Streaming Church Services
Streaming technology enables you to broadcast your church services live over the internet so your congregation and friends from around the world can join you! It also allows you to record and archive your services for people to view at their convenience.
Using streaming technology can bring your church many benefits, it allows you to
- Broadcast your service or events to your congregation
- Allows people beyond your parish, even world-wide to join your services
- Make your music, choir performances etc available to people unable to attend
- Archive past services and events for people to watch when they want
- Create your own church radio station on the internet
- Broadcast weddings, christenings and other special occasion services to family members who are unable to be there on the day
For members of your congregation who are on holiday, away on business, at college or university, home-bound etc, streaming your church services gives them the opportunity to continue to participate and feel part of all your services and events.
How does Streaming work?
By taking audio and video recordings of your church services, web streaming technology is able to make them available for people to view live (live streaming) or at their leisure on the internet (on-demand streaming).
It is not as complicated or difficult as people think to set up. Your church may have some of the equipment and systems that are required already in place. You'll need:
- Your own church website, from which your streams can be played
- Video camera
- Audio card
- Internet connection
- Dedicated computer
Using streaming encoder software, which you can get free from Microsoft, your church can convert your analogue signal to a digital signal. Then using your internet connection you upload the file to Streaming Wizard. We will check the file is properly encoded/converted into a streaming file. We will then store the file on a streaming media server and make the file available on your website through a hyperlink. When a person wants to play a video stream they will click a hyperlink to the stream on your website, our servers will then send a stream of the file to their computer.
Streaming Wizard assist Ely Cathedral in live streaming their first wedding!
The live stream of Amanda and Jonathan's wedding was webcast to relatives and friends in Australia who were unable to attend in person, Saturday 2nd November 2002.
Photographs on this page show Ely Cathedral and the broadcast on a laptop supplied from the family in Australia who tuned into the wedding!