Livestream Basics for Churches
With news that the Coronavirus outbreak is now classified as a pandemic, and public health officials in Washington State elevating their guidance and requirements for social distancing, we are anticipating that more local churches will need to explore new online options for worship. Rev. David Valera and Patrick Scriven offer advice in this video for churches as they contemplate this move, identifying some of the challenges along the way.
Some of the links mentioned in the video.
For testing your internet connection: speedtest.net
Live Streaming Platforms mentioned
Facebook Live Information page: LINK
YouTube Live Streaming Information Page: LINK
If you have time and haven’t done so already, setting up a non-profit account will give you additional features to control your “brand” and minimize the invasiveness of YouTube advertising. You can find directions for doing this here: http://www.umcom.org/learn/free-access-to-google-products-for-nonprofits
Additional Options
There are a number of streaming services available under monthly or yearly contracts, some designed specifically for churches. Reach out to colleagues who are using a service you like and see what they have to say about it before you invest.
If you are wanting an option that might be more conversational, consider a platform like Zoom (https://zoom.us). At the free level, you can host a conversation with up to 100 participants for 40 minutes. For $15 a month, you have no time limits, and for $20 you can host up to $300 of your closest friends. 🙂
Licensing
We are working on some ways to try to make the addition of the CCLI streaming license easier for local churches. Give us a day or two to see what might be possible.
Questions?
David can be reached at dvalera@pnwumc.org; Patrick at pscriven@pnwumc.org.
We’ll do the best we can to answer questions from United Methodist churches but please be sure to reach out to your Annual Conference Communicator, especially if you aren’t based in the Northwest. They are likely waiting by the phone right now to answer your questions!