The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is well and truly here and I’ve watched as churches have scrambled to readjust to the new reality and launch their church online. Firstly, well done to you all!
I launched our online campus four years ago. I knew that it would be a great option for those who couldn’t come to a physical location. And we actually talked about the plus of it being an alternative option for our church services should something catastrophic occur.
Over the first few years we experienced amazing growth. People’s behaviour was moving from a mainstream media life to a streaming life.
In the last week I’ve had lots of church leaders reach out to me asking questions. I wanted to share some of the answers with you.
Here is how you can get your church online quickly.
Platform Options
Church Online Platform is a great free platform to build your online campus on.
I also found another Church Online platform which is perfect for smaller churches as it’s so simple to set up and use. It also looks fantastic!
Find out more here.
Streaming Options
Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) is a great free option. It works great if you want to stream on YouTube, Facebook, or Twitch. If you need some help, here’s how to stream on YouTube with OBS.
You can also check out this excellent youtube video ‘Fast and Cheap Ways to Livestream Your Church Service THIS SUNDAY’
Streaming Monkey is also temporarily providing free video streaming.
You can also stream your cast straight into Facebook Live as well which I highly recommend you do as it can go viral (pardon the pun).
The Coronavirus is here to stay for some time as human vaccine trials will only create a cure in about a year. So to some extent this is our new reality.
Below is a video discussion from Life.Church about how to set up and run online ministry using the Church Online Platform. If you have questions about gear, audio, streaming providers, live versus simulated-live, video, or other technical issues, let us know!
Excellent Crowdsourced Google Doc
A crowdsourced index of useful digital communication tools for church leaders, communications teams and church staff to refer to during the coronavirus outbreak. Read more here.
(Important sidenote)
Giving – One of the downsides of the virus will be an impact on giving at churches. Many church communities still only give in cash or cheque. I’d strongly encourage you to get your church to give electronically. Please encourage your community to give ‘recurring’ so that even if they can’t make it physically so you can still pay your staff and fund the mission of the church.
Be the church. It’s not just about people attending a service. But in times like this, the church in action is a great sight to behold. We are all called to do good and serve our community. Please encourage your community to go do likewise!
Facebook Ads are a great way to greatly increase the reach of your church service online. I created a course to help your church reach more people and create more impact. Check it out here.
