After learning how to live stream church services online from this article, you’ll be able to broadcast your message beyond the church hall.

Live Streaming your services online could help you grow your church audience and take your message/mandate farther than you ever could.

Churches in Nigeria and all over the world are adopting digital technologies to communicate with their congregation, attract new members to church and spread their message to more people.

Through online channels like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Websites, Twitter and LinkedIn it has become easier to reach a larger audience.

Live Videos are currently one of the most effective ways to share your content on different online platforms and this means that your church could enjoy a lot of benefits from utilising them.

In this guide, you’ll get to learn a lot about live streaming your church services including the church streaming equipment you need to make this possible.

Let’s get started…

Advantages of Church Live Stream

There are several reasons why video streaming your worship service is important and here are some of them:

1. Staying Connected with Existing Members

The basic purpose of social media is to grow human connection and communication beyond borders.

This fundamental function of social media and other online platforms could help you strengthen your existing church community.

As you connect with members of your church and members connect with each other online, you’re able to grow the bond between one another beyond church service days.

Live streaming your church services can be a good way to build that connection with your church community and create a lasting bond even when they can’t attend physical services.

2. Taking Church to More People

Close to half of the total global population has access to at least one online platform.

This means that if you want to reach more people with your message and increase your overall accessibility, you can do so Online.

Everyday, more people look for new ways to improve their spirituality on the web and they also look for new connections to help them grow spiritually.

Consequently, you have an opportunity to meet your congregation online and connect with new members through your live stream.

3. Share inspiring Message and create impact

Beyond attracting new members to your church, you can use the messages you share through your online platforms to inspire people.

You could use your mandate and voice to edify a soul and create impact in the lives of people you won’t be able to reach physically.

That’s why live streaming your church services online is very beneficial because your message could travel beyond you and save souls in your absence.

4. Attract Donations

As you share your message through online platforms, you could easily attract donations from people who have been touched by your message and feel a need to support you.

Most of these online platforms have made it easier to receive donations from different places across the world.

Church Streaming Equipment

To start live streaming your church activities online, here are some of the basic tools we recommend.

1. Webcam or Camera

If you don’t have so much budget, you could still give off a good live stream broadcast, with a good camera that has an HDMI port and records in HD (High definition).

Nevertheless, for professional video production, you may need more complex cameras or camcorders that capture Videos in ultra High definition.

Below are some recommended cameras you could use:

Canon Vixia HF G21.
Panasonic 4K Cinema-Like Video Camcorder.
Canon EOS Rebel T7i
Canon XA15
Sony PXW-Z150

2. Microphone

A microphone will ensure that everyone can easily hear what the speaker says and that the live stream has a good audio output.

3. Laptop or Smartphone

This will help you to control the streaming software and make the necessary settings to ensure that you have a good stream.

You can also switch between different video angles from your Laptop and/or phone.

You could also connect to the live stream on your phone to get a feel of the kind of broadcast you’re giving out to your audience.

4. Streaming Software

After you’ve chosen the right camera and other gears, you’ll need to consider streaming software.

The streaming software is also known as the encoder which is responsible for the conversion of your cameras’ video signal and mics audio capture into a broadcast format.

You can choose to use Software encoders or Hardware encoders, but software encoders are easier to use, more accessible and they are more affordable.

However, some social media platforms and online streaming platforms allow you to broadcast directly to the platforms.

Nevertheless, you’ll need a streaming software in a situation where you want to broadcast your service to multiple platforms including your website.

5. Good internet connection

This is very important because it affects the quality of your live stream output.

When you’re live streaming, your video bit rate is dependent on the uploading and downloading bandwidth of broadcasters’ and the network of your viewers.

The Higher your data volume, the more bandwidth you’ll require.

However, If your viewer has poor bandwidth, they’re most likely going to stream your live video at a lower resolution and frame rate, which may affect their viewing experience.

Fortunately, some streaming platforms have adaptive bitrate streaming that automatically optimises network limitations.

how to live stream your church services online — Led display Screen at the Altar

6. Led display Screen and Lighting

No matter how sophisticated your Video camera may be, the live stream broadcast will be messed up without proper lighting.

Installing a Digital LED display screen at the altar and other light sources around the church would ensure that you have a quality video output.

At Ledsignage.ng, you could get some of the best Church screens for your altar at a competitive price.

If you’re a novice on how lightning works, you could use this simple 3 step method;

The pastor/speaker takes a centre position on the platform.

Place the camera in front of the pastor/speaker at eye level with two light sources at 45 degrees ahead of the pastor, one on each side of the camera.

Then place the LED display screen or one other light source behind the pastor.

