The world of live streaming house of worship services is still new territory to many people. It sounds daunting from the hardware and software to the technical difficulties, not to mention ministering and preaching amidst the pandemic requires more than a little bit of adjustment.
We’ve compiled a list of helpful tips and advice from several church live streamers to help guide you and your ministry towards making the most of your church’s live stream.
Check in with your worship team.
Your worship team will be helping you spread your church’s message, so it is important to check in with them, to make sure that you are all aligned in your mission, and to check in to see how they are doing in their personal lives. It might also be helpful to text or email psalms or articles to maintain a strong relationship in your worship community.
Try placing your camera in different locations or using ambient microphones.
Whether you are shooting with two cameras (the minimum that we recommend at LiveControl) or six, the possibilities in regards to selecting your shots during your house of worship’s live stream are endless. Our team put together a few camera shots that your church could try to include in our blog post: “Keep Your Audience Engaged: 4 Camera Shots For Your Church Live Stream”.
Stream all events: weddings, funerals, youth nights, worship nights, Zoom meetings…
In some states churches are still closed, or in other cases, at-risk family members will not be able to travel across the country to attend a wedding. In these instances, with the availability of live streaming, you are able to keep your congregation and their families connected and engaged with services outside of your regular Sunday masses, strengthening your church’s community amidst the pandemic.
Check your internet connection before your service or use an ethernet cord.
Sunday morning has become a rush hour for streaming, and if you have other churches in your area going live at the same time, the available bandwidth might be taxed. If you work with our team, our remote engineers ensure that there are no delays or interruptions prior to your stream, but if you are checking this yourself, make sure that you have a reliable service provider or think about using an ethernet cord so you aren’t relying on a wireless connection.
Be prepared for technical difficulties.
Probably the biggest barrier to successful live streams is the inability to deal with technical difficulties. The fact is that there will be instances when technology is not working in your favor. One of the simplest ways of dealing with a camera freeze or a technical malfunction is having a slide reading: “experiencing technical difficulties” ready. If you work with our team at LiveControl, we troubleshoot these issues before you go live to prevent your audience from experiencing breaks or malfunctions in the middle of your live stream.
Whether you’re just getting started or you’re looking for ways to improve your current live streaming solution, the LiveControl team is here to help you and your church reach your congregation! Schedule a free demo with our team here.
