Facebook and YouTube are great ways to share your worship services live! But there are some important things to keep in mind so as to make your worship broadcast go smoothly. Here are some suggestions and links to share with your tech-savvy team. Please let us know if your church is going LIVE Sunday mornings.
- Do it! Facebook LIVE really is a super way to extend your service to your community, and to those who may be unable to attend due to weather or health concerns.
- Practice, Practice, Practice! This is not a one-person operation. Put together a team of 2-3 people to pull things together. Having a team will allow the pastor to focus on the message and make things go much more smoothly on Sunday mornings. (Please note – It will not be perfect every time–yet live worship is never a perfect either. People will appreciate that you are working to give them the experience of being in worship with the Body of Christ on a Sunday morning.)
- DO promote that you’re going to go LIVE – using your bulletin, newsletter and/or a Facebook message or tweet – let folks know that they can join your church for worship on a Sunday morning!
- Use a tripod to position the camera close to where the ‘action’ is. You should be able to see the pastor, the choir and others who are sharing their gifts during worship. You may choose, however, not to show the faces of the children during children’s time. This is something that should be discussed before you post your first worship service.
- Plug your phone or camera into power during the whole service, so that you don’t lose power in the middle of the choir solo.
- It is important to have a designated wi-fi signal just for the Facebook live feed. Routers offer two different feeds – password protect the ‘5’ signal and set it aside just for the Facebook Live broadcast, and then offer the 2.5 password to the public. (If you don’t know the difference between signals, send us an email (wvumc@wvumc.org) and we will help you sort it out!)
- As you are able to, get an external microphone – so that the sound will be clear for the folks at home. There are several options to choose from – check out Amazon or contact your Communications Team for suggestions.
- Be sure to have a current CCLI license AND a CCLI-broadcast license. For most churches in the West Virginia Conference, this is a $62/year add on to your current CCLI License. Well worth the expense considering the people you are able to reach with the Good News! Follow this link for more from CCLI.
- Don’t limit your Facebook Live to Sunday mornings! Follow this link for more ideas to use Facebook Live from UM Communications!
- Be sure to initiate the Facebook Live broadcast from your churches public Facebook page – that way you have the opportunity to reach more people. After worship DO save on the page, so that others may watch later in the week.
We hope these suggestions will help your faith community move forward in sharing your worship services with the community. After the broadcast, be sure to go back and look at the comments, respond to those who watched and build up your online community. Some churches even take prayer requests from those watching online.
If you have any additional questions, or need assistance setting up your worship service broadcast contact the conference communications team by emailing: wvumc@wvumc.org