Rev. Emily Chen
2024-01-08
Let's be honest: most church livestreams are boring.
I know that's harsh. But you've probably watched one where the camera sits in the back of the room, pointed vaguely at the stage, while tinny audio crackles through your laptop speakers. The pastor looks like a tiny figure in the distance. Half the congregation's heads are blocking the view. And you're supposed to feel like you're "part of the worship experience."
You're not. You're watching a poorly filmed meeting.
Here's the thing though—it doesn't have to be this way. And no, you don't need a massive budget or a production team from Hollywood. What you need is to stop thinking of online church as "filming what we already do" and start thinking of it as its own thing entirely.
This seems obvious, but most churches totally miss it.
The person sitting in your sanctuary made a bunch of decisions to get there. They got dressed (real pants and everything), drove across town, found parking, walked inside, found a seat. They're committed before the first song even starts. Social pressure keeps them from leaving early. Their phone's in their pocket. The fridge isn't ten feet away.
The person on their couch? Pajamas. Phone in hand. Kids asking for snacks. Dog needs to go out. Netflix is literally one click away. They can bounce from your service without a single person noticing.
Here's the uncomfortable truth: you're not competing with other churches online. You're competing with everything else they could be doing.
Once you accept this, you can actually design for it instead of pretending it's not happening.
Keep segments short. That 25-minute sermon might crush it in person, but on a screen? People start drifting around minute 8. Add a video clip. Cut to a scripture graphic. Change camera angles. Do something—anything—to reset attention. Our brains are wired for YouTube and TikTok now. You can fight that reality or you can work with it.
Look at the camera. When your pastor looks directly at the camera lens, it feels like they're talking TO me. When they look at the in-person crowd, I feel like I'm eavesdropping on someone else's conversation. This is huge. Put a confidence monitor near the camera so they can see their notes while maintaining that eye contact.
Just acknowledge us. "Hey, to everyone joining online today—we see you. Drop where you're watching from in the chat." Takes five seconds. Makes online viewers feel like they exist. Wild how many churches skip this.
The chat IS church. For online folks, the chat is their community. When someone posts "first time here, a little nervous" and three regulars immediately welcome them—that's church happening right there. Moderate it, engage with it, celebrate it. Stop treating it like a distraction from the "real" service.
You don't need $50K worth of cameras. Promise. Here's what actually matters:
Audio is everything. Bad video with good audio? Totally watchable. Good video with bad audio? Absolutely unwatchable. Get a decent wireless lapel mic for whoever's speaking—$150-300 range will do it. This one upgrade matters more than any camera purchase.
Lighting beats cameras every time. An iPhone with good lighting looks better than a $3,000 camera in a dim room. Get a simple ring light or LED panel. Point it at your pastor's face. Boom, done.
Two camera angles is enough. Even if it's just a wide shot and a closer shot, cutting between them keeps things visually interesting. Our brains perk up at any visual change. One static shot for 45 minutes puts people to sleep.
Test on Saturday. Please. I've seen so many churches discover their stream wasn't working... 20 minutes into service. Test everything the day before. Have a backup plan. Know who to text when things break (because they will).
Here's an uncomfortable truth: serving in-person AND online audiences at the same time is really hard. You're probably going to favor one or the other.
Most churches favor in-person (makes sense—those people showed up). But then online viewers feel like afterthoughts. Pastor says "turn to your neighbor and share what you're thankful for" and you're sitting alone on your couch like... now what?
Some stuff that helps:
Give online people something to do during interactive moments. "If you're in the room, turn to someone near you. If you're online, drop your answer in the chat." Now everyone has a task.
Stop apologizing for us. "Sorry, we know this is awkward for those at home..." No. Just design better moments so it isn't awkward.
Think of the camera as a person. You wouldn't ignore someone sitting in the front row. The camera represents real people—potentially hundreds of them.
This is where most churches give up. "You just can't build real community through a screen," they say, then wonder why online attendance keeps dropping.
You absolutely can. It just looks different.
Start early. Go live 10 minutes before service. Put up a countdown with some chill music. Let people chat with each other. Have someone from your team engaging in the chat. This is the digital version of your lobby.
Online small groups. Real ones. Not "watch this video and discuss in the comments." Actual Zoom calls where people see each other's faces, learn each other's names, pray for each other's stuff. Honestly? These groups sometimes get MORE vulnerable than in-person ones because people feel safer in their own space.
Follow up personally. When someone chats "first time here," a real person should DM them after service. When someone shares a prayer request, someone should check in later that week. The technology doesn't build community—people using the technology do.
View counts are basically meaningless. One "view" could be a family of five. Another could be someone who clicked in, watched 30 seconds, and bounced.
Better things to look at:
Watch time. Are people staying for the whole thing or dropping off 10 minutes in? If you're losing half your viewers before the sermon starts, that's a sign.
Chat engagement. Are people interacting? A service with 200 viewers and 50 active chatters is doing better than one with 500 views and total silence.
Who comes back. How many viewers show up week after week? Loyalty beats raw numbers.
Actual next steps. How many online people join a small group? Sign up for something? Eventually visit in person? This is the real win.
Some churches won't launch online because they're waiting until everything's perfect. The lighting isn't quite right. The camera's not good enough. The worship leader hates how they look on video.
Meanwhile, people are out there looking for a church.
Done beats perfect. Every. Single. Time. Your first 50 livestreams will be rough. You'll figure stuff out as you go. The people who stick around during the rough early days become your most loyal online community.
The church down the street with their iPhone on a tripod and a genuine heart for reaching people is beating the church with the fancy production setup who can't stop tweaking.
Just start.
Online church isn't some lesser version of real church. For a lot of people—the mom with a newborn who hasn't slept in weeks, the guy with anxiety who can't handle crowds yet, the teenager whose parents won't take them to church, the traveling salesperson who's never home on Sundays—it might be the only option right now.
Every person watching on a screen is a real person. Maybe they're lonely. Maybe they're exploring faith for the first time. Maybe they're a longtime member recovering from surgery. They matter.
The question isn't whether online church is "as good as" in-person. The question is: are you serving these people well?
Because that's what ministry is—meeting people where they are. And right now, a lot of them are on their couches, in their pajamas, with Netflix one click away, hoping you give them a reason to stay.
Give them one.
What's working for your online services? What's totally flopping? Drop your experiences in the comments—we're all figuring this out together.
Digital Ministry Pastor with expertise in online worship and virtual community building. Rev. Chen helps churches create engaging digital experiences that connect with both in-person and remote attendees.
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