This structure will help you to eliminate any shadow that may have been created by the first two light sources.

Other accessories for church live streaming

Tripod: This will ensure that the video is stable.
HDMI cable: This will help to connect to the video feed from the camera.
HDMI extender: This will be helpful if your camera is away from the PC.
Video switcher : You can use this to switch between multiple Video signals and cameras.

Best Live Streaming Platforms

Here are some of the best platforms to broadcast your church live stream after you’ve gotten all your equipments ready…

1. YouTube Live

YouTube is one of the most popular social media platforms available today with 2.1 active users across the world.

This will definitely be a great place to get in contact with new worshipers and pass your message to a broad audience.

Youtube live is been used by so many Churches across the globe and it is free to use except you have any need for it’s premium features.

2. Facebook Live

To broadcast on Facebook you’ll need a Facebook page, profile or group.

Facebook has over 2.9 billion active users on the platform and this means that you can tap into this massive user base to get in contact with your audience.

While you broadcast on Facebook, you could also receive comments from viewers and get to interact with them.

3. Mixlr

Mixlr is slightly different from the two platforms we’ve mentioned above. If you’ve been looking for how to live stream church services online in audio formats, mixlr will help you do that.

Mixlr is more of an Audio broadcast platform that allows you to stream your church service Audio to your audience.

If you have an audience who is more interested in audio content, this may be a great place to host your live stream.

4. IBM Cloud Video

With an IBM Cloud Video stream also known as Ustream you could easily broadcast your video services and get your members to stream from their mobile devices or web browsers.

This option offers you a variety of ways to communicate with your audience while you stream.

When you post a new video, you can choose to make your audience aware by sending out notifications through the platform.

Now that you know these platforms, let’s show you how to live stream church services online.

How to Setup Live Streaming for your Church

Now that we’ve got everything in place, and we know what platforms we are going to send out our broadcast to, let’s set things up.

Check out the steps below:

1. Check out What other Churches are Doing

Carry out some research to know what other churches are doing with their livestream and how they do it.

This will help to know what to do better and you could borrow some inspiration from their processes as well.

While you research make sure you take notes of the techniques to adopt, their process and their mistakes as well.

2. Create a Plan

When you’re done with your research, it’s time to make a plan of how you want your broadcast to be.

While you plan, make alternatives in case of errors and mistakes because there’s always a risk of something going wrong – be prepared for it.

If you’d like to stream a particular church program or all church programs, you have to also make preparations for it and predetermine the requirements that will make that possible.

3. Write an Outline for your Broadcast

How do you want your first broadcast to go? Outline everything you’ll like the broadcast to contain.

Write down the things you’ll like to talk about in your first broadcast. Prompts or questions you’ll use to get your audience to engage with you should also be outlined.

As users drop comments try to engage with them and make it a two way communication to keep them engaged with the broadcast.

4. Test your Arrangements

After you’ve gotten everything planned out and written down, you want to carry out a test run to see that everything will go fine and make adjustments where necessary.

To make this more effective, you should ensure that you carry out the test or rehearsal in the same location where you’ll broadcast from and with the same setting.

This will help you to get familiar with the environment, the settings and it will become much easier for you when you start the main broadcast.

Make sure you record your test run and watch it after you’re done, so that you can find out the possible lapses and corrections you need to make.

5. Promote your Service

A great way to get people interested in your service is to give them prior information about it and also share a sneak peek.

This will make them aware about the program and they’ll start anticipating the program.

So if you want more people to be part of your broadcast, you should inform them earlier and share the news on all your social media platforms along with the time and other important information.

6. It’s Time to go live!

Everything is set, test run is done and people are waiting for you to go live.

Breathe in, Breathe out, and hit the “Start Streaming” Button. This new experience will improve the way you connect with your church members and get you more awareness as well.

Some Important Tips to Consider For Live Streaming

Here’s a few important things you should remember before, during and after your live stream;

Make sure you choose the right equipment for your live streaming.
You don’t need to have everything figured out at the beginning, just start small and improve as you go.
Consider Multi Streaming to different live streaming platforms at once to reach a larger audience.
Always Promote your live stream Service.
Remember your audience and make them part of the broadcast.

Important Recommendations

Conclusion

If you’ve read to this point, you definitely have a road map now to guide you as you begin live streaming your church services.

We always delighted to help our readers solve their problems and we are most ready to offer you the best LED Screens and Church Lighting that will ensure you get the best out of your Live Stream.

Get in touch with us, we are always ready to serve you.

Now that you know how to live stream church services online, go ahead and make it work. See you soon.

How to Live Stream Church Services Online – A Complete Guide