Log-on to Worship When We are Locked Down
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| Live Streaming a Worship Service on Sunday |
Organizing Worship services during
the lock-down period due to Corona (COVID-19) has become an unprecedented
challenge to worship leaders and faith communities across the world. Some of
the worship leaders have already started telecasting worship sessions and
prayer meetings using the social media. However, there are a large number of worship
leaders who think that doing this is a costly affair. This article is meant to
throw light on the information communication technology (ICT) and the media to
facilitate worship during such a time as this. In this document, we would look
in to ways how to connect with our people of faith through the simple
communication gadgets that we use every day.
Note: These instructions are given
for the beginners who are searching for a way to connect to the peoples and
communities. Those who are techno savvy might not require these basic
instructions.
1. Can we Use our Smart Phones for Streaming online?
Yes, we can use our smart phones. Almost everyone among us
use a Smart Phones and we are familiar with various social media apps already. Make
use of your smart phone. Actually, the brand or the make of the device is not at
all a matter of concern. If you have a smart phone with internet connection,
that is installed with social media apps, then be confident that you own the
basic set-up for streaming online. Your own smart phone can allow you to worship
together with the members of your congregation as a community in the virtual
space of the internet.
2. Are you
saying that we are going to use our Social Media Channel to get Connected?
Yes, you got it right! Most of us are
familiar with the Social Media applications and they are the solution. There
are many facilitates embedded in the social networking platforms (Social
Networking Sites) through which we can facilitate worship online along with the
people of faith. The Pastor can choose any one of the channels, based on its
popularity among the members of that particular congregation. There are
numerous channels available on the internet. But, here we discuss with four
familiar ones.
2.1. Can I use Facebook to stream the
worship online?
Definitely,
yes! You can use the Facebook live Channel for live streaming of the
worship. You may follow the instructions given below to know how to use the
Channel. Just log on to ‘facebook.com’
Ø If
you have account log with your user name and password
Ø Else,
to create a Facebook account:
Ø Go
to facebook.com/reg.
Ø Enter
the name you go by in everyday life.
Ø Enter
your email or mobile phone number.
Ø Select
your gender and date of birth, and choose a password.
Ø Tap
Sign Up.
Ø To finish creating your account, you need to confirm your email or
mobile phone number.
To go Live
on Facebook
Ø Click
Create Post at the top of your News Feed.
Ø Click
then click Live Video.
Ø Write
something about your live video. (eg. Morning Worship of CSI Kazhivoor on 29
March 2020)
Ø Click
Go Live in the bottom right.
Features of
the Channel:
§ The Social Networking Site,
Facebook, allow live streaming of videos.
§ Live video is the best way
to interact with viewers in real time.
§ Both the broadcaster and viewers
needs to be subscribers of Facebook.
§ You may create a page
on behalf of your parish and circulate the link among your parish members and
ask them to like the page and follow it.
§ Your followers can receive
notifications when you go live, so they know to tune in to your broadcasts at
just the right time.
§ Facebook Live gives your viewers
the opportunity to seamlessly interact with the pastor and it facilitates to
build the community around the live video.
2.2. Can I use YouTube to stream the
worship online?
Yes, you
can use YouTube live Channel to organise online worship.
Follow these instructions to know how to use the Channel.
How to Log
on to youtube.com
Ø If
you do not have a Google account, kindly go to
How to Create a Youtube Channel
Ø You
may need to verify your account before starting a live broadcast
Ø Verifying
the account is a prompted process
Ø It
may take up to 24 hours to secure and validate the account
Ø If
you are thinking of uploading a video that you captured on the mobile phone or
another device, you can choose to upload the video using the link, create and
upload the file.
Ø More
information is available here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76HtGVE7bL4
Features of
the Channel:
§ There are two ways to use
YouTube to facilitate worship: You may go live in real-time or you can upload a
pre-recorded video.
§ Pre-Recorded messages or
services can be streamed through this application. There is no user restriction
for streaming pre-recorded programme.
§ Viewers can choose to view
the channels at their convenience.
§ Many smart television sets
have inbuilt feature to access YouTube application. This will allow the
families to use their smart TV to access the online worship.
2.3. Is there any other Application
available that can stream among a closed community?
