worship sound

The practice of live streaming church services has gained popularity over the last few years. The impacts of COVID-19 certainly accelerated the move to live streaming for many churches. We've compiled this list to help you navigate the myriad of live streaming providers available. 

Technology serves an important role in just about every church, especially when it comes to audio, video, and lighting (AVL) systems. The increasing complexity of these systems requires special expertise in installation, programming, and service that is best provided by a quality church AV contractor.

Now that COVID-19 has dramatically limited in-person meetings for some churches and eliminated them altogether for others, live streaming has become the norm, even in more traditional denominations. Worship software, which used to display merely lyrics and scripture to people attending in-person on a screen, is now the backbone of the online or video church service.

Live video is key to getting your church’s message out. Whether you are broadcasting to displays around your building, to a TV station, Livestreaming or just archiving, excellent live video can set your church apart. According to a study by released by Brightcove, poor quality video presentations influence viewers to have a negative perception of the author. This negatively impacts engagement with the organization. So, it’s important to ensure your livestreams and broadcasts are the highest quality possible, both in production and delivery.

I have been leading worship in a full-time capacity for twenty-two years. Still, nothing could have prepared me for a global pandemic, hybrid worship, and a situation that began in our church on Sunday, March 15, 2020. On that Sunday, our worship team did most everything we would normally do on Sunday with one major difference… there was no congregation in our worship space!  Like most churches across the country, and around the world, we found ourselves in an unprecedented scenario. One no one could have foreseen and one for which no seminary education could have prepared us. Our church had to learn how to minister to our people solely through livestream technology on Sundays and Zoom meetings throughout the week. 

With the rise of multi-campus churches, the question of live or video sermons has been a question at the forefront of this movement. Some churches have multiple pastors preaching at different campuses. Some churches have one pastor that travels to each campus to preach.

While it's possible to live-stream with a single camera and a software encoder, or even with multiple smartphones, using a video switcher is the way many churches should do it. First, what's a video switcher? A video switcher is NOT a selector switch that you'd pick up from a big online or electronics retailer. While it does the same thing, select video sources, it does so without the visual glitch on the screen that a selector produces.

The main sound system controller at your church goes by many names: soundboard, audio desk, mixing console, mixer, etc. They all refer to the same thing. Selecting the right soundboard for your church might be the biggest audio decision you make. It’s hard to mix good sound without a good soundboard.