Tech Setup: Streaming Online

One winter Sunday we received a foot of snow. We also received over 30 online streamers from our Facebook and YouTube pages. Many churches experimented with live streaming during the COVID era but have since abandoned any attempts at streaming. Usually, these churches ceased streaming because they failed to see the benefit and/or streaming was too complicated. For us, online streaming has revolutionized our small-town church!

Why Stream

When churches streamed during COVID, they primarily thought of one target audience—faithful church members. Therefore, when restrictions lifted and the faithful returned, streaming seemed superfluous. But streaming remains an important and fruitful ministry.

First, consider prospective visitors. Whenever I see new visitors at our church, I introduce myself and then at some point ask this question, “How did you hear about us?” What is the most common answer I receive? We found you online. This is true even for those over 60! Online presence is today’s church front property and sign. Gone are the days of visiting multiple churches. People want to know what your church is like before they show up in person. They will “visit” several churches by watching their online services before they attend. If yours isn’t available, they may not even consider visiting your church.

“How did you hear about us?”... We found you online.

Second, consider the faithful. Let’s be honest, sometimes the faithful are not always faithful. People miss service for travel, vacation, work, and a myriad of other reasons. But online allows them to follow from afar or catch up. Not only this, sometimes the faithful are working in the nursery, children’s church, or caring for the elderly during the service. Other saints are homebound, in nursing homes, hard of hearing, or cannot travel in adverse weather conditions. I have church members who fit all these criteria, and they tell me how thankful they are for online services. And don’t forget, streaming is not limited to Sunday morning. Conferences, weddings, and funerals can be streamed with the same equipment in order to serve and bless your church members who may not be able to physically attend.

Third, consider the lost. No, they are not likely to tune into a random small-town church and watch your service. But they are more likely to watch when their friend reposts and shares the service on Facebook saying how meaningful it was to them. Have you ever heard a church member say, “I really wish ____ could have heard that message?” Now they can! In addition to posting the full service, we use an AI software (OpusClip) that will take our video and turn it into several small videos (1-2 minutes in length) that we later share throughout the week. These “shorts” receive far more interaction from the lost and those distant to the church. The algorithm favors local content, enabling your church videos to show up in your community’s YouTube/Facebook page. Sharing your live stream, whether in full or in snippets, is a great way for your members to share their faith with other people in their life.

How to Stream

Maybe you’re convinced of the importance of streaming but don’t know where to start, or you’re concerned about cost. We could recommend a quality setup with new equipment for under $3,000, although you may already possess many of the necessary components. Live streaming requires a few basic elements: computer, internet connection, device to capture audio, device to capture video, production software, and a streaming platform. Here’s a no-frills way to start streaming at your church.

Computer: Streaming can be as simple as recording from your smartphone. However, for quality and control of the stream, a computer is the best choice. While most churches have a computer, you’ll want to have a computer powerful enough to process audio and video inputs. This requires having a computer with a graphic card that also allows for input (which most standard laptops/computers do not have). A computer of this quality will run about $1,000.

You’ll likely need a video capture card. There are two types of video capture cards for your computer, internal and external. Internal capture cards will have to be installed inside the PC frame on an available PCIe slot on the motherboard. If that is not an option or you are using a laptop, consider an external USB capture card. This video capture card will provide an HDMI input which can be connected to the camera. On most laptops, the HDMI port is only intended for output and cannot be used as an input, thus the need for the video capture card. A capture card will cost about $150.

Internet Connection: Churches looking to stream will need an internet connection with good upload speed. For quality audio/video, you need a minimum upload speed of 10mbps.

Audio capture: Most churches have a microphone/sound system/mixer. The key is sending the information from the mixer into the computer. Your computer will have an audio input/mic input on either the front or back of the computer (think 3.5 mm headphone jack). Connect an output from your church’s soundboard to that input/mic jack. If you don’t already have a mixer, we’d recommend going with a digital mixer (like the Behringer X Air XR16).

Video Capture: You’ll need a camera (DSLR for digital capture), camcorder, or iPhone/Android (with adapter) to record the video. Most cameras have an HDMI output which can be connected to the video capture card on the computer. We recommend a PTZ Camera (pan, tilt, zoom). This enables you to move the camera and control shots to capture multiple features of worship. The cost for a new PTZ camera is around $500.

NDI: While you can directly run your video/audio into your computer, we would encourage you to check out NDI (Network Device Interface). Instead of running directly into your computer through HDMI or aux cables, you can run your video/audio into ethernet cables and Wi-Fi routers in your building to make them part of “the network.” This makes those video/audio files accessible to any other device that uses your router or ethernet cable (just like your printer or copier). Since your computer will already be connected to your network, you can then access this information from your computer. This makes your computer work less hard and increases the amount of video/audio inputs you can have. For example, we would ask our congregation to donate old smartphones, then we would download NDI apps to increase how many cameras we had (this gave us some great video for baptisms). The best part? This costs you nothing but ethernet cables.

Production: After you have captured your audio and video, you’ll need to take all the inputs and produce your video (think television studio). This production software is for downloading on your computer. There are different options, but we use and recommend vMix – it’s user friendly (2.5-hour learning curve) and has great scalability. It displays a studio production screen where you can add as many inputs as you desire (videos, audios, PPTs, Easy Worship, etc). From there, you can easily select between different video sources for your main output. vMix offers a 60-day free trial and offers plans to fit your church’s budget (https://www.vmix.com/purchase/). The HD license for vMix costs $350. Another free option, but more complex, is OBS.

Streaming Platform: In order to stream online, you need a way to have people access your stream. This can be done through social media sites like Facebook and YouTube. It’s likely your church already has a Facebook account, but YouTube gives a wider reach and easier access. Additionally, YouTube does not delete videos after 30 days like Facebook Live. We stream to both at the same time. However, if you don't have the capability or the upload bandwidth to dual-stream, first stream to YouTube and then share that URL from the YouTube video on your Facebook page. You’ll want to get your YouTube account set up right away so that you have time to verify it and have the ability to live stream for more than 15 minutes. Verify your YouTube account - YouTube Help

We know that so much more could be said. If you get stuck in your streaming setup, remember to use Google and YouTube and ask AI for help. That’s what we do! But more importantly, we hope you know why we do it. We’ve had faithful saints encouraged as they are homebound. We’ve had new people come to our church. We’ve had twelve thousand people watch our explanation of the Greek grammar in John 1 as opposed to the popular Jehovah’s Witness claims! Like the apostle John, we’d rather see people face to face (2 John 12). But just like the New Testament letters, we’ve found that online ministry spreads the gospel and enriches our time together as a church.

Kyle is Senior Pastor of Hambden Congregational Church, Chardon, Ohio. Michael is a member of that congregation.