The pandemic has forced people to turn inwards to religion and God for succor which has pushed churches to adopt live stream church services.
Even though church attendance has declined, 44% of people say they prefer to worship alone. Church is still important to them, but they don’t want to be physically present there.
Online live streaming helps reach this 44%. You’ll still be able to engage with them online and they might even recommend you to their friends.
The use of live streaming solution for churches has changed the way members of the congregation practice their faith. Streaming video is becoming a more popular means of reaching congregations around the world.
Today’s article will explore benefits of live streaming church services, how to live stream a church service and also compare the top 8 video platforms to help take your religious streaming services online
Table of Contents
Benefits Of Church Live Streaming Services:
There are many benefits to using church live streaming services. If you are looking for a way to reach a wider audience, build community, and promote your church, live streaming is a great option
Besides the sheer fact that you will be able to reach people who would not be able to attend community services, streaming and broadcasting your church services also offers other benefits, for example:
- Allowing members who are otherwise unwell to attend your services
- Reaching people who are not part of your local community and are based much farther away
- Helping members who are traveling or unable to make it to church still access services.
- Allowing you to record live sessions so churchgoers can access the service in their own time.
- Gaining access to younger people who spend a significant amount of time online.
Here’s How to Live Stream Church Services:
Live streaming your church services is a great way to reach a wider audience, build community, and promote your church. In this step-by-step guide, we will show you how to live stream your church services using a variety of popular platforms
Setting up your church’s website and streaming live services might seem daunting. No worries, this 5-step guide will help you get going.
1. Establish a Plan Based On Your Goals.
Before launching a new service, it is best to plan it to the minutest detail. Some things to think through are the kind of equipment you already have, what you would like to invest in, where you will be streaming from as well as what your budget is. This will help narrow down your streaming service.
2. Choose: The Features & Service Provider For You
Some of the features to look for in a streaming service are easy of use, advanced video analytics, strong security features, white-label online video platform, and budget fitment.
3. Prep: Take Stock Of Equipment Available & What is Needed
List out what you need before starting. Use a camera that is suited for you and set it up with what you would want your audience to see.
It is essential to choose a video encoder that will convert your video into data that can be streamed online.
While most live broadcast software for churches carries this as part of their offering, it might be best to use a dedicated encoding software.
The last few things to make sure you have in place are good lighting for better video quality and a separate mix for audio so it can be mixed separately and integrated with your video.
4. Test: Trial Run Before Going Live
A test run is highly recommended so you have a chance to fix your little snags, make sure internet speed is adequate as well as the chance make sure you have the licenses for all software, music, etc. that you will be using while streaming.
5. Start: Get the Show On Road
Finally, go ahead, start streaming and connecting with parishioners no matter where they may be!
Top 8 Best Live Streaming Services for Churches 2024
To make things even simpler, here’s a round-up of the best Church streaming services in 2024. Looking for the best live streaming services for your church?
Here are the top 8 options such as VPlayed, Dacast, Streamingchurch.tv, BoxCast, ChristianWorldMedia, Truthcasting, MyChurchWebsite, Vimeo OTT and more for 2024, based on factors such as features, and ease of use.
1. VPlayed
Broadcast Live Streaming Services For Churches
With an extensive list of features like unlimited bandwidth, white-label video solutions, top-notch security, live linear streaming, private messaging, auto-archiving, and VPlayed offers everything you would need to start streaming your services right out of the box, including customizable video libraries.
With a host of basic features and advanced ones, you will not go wrong with choosing VPlayed for religious streaming solution and broadcasting your church services.
Key Features Of VPlayed’s Church Live Streaming Services
- Easily customize your content management library to suit your needs and make it easy for users to access
- HQ streaming video with a custom-built HLS player
- Experience live linear streaming with adaptive bitrates
- A white label solution that gives you complete control
- High-quality video protection with protected sign-ins, video DRM, dynamic watermarking, and encryption to prevent piracy
2. LiveReacting
Grow Your Church With Live Interactive Church Streaming Services
LiveReacting is a simple-to-use streaming solution for Churches, Ministries, and Houses of Worship. This streaming platform allows to make live streams interactive, powerful, and easy to grow with.
