How To Livestream Your Worship Service

As we make it our priority to maintain the safety and well-being of our members during this troublesome time, live streaming worship services is a digital amenity that will allow the Holy Spirit to continue to be present in our lives and support our sense of faithful community. Live streaming tools have become more and more user-friendly in recent years.

• A camera. Anything from a smartphone, tablet or laptop with a built-in camera to a professional camcorder may be used to film your service.
• Good lighting. While candlelight is a popular choice for in-person church services, “the more light the better” is a general rule of thumb when videoing. We want members to feel truly engaged after all, and for this to happen they will want to see your face.
• A livestreaming service. This is an important step, as this is what will allow all members of your community to be digitally present in common devotion. Some good FREE livestreaming services are Facebook Live, YouTube Live, YouNow, and Periscope.

• The easiest thing to do is just turn on your smartphone, open your video camera, place the phone horizontally and in an area where the entire service can be seen in the frame, and press the record button.
• Once the video has been recorded, simply go to one of the livestream services listed above, sign up with either your congregation or pastor credentials (i.e. if it is through Facebook Live, go through your congregation’s or pastor’s account), and download the video.  

• Social media. Broadcasting the upcoming service through channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are important, otherwise your audience may not know when and where to tune in. 
• Newsletter emails. Especially for those who may not be connected through social media, your congregation’s email campaign is an important place to communicate with your members.
• Website. Your website is now the digital front door of your church while we all try to keep each other healthy and out of harms way. Make sure that your website is up-to-date and providing members with resources for staying faithfully engaged, such as your livestreamed worship services.

• Create an electronic donations page. In this way members can still remain active and involved in church, through contributions to Mission Support. The ELCA's preferred digital giving platform is Vanco. Congregations receive special discounted rates on eGiving services. To learn more about this platform, click HERE. A helpful article about other donation platforms can be found, HERE.

• Please note that your services or events may contain music that is copyright protected. In order to avoid any potential issues, consider subscribing to CCLI Church Copyright License. For more information on this topic and about CCLI, click HERE.