This hasn’t happened before! Churches, using church streaming software to broadcast their services, are becoming a reality! The reason why this is happening is because of the devastating effect the pandemic has brought pushing churches and other religious places to close doors!
You have your Clergy resources, your online bible study curiculum, et all – all you would now need is a church streaming software! And if you’re looking forward to learning how to live stream your church services using church streaming software, you have landed at the right place.
And this read is exactly about that – how to start a streaming service using a church streaming software!
Before we get to the steps, let’s quickly look at what a church streaming software is and what features it should have!
What Is a Church Streaming Software?
In order to live stream your church services, you’re going to need a professional live streaming software on board, similar to that which can be found at Agora.io.
Now you might think why do I have to chip in money when there’s YouTube, a platform that allows individuals to upload videos for free!
Valid question! But when you use platforms like YouTube, you get no control over your videos – there’s just a lot of ads and you don’t get to deliver a personalized experience to your audience. Also, you don’t have the option to establish your business further!
But that’s not the case when you use church streaming software. You get the option to grow, build a community and earn revenue with multiple monetization options as well!
So, before you choose a church streaming software make sure it has the below-mentioned features!
1. VOD and Live Streaming Support
We already talked about how essential the live streaming feature is going to be. But the VOD support is going to make a huge difference in the future.
Videos you live stream can be uploaded and displayed to users. And they can view the same videos sometime later. We’ll let you know why this is important in a few moments.
2. 100% Source Code and Customization
This is another important feature your chosen church streaming software should have!
Only when your live streaming software is open-source, you’ll be able to customize the platform to suit your needs. You don’t need to worry about branding and recognition because since it’s a white label solution, you can use your logos and create your own platform!
3. Android & iOS Applications
A church streaming software that comes with an Android & iOS application is definitely going to be the best!
An Android & iOS application is considered necessary these days if you want to make sure your streaming services reach a wider audience base. Because not every household or individual can access desktops/laptops every time.
4. Video Monetization Models
Remember the part where we told users can view videos later! You can actually monetize that! When you choose a church streaming software, make sure you check the available revenue methods.
Payment models like Pay Per View (where users should pay to view particular videos) and Subscription Model (where users should subscribe monthly to avail services) are the most commonly available video revenue models!
Apart from this, make sure you choose a church streaming software with good privacy and security options like password protection, tokenized security and more. Since there are a lot of church streaming software around, make sure you choose the best one!
Now that you’re clear about the basics, let’s head to the part where you know how to start a streaming service.
How to Start a Church Live Streaming Service in 4 Simple Steps
If you’re reading this (and you’re through with the above part), this is going to be a piece of cake! Let’s take a look at the steps quickly!
Step 1: Choose a domain name for your church streaming platform. And buy it from a reliable domain registrar.
Step 2: Once you’ve brought your domain, connect it to a server you think would be reliable. Here are some of the best hosting providers around.
Step 3: Install church streaming software on your server and customize your web platform the way you want to.
Step 4: When you’re done with the customization part, you’re all set to live stream your church streaming services.
Yes! It’s done! Simple right? You can further set pricing for your videos and come up with a membership model for your audience.
Speaking of live streaming your church services, we thought why not tell you what you need (the basics) to live stream your church services!
Basic Equipment Required to Start Church Live Streaming
The heading explains what this section is going to be. So, let’s quickly jump into the specific,
- A good camera to record along with a tripod to make the videos stable
- Make sure there is good lighting – would help create good quality videos
- HDMI cable and extender if necessary
- Good quality microphone (if possible with noise cancellation) that’s kept close with the source
- An encoder tool to compress raw video and upload it to the web.
When you have everything mentioned above, check the setup once to make sure there aren’t any glitches in-between.
So, yes! That’s all you’ve got to do!
Final Few Words
This could all be overwhelming at the moment! But when you take it one step at a time, this is all going to be easy-peasy!
We’ve covered what a church streaming software is, how to start a streaming service and the basic equipment you should have on your deck as well!
So, why wait! Build your own church streaming service platform now! Cheers!