The Streaming Church

Courtesy of Graceway Media

The idea of streaming church services have been around for more than a decade but it has only been just recently that the idea has been made into a reality for many churches. Since starting up what our church has called an “Internet Campus or iCampus (for short)” two years ago I have noticed the progression of information on this subject, as more and more churches are using the Internet, has become available.

In 2010, the lead pastor at the church I work at came to me and said that he wanted to start streaming our church services and wanted to know what we needed to do to make it happen. Streaming video was a whole new concept to me and I was unsure as to how to go about it.  This was my first major responsibility after taking over the media for the church and it was challenging. My predecessor had created a free account with Ustream before he left but I had to figure out what equipment was needed for us to stream. In researching over the Internet, information was scarce and there were very little forums opened except for what was on Ustream’s website.  

In a month after the request had been made, I got everything needed, a simple setup: One camera and a laptop. Now the hardest part of the challenge was ready to be tackled, getting our services live. Three months later, after testing our broadcast on a private channel I created on Ustream we were ready to broadcast on a public channel and in my perspective we failed miserably.

The lesson I learned in this process is that there are many hurdles in a challenge that you have to face before that challenge is fully conquered. I may have figured out how to get our services live on the Internet, which I thought was the challenge, but to produce an experience similar to what one would experience if actually there is a whole other part of the challenge I had yet to face.

Two years and three streaming platforms (Ustream, Livestream, and Streaming Church) later our “iCampus” is growing and the tech side is getting better but it’s not quite there yet, but that’s how it is with technology, there is always room for improvements. I personally have learned a lot through all the trials and errors with streaming platforms, video quality, equipment, and audio quality that I put it in a manual that I have lovingly entitled, “HCC’s Internet Campus Survival Guide.” I use this manual to train our volunteers and to refer to when I have church call up and ask questions about how we had setup our live church stream. I love to help out other churches because I know what it’s like to be at the beginning stages and not really knowing what to do, which is the purpose of this blog.

Check out Heartland Christian Center’s iCampus services!