If you would’ve looked online for a livestream of a
church service even a few years ago, it probably wouldn’t have been super easy
to find. But those days are long gone. Now, even if you aren’t looking for it,
church live streaming seems to be everywhere. It’s on social media platforms,
church websites, and TV (among other places).
However, just because church livestreaming is
everywhere, doesn’t mean that every church out there is doing it right and
reaching the most people for the sake of spreading the Gospel. Here are our top
three dos and don’ts of church livestreaming to help expand your church:
Do:
1. Livestream Your Sunday Services
No matter your church’s size, budget, or technological capabilities,
church livestreaming should be happening at your church, period. If you’re
asking “why?” right now, you’re not alone.
Church livestreaming makes it possible to reach people
who physically can’t be at your church because of sickness, age, weather
issues, travel, and more. Now, people can still connect even if they aren’t
physically in your building. This allows you to share the Gospel outside of
your four walls.
Not only that, but church livestreaming allows family
members who don’t live nearby or can’t be there to watch special events
happening in your church. For example, one of our church member’s grandmas who
lives overseas was able to tune in to the livestream to see her granddaughter’s
solo in the children’s choir program! This is more than a convenience, it’s a
ministry!
Finally, church livestreaming makes it possible to
livestream to other parts of your church building like nursing rooms,
children’s classrooms, and overflow rooms. When moms are feeding their infants
or sitting outside with a rambunctious toddler, it means a lot when they can
still view the service.
2. Set Livestreaming Goals
It’s not enough to just have livestreaming, you need to have goals if
you want to be successful. Talk to your team and ask questions about your
purpose behind livestreaming. Do you want to increase local or global viewers
weekly? Do you want to grow in yearly attendance as a church? Are you hoping to
increase giving by 10% by offering ways to give online during your livestream?
Once you know what your goals are, make sure to use and
look at analytics to track where you are in meeting your goal.
3. Choose the Right Church Livestreaming Service
There are a lot of different church livestreaming platforms out there,
so you want to choose the right one for your church. As you compare and
contrast, be sure to consider credibility, availability of support, provided
equipment or equipment help, and free trials.
We love that free trials allow you to test a service to
make sure it actually works for your church, before jumping in.
Don’ts
1. Don’t Be Intimidated
Especially if you aren’t super gifted technologically, live streaming
can feel intimidating. There’s needed hardware, software, updates, packages,
services, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But, the good news is that
you don’t have to do it all alone.
The right church livestreaming service not only makes it
easy, but they also offer support for you every step of the way. Be sure that
this is a priority for you to find as you compare and contrast church
livestreaming platforms.
2. Don’t Forget to Market Your Church Livestream
If you don’t announce and market your church livestream, how will
people know that it’s a ministry that your church has? Ways to do this include:
- Making verbal (or video) announcements from the pulpit
- Including it in your printed material (bulletins, handouts, mailers, etc.)
- Promoting it on your social media accounts
- Making it easy to find on your church website
- Asking your church members to share the link with their friends and family
- Sending out emails and texts about it
3. Set it and Forget it
As appealing as it may seem to set up all of your church livestreaming
equipment and try to forget it’s even there, this is a big don’t. A church that
is effectively livestreaming will be constantly working to improve their
lighting, content, equipment and more. This will help to grow your audience and
be sure that you’re meeting your established goals.
Church Livestreaming is a great way to reach people that
are outside of your church’s physical walls. It’s a way to use technology for
the sake of the Gospel, and the good news is that it’s easier than ever!
If
you’re looking to add live streaming at your church, be sure to try a free
30-day trial of churchstreaming.tv. You can stream your
service at full functionality so you can make the best live streaming decision
for your church.
Looking for Church Management software? Check out Shelby Systems total ministry package. Contact us to find out how we can partner with you to provide the software solutions your ministry needs to be successful.