On the 195th episode of Speedify LIVE we finally host our Church Media Panel with returning guest, Cavalry Baptist Church Red Bank’s Rusty Greer and Dave Curlee from the Church Training Academy, rebranded to Church Media Creators to talk all things church media tech and live streaming!

We chat about in person vs online sermons, streamergencies and internet in churches, the best streaming platforms and how Speedify can help in such a unique scenario!

Here are our 5 takeaways from our Church Media Panel:

1. Dave tells us that during the pandemic, his church continued online: using tools like Zoom, but even going as far as using Minecraft for Bible study! They built their own server for the families at church, held Bible study there while also streaming it, so kids could either have play and participate, or watch the video later. 
2. With churches not being built for streaming, both Dave and Rusty have experienced their own versions of streamergencies. Rusty says they had issues after updating an old Mac he wasn’t supposed to update, which lead to having to stream the service from an iPhone – learning that they always need a backup plan; while for Dave it’s been issues with service providers in the area, sound issues due to the age and design of the church, figuring out lighting, etc. 
3. When it comes to the ideal streaming platform both Dave and Rusty agree that YouTube is the best choice. While places like Vimeo are great if you intend to embed your stream onto your website, they both agree that you need to meet people where they are, and make the most of how YouTube works and its accessibility on all devices to get more views and spread your message. 
4. Dave says YouTube is not only great because of the algorithm helping broaden your reach, but because it now has a Podcast option too! YouTube now recognizes things that could be podcasts, allowing people to just listen to your recording, which is perfect for churches as services tend to be serialized content.
5. In regards to having an Internet infrastructure in churches, both Dave and Rusty agree that it benefits the church. It allows people to stream the services themselves if they want to, follow the pastor’s Sermon Notes, and interact with the stream and each other.