For churches seeking to spread the Word outside of the four walls of their church, or beyond each of their multi-site locations, the prospect of streaming is often misconstrued as a simple task that can be done in a flash. In the interest of beginning to stream soon, we thought it might be pertinent to instead think about devising such a plan where your church can be ready for this fall.
Look to include at least a small budget to successfully implement a streaming plan.
While you might have a pastor who will opt to present you the idea of streaming for your church with less than a week to plan before next Sunday's services, such a constraining schedule for a plan is largely unrealistic in seeking to have the plan work well from the outset and for the foreseeable future.
It also may seem feasible for some that one can roll out a streaming plan with virtually no budget, but it is best to look to include at least a small budget to successfully implement such a plan, which will go a long way to avoiding a series of possible pitfalls down the road.
Even after taking the steps to lay the groundwork to begin streaming for your church, before going live that first Sunday, it's best to do at least one test run. Ask potential viewers or members of your congregation to offer detailed feedback following their viewing of the church’s stream, on things like the audio of the broadcast, whether the pastor can be heard during the service, or whether certain instruments end up overly dominating portions of the service.
That way, you can make the necessary adjustments to the streaming mix before going live to the general public for that first service. Don't make the mistake at thinking that the settings for your live mix can simply be replicated for streaming. While that would be much labor intensive, the end result will most likely be you faced with a frustrated streaming viewer, who may watch it that once or a few times, before stopping altogether.
One of the major hurdles for successful streaming is deciding on a streaming provider. There are a litany of providers, most of which offer different layers of service. Take the time to determine how small or large your potential audience will be. If you anticipate those viewing your stream to be less than 100 in the first few months, or if you envision it to very quickly ramp up to possibly over 1,000 or greater in short order, than what might serve as a viable streaming option can be significantly different.
But before you decide to plunge into the effort of beginning to stream your worship services, determine if you can determine the value for your church in taking this step.
To get a better sense on this topic, take a few minutes to read Jennifer Johnson's piece, "The Value of Streaming a Worship Service."