church live streaming

One of the most common live-streaming questions people have when they're first getting started is "what do I need?" Often the chorus of "just use your phone" drowns out the advice from people who know the limitations of that advice. In most circumstances, a single phone in the back of the sanctuary isn't going to do as good a job as a camcorder connected to an encoder. Normally, the steps from a single phone to a multi-camera live-stream, with graphics, are like a maze. You can go a long way down a single path only to find that you've hit a dead-end and have to turn around and start over again. Not so with the SlingStudio Multi-Camera Live Streaming Platform from the folks at Dish Network. Its major strength is that it eliminates the dead ends.

While live streaming was once a novelty for churches, today, it has become something many churches consider a viable part of their ministry. While...

Last year we posted the best solution for streaming your church services live to Facebook. How has this changed in the year since that post?

Live streaming events is a great way to expand your church's ministry. There are lots of steps and a few different ways to approach this ministry of your church. If you've been charged with your church's vision to begin, once you get started, there is often concern or even panic that can set it. You want to make sure you give a great first impression but are a little overwhelmed by the different obstacles that live streaming presents.

The Internet has had quite an impact on the Church. According to a Faith Communities Today survey, the number of congregations across America using email more than doubled between 2000 and 2010. Ninety percent of congregations had embraced this technology, while just 35 percent had done the same a decade earlier. On top of this, the number of congregations employing websites in their daily operations had jumped from 33 percent to 69 percent in the same space of time. As with many other groups and organizations, the Internet allows members of the Church to share their message and maintain contact at any time, any place.

Live streaming is becoming less of a technical novelty and more a requirement for many churches--something that makes a lot of sense. Sure, online live streaming technology allows you to broadcast and distribute your message around the world, but it also allows you to reach local community members that may not be able to make it to church every week (or at all). The question is, can they hear you? You know that audio is the most important part of any live stream, right?

Over the past couple years, ChurchTechToday has covered the topic of live streaming church services a number of times and from different angle. It seems that churches all over the world are interested in find out more about the relatively new practice of streaming one's services live via video over the internet. There are many reasons churches intend to reach people via live streaming: for the elderly who cannot physically attend services to missionaries out of the country, for people with Sunday work schedules, and for people interested in pursuing God but are afraid to step foot in a church.

One of my favorite college memories was borrowing a video projector from the AV department, inviting all my friends over, making a bunch of food and watching the Super Bowl on the big screen. When I say big screen, I mean...BIG. This was way before 80” LED flat panels. The biggest TV at that time was a large, fuzzy rear projection monstrosity. There is nothing like everyone getting together to share in a live event like that. Imagine, though, if we all gathered on Monday to do the same thing. It would not be live. It would not be as electric. The excitement would be somewhat diminished. The DVR Generation We live in a world now where the lines between Live and video streaming, or Video On Demand (VOD) are starting to blur.