you use one that has a zoom feature and allows you to pan around without causing the viewer motion sickness. The camera also should record audio.
You can do a test run with your equipment to make sure everything works and adequately provides a good video feed. In general, though, you can start for under $500. You may even be able to set this up for free with borrowed equipment or things you already have.
Technical Needs
To stream, you have to have a streaming provider and internet service. You need to choose these carefully because they will impact not only the quality of your feed but also the reliability. You want to be able to stream on-demand when you decide without drops of the feed.
There are countless streaming providers. You can use a religious-specific service or something more popular, such as Facebook. Choose a provider that will allow you to live stream and also keep videos available for viewing later. You also want to be sure there is no censorship that could block your videos.
It is a good idea to make sure your viewers also will be able to easily access the streaming service. Some services may require you to post the videos on your website, so if you don’t have one, then you need a service that will provide you with a place to play the videos, too.
Your internet should be broadband, high-speed internet. Do not attempt to use unreliable internet providers. You should know what is the best in your area, so use that service. This might be the biggest cost of streaming, but it is well worth it to ensure you use a reliable and strong provider.
Streaming Tips
Streaming is a process that requires some mistakes to get it right. However, Christianity Today offers some tips that can help you to avoid serious mistakes that could turn people off from watching your live stream.
First, you should keep things simple. If you do not usually have dramatic music presentations, then don’t start doing it now because you think you need to compete with other live streams. Just focus on what makes your organization unique and provide your viewers with the things they expect from a normal service.
Second, check in with people. You will usually be able to see your viewing numbers on the video after you finish streaming, but that only tells you who the video played for. You need to check in with your viewers to see who really watched the whole thing.
Checking in with your viewers also will get you valuable feedback. For example, a viewer may tell you that it was hard to hear you during a certain part of the service or that they would have enjoyed it more if the camera zoomed in during your sermon. You can use this feedback to adjust your camera angles, improve your audio setup, and provide viewers with a better overall experience.
Finally, make sure that people know when you are streaming. One of the best things about live streaming is that you don’t limit yourself to just doing at the normal service times. You can come to your viewers whenever you want throughout the week to check-in or to hold special classes. Just make sure they know when you will be on. Set a schedule or institute an alert system to let people know when you’ll be streaming.
Live Streaming Religion
Live streaming may not be the way you thought you would reach people, but it is a wonderful tool that you should be using. Streaming your message can help you reach more people and touch more lives than you could ever do in person.