Key Features Of LiveReacting Church Live Streaming Services:
- Upload pre-recorded videos and schedule them as live.
- Raise awareness and reach more people by adding interactive elements in a stream, like Bible Trivia, Bible Crossword and more.
- Display the audience’s comments (as prayers or questions) inside of the stream.
- Multistream to different platforms within one single click.
- Run 24/7 live stream with Worship on Youtube, or other channels.
3. Dacast
Fully loaded With Professional Online Church Services
Dacast streaming offers you a free trial with 10 GB of free bandwidth. After the trial, their pricing starts at 39$/month going up to 188$/month. They also offer customized pricing plans based on your needs.
Key Features Of Dacast’s Live Streaming Services For Churches
- An analytics dashboard that provides a comprehensive view of user behavior
- By enabling users to record live streaming and store on-demand videos for future viewing
- Providing 24×7 customer support
- To combat piracy of any kind, the company provides strong privacy features
- Multi-user access on custom and scaled plans
4. Streamingchurch.TV
Grow Your Ministry With Online Church Streaming Services
Streamingchurch.tv claims to have not had a single minute of interruption over the past two years. An impressive feat considering the amount of data streamed online in recent times.
They also offer a 30-day free trial. Starting at 79$/month though, they are not as competitively priced.
Key Features Of Streamingchurch.tv’s Church Live Streaming Software
- Support for live streaming church services
- Provides ad-free streaming
- Compatible with Facebook and Twitter
- Supported by multiple mobile devices and Roku
- Detailed information about attendees through an interactive map
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5. BoxCast
Highest Quality Experience With Streaming Live Church Services
Streaming events across multiple screens with a maximum runtime of 8 hours, BoxCast promises casting solutions for you no matter the size of your congregation.
They offer a trial period as well as advanced video analytics as part of all their plans. Plans start at 99$/month and go up to 199$/month in addition to custom options.
Key Features Of BoxCast’s Live Video Streaming For Churches
- Provides ad-free streaming of religious services
- On the website with easy embedding
- Expert email and phone support available
- Integrated Facebook and Twitter support
- 24/7 reliable and uninterrupted broadcasting
6. ChristianWorldMedia
Step Up With Your Streaming Services For Churches
As the name suggests, ChristianWorldMedia is a streaming platform specifically geared towards churches and their services.
They have very affordable plans starting at 35$/month going up to 89$/month.
Key Features Of ChristianWorldMedia’s Best Live Streaming Software For Churches
- Hassle-free streaming of religious content 24 hours a day
- up to 50 viewers at a time
- Supports Roku and flexible streaming across devices
- Integration with social media and the Bible for easy access
- Pro plans offer exclusive features like live recording, unlimited archiving, adaptive live transcoding, etc.
7. Truthcasting
Get Affordable Church Online Platform Streaming Providers
Keeping their USP as reliability, Truthcasting keeps it simple. They focus on reliability and offer all-in-one plans starting at 39$/month but with limited support.
They also offer unlimited streaming and unlimited viewers.
Key Features Of Trustcasting’s Live Stream Church Services
- Streams without ads for a completely uninterrupted viewing experience
- Offers unlimited storage and bandwidth for viewers
- Compatibility with multiple mobile devices, including iPads and iPhones
- Provide reliable content delivery for religious streaming
- Live video streaming platform that uses embedded code
8. MyChurchWebsite.com
Powerful Church Live Streaming Software
Focused on churches and increasing their reach, MyChurchWebsite began as a church website provider. Over time, they expanded into other areas like live streaming and IOS, Android tv app development for churches, and offer social media integration. They have various pricing options available on their website that allow you to a custom plan from all their offerings.
