Believe it or not, Easter Sunday is almost here! Not only is Easter Sunday a joyous celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it’s also an amazing opportunity for your church to minister to unreached and unchurched people in and out of your area. One of the best ways to expand your reach is by offering a church live stream Easter Sunday.
As believers, we are to bear witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth,” (Acts 1:8), but how is it possible to reach the ends of the Earth? This is where having a church live stream Easter Sunday comes into play!
Don’t just take our word for it though, consider these video statistics:
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YouTube has over a billion users, almost one-third of total internet users
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45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week
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One-third of online activity is spent watching videos
If your desire as a church truly is to reach the ends of the earth, church live streaming is the perfect place to start. While church live streaming is an excellent outreach tool, it also ministers to your homebound members, out of town family members, and more. Take a look at a few other reasons your church needs live streaming Easter Sunday.
With that, it’s important to know that having a church live stream Easter Sunday is possible! Church live streaming is easier than ever, and it’s our desire to help simplify it even further for you.
Take a look at these steps to get your church live stream set up by Easter Sunday.
1. Decide What Your Church Will Live Stream
It’s important to ask the question, “What will our church live stream?” before anything else. Do you want to just stream your services? Are you hoping to stream special events? How about prayer meetings, student services, or other activities?
Knowing what your church would like to stream will help you to know what kind of equipment you need. It will also give you a good idea of the manpower needed for church live streaming setup.
If your goal truly is to church live stream Easter Sunday, start small. You can always expand and increase what you live stream in the future.
2. Choose How To Capture Video And Audio
Once you’ve decided what events and services to capture, now you need to decide how to capture both the video and audio.
When it comes to equipment, there are tons of options out there ranging from opening up your cell phone to investing in high-dollar cameras. Most churches find themselves somewhere in the middle of this spectrum.
Because you may be working on a tight timeline (i.e. you want to have church live stream this year’s Easter Sunday), it may be a good idea to use what you have on hand. Take a quick inventory of your church’s audio and video equipment. Use what you have. If you don’t have any sort of video camera, know that it is possible to use a smartphone, you may just not have as high quality of video and audio.
To see a full list of our recommended cameras, check out Sharefaith's Ultimate Guide to Church Live Streaming.
3. Think Through Production
Video production, simply put, is the process of producing the video content. In the case of live streaming church services, video production is simply thinking through overlays, switching cameras or views, titles, and additional details.
The good news is that if this is starting to feel overwhelming, a simple point and shoot is acceptable for a church live stream Easter Sunday. However, if you are wanting to take it to the next level, consider sitting down with your production team and talking through the details.
4. Connect Your Video Feed To An Encoder, Streaming Box, Or Computer
Next, you will need to decide how you are going to take the video that you've captured and convert it into a digital format that you can use for your live stream. The good news is that there are lots of options out there, and all of them will work if you have the right church live streaming service.
Again, take an inventory of what your church has for the sake of time and money, and use what you already have. For example, if your church has a PC, there’s no need to run to the Apple store to buy the newest MacBook, simply use your PC.
If you’re unsure if the equipment you have will work or need recommendations on what live streaming equipment to invest in, feel free to reach out to our friends at churchstreaming.tv.
5. Broadcast Your Video
Lastly, in order to have a church live stream on Easter Sunday, decide where to broadcast your video. In simple terms, this basically means to decide where you are going to put your video so that people will see it.
Live streaming to your church website is the first and most obvious choice, but it is a good idea to broadcast to other options as well. Other places might include Facebook Live, Apple TV, Roku, Vimeo, YouTube, and/or Chromecast.
Once you’ve decided where you are going to broadcast your live stream, make sure that you let people know! Inform your congregation by sharing this information on social media, announcing it from the pulpit, adding it to your printed pieces, and/or sending out an email. Encourage your members to share the link and invite their friends and families to watch if they can’t be in attendance on Easter Sunday.
Next Steps
Whether you are a tech guru or not, know that live streaming your service THIS Easter Sunday is possible! We truly believe that the resurrection of Jesus changed everything and that it’s our job to spread this message as far and wide as we can. It’s our hope that by offering a live stream this Easter Sunday, you will be able to reach more people in more places for the sake of the Gospel.
You don’t have to work to have a church live stream Easter Sunday all by yourself! If you’re not a “jump all in” or “put all of your eggs in one basket” type of person, the best place to start is with a free trial! Your church can try ChurchStreaming at full-functionality for 30 days free (yep, that includes your Easter service)! Learn more about the free trial of ChurchStreaming.tv here.