If you are looking for a platform with
interactivity then use the Zoom App. This application is used normally
to set-up online class rooms. Zoom live streaming Channel is one of the excellent choices for
an interactive worship experience.
Ø Download and install the app. Create profiles. https://zoom.us/
Ø Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
Ø Click Meetings.
Ø Click Schedule a New Meeting and the required information to schedule a meeting.
Ø Click Save to display a set of tabs with advanced options.
Ø Click the Live Streaming tab, then click the configure live stream settings link. (it is possible to live stream the meeting on Social Media.)
Ø Follow the instructions located in the green box, which were provided by your administrator. Contact your administrator if the instructions do not include sufficient information.
Ø Download and install the app. Create profiles. https://zoom.us/
Ø Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
Ø Click Meetings.
Ø Click Schedule a New Meeting and the required information to schedule a meeting.
Ø Click Save to display a set of tabs with advanced options.
Ø Click the Live Streaming tab, then click the configure live stream settings link. (it is possible to live stream the meeting on Social Media.)
Ø Follow the instructions located in the green box, which were provided by your administrator. Contact your administrator if the instructions do not include sufficient information.
Features of
this Channel:
§ Start a meeting and share
the ‘meeting id’ among the members.
§ This is a closed virtual
meeting platform where the participants can view each other and interact to
each other or to the whole group in real-time.
§ This is interactive and
supports live audio, video and textual chat.
§ The worship leader and the
members of the congregation can interact individually as well as collectively
during the broadcast.
§ Therefore, this is much
suitable for small group gatherings, prayer meetings and bible study sessions.
2.4. Can I use the WhatsApp Application
for conducting the worship?
Yes, it is
possible to use WhatsApp Broadcasting Channel to facilitate worship.
§ To Create a broadcast
list, go to WhatsApp > More options
> New broadcast. Search for or select the contacts you want to add.
Tap the check mark. This will create a new broadcast list.
§ When you send a message to the broadcast list, it’ll be sent to all recipients in the list who have your number saved in their phones’ address book. Recipients will receive the message as a normal message. When they reply, it’ll appear as a normal message in your CHATS screen. Their reply will not be sent to other recipients in the broadcast list.
§ When you send a message to the broadcast list, it’ll be sent to all recipients in the list who have your number saved in their phones’ address book. Recipients will receive the message as a normal message. When they reply, it’ll appear as a normal message in your CHATS screen. Their reply will not be sent to other recipients in the broadcast list.
Features of this Channel:
§ WhatsApp allows uploading
images, audio, video and text messages in real-time.
§ WhatsApp also has a
broadcast feature.
§ The broadcast list feature
allows you to send a message to several of your contacts at once.
§ Broadcast lists are saved
lists of message recipients that you can repeatedly send broadcast messages to
without having to select them each time. Pastor can create a broadcast list
with the contacts of the parish members.
§ This is very useful to
send confidential information to a specific group of people.
3. Things to
Remember
· Make sure that you have an internet
connection with adequate bandwidth. You may use 4G or Broadband data connection
for live streaming.
· Check your upload speed and upgrade
to an adequate plan, if necessary. (Eg. BSNL has an optical fibre connection,
which is appropriate.)
· If you are using Facebook, remember
to tweak the settings to limit the viewers. By default, it is set to public
view. You may change it to friends only or to a specific group.
· While using Facebook or YouTube for
live streaming, do not post something that is not appropriate for public
viewing. (Avoid making private announcements in these platforms.)
· Always remember that the content
you upload on the internet is permanent. It can be retrieved even after you
delete it from your profile. So, be RESPONSIBLE.
Conclusion
This write-up intended to give a few
ideas for the worship leaders to facilitate worship services online. As it is
said earlier, the advanced users might find it too basic. Also, some among you
may be using other applications and methods. Kindly contribute your ideas in
the comments section below. So that it will be beneficial to the worship
leaders/pastors who are trying to reach to the members of the congregations. Let
us worship together and encourage each other by communicating through the
media. Let us log-on to worship at this time of locked-down.
For more information and technical
details:
Rev. Anilal M. Jose (+919447587864/anilalmjose@gmail.com)
kindly call between 4 & 5 in the evening.
Image above is a modified version taken from http://www.arrowhead.church/10-min-think-thru-archive/2018/1/12/can-you-attend-church-online
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