Key Features Of MyChurchWebsite’s Church Video Streaming Solutions
- Streaming of religious services without advertisements for a dedicated prayer experience
- Compatible with every mobile device and flexible streaming of prayers
- Integration of social networks
- Using Google analytics for gauging user behavior and measuring performance
9. Vimeo OTT
Easy To Use Live Video Streaming For Churches
Vimeo was one of the earliest providers of best video streaming services. This gives them a lot of experience in this field. Having now entered church broadcasting services, they use their expertise to provide services across platforms.
Although their video plans start at 7$/month, their plans with live streaming solutions start at 75$/month.
Key Features Of Vimeo OTT’s Best Live Streaming For Churches
- Customizable player to meet your specific needs
- Social distribution across all social media platforms
- Google analytics and metrics to measure the performance
- Better streaming experience with unlimited live events
- Integration of polls, graphics, Live Q&A
Conclusion
With the world preferring more to look and stay indoors, it is the ripe time to tap into the vast potential that live streaming and broadcasting offer for churches and their parishioners.
This quick guide has hopefully answered a lot of your questions around why you must consider it for your church as well as the best platforms to consider. Do let us know if you have any more questions to be answered.
If You Already Have An Idea To Live Stream Your Church Services, Schedule A Free Demo And We’ll Get You On The Road To Religious Streaming Success!
Hey, I’m the IT manager at my church Faith Chapel located in Birmingham, AL. Right now we are doing the front-end research to see what SVOD services are out there & would like to know how to livestream church service. It’s going to be another year or so before I truly pull the trigger on something but I wanted to at least do my due diligence by researching everything. One of the main questions is how much are your different packages as well as the storage space each package provides? Thanks
Hello, We are a church based in South Africa in need of a custom streaming solution for church live streaming services that enables us to stream to our website and in the near future a mobile app. Please get in touch with us please, so we can figure out the pricing models and whether we can afford it. Thank you.
Hi, The University Church is looking to stream 24hrs a day for the online church altar as well as services. They currently use RTMP. They are looking for the basic monthly cost for the stream.
Hi Team, My inquiry is about GTPM which is an Online Ministry: A church without physical walls. How do we start our live streaming services for churches to own an online TV channel at a very modest budget because we have not much finance and desire to reach more people with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hello, Please email me some information with regard to price and features for church streaming services. We are a local church looking to multicast over several social media and TV outlets. We have better than average AV equipment (NOT pro grade) and a ten year AV guy (NOT my daily job). We are looking into CDNs specifically.
Hi, We are a church and we want to make an online radio station with live programming and saved sermons. Is it possible for live streaming for churches online?
Hi, I am looking for a white labeled streaming service for my church for sermons, bible studies etc. Not bothered about revenue generation, please can someone contact me to discuss costs etc. Thank you
I’ve been using one of these church streaming services for a few months now, and it’s really made a big difference in my ability to attend church regularly, even when I can’t make it in person. I highly recommend it!
I’ve tried several of the church streaming solutions on this list, and I have to say that each one has its own unique strengths. It’s worth trying a few out to see which one fits your needs best.
I love that these church streaming services make it so easy to participate in worship from anywhere. It’s great to have that flexibility, especially during busy or travel-heavy seasons.
I’ve found that some of these church streaming platforms are more user-friendly than others, but they all offer a valuable resource for people who want to stay connected to their faith streaming.
I was able to figure out how to use one of these church streaming services pretty easily. I appreciated that there were tutorials and helpful support available.
One of the things I appreciate about these church streaming solution is that they often include features like chat rooms and discussion forums, which help create a sense of community among viewers.
I think it’s great that these church streaming services are able to reach people who might not otherwise be able to attend church, whether due to physical distance or other barriers.
Thanks for the detailed and different church streaming platform providers in market, thanks for explaining with their unique features.