Technology
Streaming Software for Houses of Worship
Oct
STREAMING. REACHING. BOOMING.
“Booming!” is the word that comes to mind when one actually thinks of the impact, market size and opportunities that interface livestreaming technologies and the modern church.
The Post-Covid era church is no longer confined within the four walls of a building or magnificent stained-glass cathedrals; bursting forth with new audience-penetration strategies and fresh prospects for borderless impact, the future of church robustly extends to the screens of PCs, mobile phones and a fast-growing gamut of livestreaming technologies.
As church leaders, parachurch founders, presidents of ministries and other stakeholders in faith-driven organizations, it’s time to leverage on livestreaming softwares and take advantage of/reach out to;
- 33% of Church goers who have found their current churches online
(https://www.dacast.com/blog/church-live-streaming-statistics/)
- 44% of faith-professing respondents who have said that they prefer to be alone while they pray and worship thereby preferring their religious experiences in the confines and comforts of their devices
(https://www.dacast.com/blog/church-live-streaming-statistics/)
- Faith-professing people who said they feel comfortable making donations online (2.2 billion worth of donations to non-profits were made in 2015).
(https://www.dacast.com/blog/church-live-streaming-statistics/)
5 Streaming Softwares for Churches to Influence and Impact the World
For ministries and para-ministries to take their message and impact to ‘the ends of the earth’, there is need for effective livestreaming softwares and solutions which fortunately have been made available by technological innovations in the 21st century media landscape.
In very simple terms, a livestreaming software encodes, mixes/adds and transmits video content to be shared on the internet live.
Streaming softwares make use of video encoding technology to convert video feeds into suitable formats for live broadcasting.
Below are 5 Livestreaming softwares for churches to leverage on in connecting to online audiences.
- STREAMINGCHURCH.TV
StreamingChurch.TV offers a lot of exclusiveness as it was specifically designed for church-related streaming only.
The solution combines many “church-centric” features designed to give immersive experiences to both onsite church program handlers (Preacher, Music Team etc) and the online audience. Some of these features include sermon notes, a visual map of church attendees and more.
Both live and VOD (Video-on-demand) streaming options are available on StreamingChurch.TV but this is only available on the Premium plans
Key Features
- Ad-free streaming
With StreamingChurch.TV, users don’t experience the frustration of having advertisements interrupt their intimate fellowship whether on a live stream or church VOD content.
– Dedicated Tech Support Team
One really good thing is that you don’t have to be a tech guru to be able to set up your livestreaming on StreamingChurch.TV as the platform offers unlimited tech support plus a special Sunday morning support team to ensure a seamless streaming experience.
– Unlimited Bandwidth
If you desire the digital growth of your ministry or church without having to worry about having enough bandwidth, then StreamingChurch.TV got your covered as all their plans support unlimited streaming.
– Connect with Viewers
Beyond just listening to someone over the microphone, what really defines church for many people is the power of community. With StreamingChurch.TV, church leaders or admins can enjoy access to chat break-out groups and even send private chat messages to church members who are viewing online.
- DACAST
Dacast streaming platform offers a feature-rich and comprehensive solution for churches with small to larger congregations
All Dacast plans support content sharing over top-rated CDNs (Content Delivery Networks).
Key Features
– Live Streaming and Video on Demand (VOD) Packages
Dacast offers both livestreams and video-on-demand with plans allowing churches to stream live services and create pre-recorded content for sharing.
– Ad-Free Experience
The Dacast platform also eliminates the pesky ads-inclusive interruptions during content consumption.
– Immersive Video Galleries
Dacast offers churches the opportunity to create immersive video galleries for different types of content, such as Sunday Services, Midweek Services, Youth/Teenagers/Children Groups, Bible study groups, Etc.
– Dedicated Customer Support
Dacast runs a 24/7 professional customer support to help churches have seamless experiences in setting up their livestreaming facility.
- VIMEO
Vimeo’s livetream solution targets churches with higher budgets delivering high-end features and customization options suitable for faith-based streams while also offering the ability to share content over CDNs.
Key Features
Vimeo’s Premium plan offers the a range of features which include;
- Social distribution
- Player customization
- Privacy controls
- Private team projects
- Customizable Showcase sites
- Calls-to-action and lead generation
- Google Analytics
- Unlimited live events
- Live Q&A, graphics, and polls
- vMIX
vMix is both a software video switcher and mixer plus live streaming software that works on Windows. The vMix software is customizable, based on the user’s production needs.
Key Features
- Live mixing/adding, recording, switching and streaming of full HD and 4K video sources which include video files, cameras, DVDs, images and Powerpoints.
- Supports professional HD Production on average PCs.
- Offers high-performance animated graphics with easy-to-use functionalities
- Supports SRT In and Out: vMix supports multiple stream inputs with up to 4 outputs in the vMix 4k and Pro. It also supports SRT which stands for Secure Reliable Transport.
- BOXCAST
Boxcast (previously known as SundayStreams) is dedicated to livestreaming for churches and sermons, it offers as its greatest strength simplicity and ability to reach novice broadcasters.
Key Features
- Ad-free streaming
- Unlimited (24/7) Broadcast
- Mobile compatibility and customizable phone apps
- Analytics dashboards
- MUVI
Muvi offers a faith streaming solution designed for live streaming church services with support for both live and on-demand video hosting and a host of other professional features.
Key Features
- Supports VOD (Video-on-demand) hosting
- Global content delivery
- Supports Video monetization tools (SVOD, TVOD, AVOD)
- Multi-screen streaming
- Easy embedding for streaming on your own site
- White-label video player
STREAMING TO NEWER HEIGHTS
There you have it, five top-ranking streaming softwares among many others such as SermonCast. ChurchStreamingTC, OBS (Open Broadcaster Software), StreamShark and more.
Why deprive the sick, physically challenged, elderly, geographically distanced etc of the fellowship, community, ministry, sermons your church has to offer when you can ‘enlarge your coasts’ and reach unto the ‘uttermost parts of the earth’ (as the Holy Book for Churches admonishes) through livestreaming technologies.
For churches and ministries that are yet to plunge into this massive and immersive world of streaming, we’d say, let the streaming begin!
And for those who are already taking advantage of these technologies, it is time to equip yourself with new options and insights found in this article and many more on our blog (https://holoceneinnovations.com/blog/) even as you take your livestreaming technologies to the very ends of the earth.
Great post!