If you’re not watching your church's own live stream, you won’t know what they’re missing. Who's they? The attendees. When you don’t see the people you’re serving, they can fade easily into the shadows and get left out. This isn't to say that they don't matter to you, but that it's easier to forget them and their needs.
When you don’t see the people you’re serving, they can fade easily into the shadows and get left out.
Regularity matters
Consistency is something you want in your live stream. If you really do think of your stream not as a video you put up, but another campus for your church, would you want to have a campus that's open most, but not all, weekends? Now, imagine that instead of the odd emergency reasons for church to be closed, you showed up but it just didn't happen? Or it just ended or paused ... without any warning? Would it be like getting asked to wait outside for a moment--during church?
That sounds incredible, but isn't that what happens when you've got people who watch your live stream, and then the feed cuts during a missionary's story about a closed country? Isn't that what it feels like if you aren't allowed to watch a two-minute video clip? What about if the video techs don't find a way to keep you engaged during more interactive portions of the service that you can’t interact with?
Those are some of the problems we need to consider. What do you do when you can't show something to the online congregation because it's unsafe for either them or you? What can you provide for them during the more interactive portions of the service, like offerings and Communion?
When is it unsafe?
Missions
There are two categories of events to talk about. Let's talk about the unsafe situations first.
Practically, it's probably fairly unlikely that authorities from a closed country will be watching the live stream for a church halfway around the world, at what to them is a time in the middle of the night. That said, unlikely isn't a good defense. People have been killed when their families found out they converted to Christianity, so this is no small thing.
Secondly, while it's unlikely that anything bad will happen, there are better choices you can make than to either ignore the problem or cut a feed altogether.
Consider asking the missionary to prerecord the message with dangerous stories sanitized or removed altogether. Show that, instead of the live feed, to the online congregation.
Another option is to geo-block closed countries from seeing the live stream. If it’s government officials or family members that the missionary fears, blocking everyone in that country or region would provide another level of security, if not a completely fool-proof one.
Another option is to geo-block closed countries from seeing the live stream.
If you're really concerned, you could even provide a login that makes it possible for only regular attenders, in safe countries, to see the missionary.
Finally, instead of having the missionary speak to the online congregation, why not have your pastor give a prerecorded message on the subject of missions? He could talk about why it's important and tell of what people go through in closed countries, while not naming or even alluding to the countries themselves, let alone specific individuals.
That's not the only situation where your live stream isn't safe, either. Even in free countries, it might not be safe for your church to display certain content.
Controversial Messages
It's no secret that what was considered a mainstream view on marriage less than 10 years ago is now considered "hate speech" by certain people in our society. If you have a series on this or other controversial issues, you could face retribution.
Again, the alternate message or password protection strategies may prove to be valuable here.
Finally, there are types of content that are legal to show in-person, but not so much so online. Here, we're talking about video clips, primarily. For years, CVLI has provided a license you can buy to show clips in-person. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for showing clips online whether via direct download or live streamed.
While this is slightly annoying for the odd 30-second movie clip shown during a sermon, it can make the popular "At the Movies" series impossible.
Instead of just cutting to black or showing old content, why not do this instead? Make a full-screen graphic that shows the exact time location of the clip and, if possible, a link to a legal place to watch that clip online. Give people who are part of your online congregation advance notice of these clips, in the order that you'll show them. That way they can have them cued up before the sermon starts.
Another idea is to have a brief synopsis of the scene show on screen, so that people at least know what you're talking about when you return. In fact, doing that for people who've seen the movie is almost as good as showing the clip itself.
When it's not interactive: Offerings and Communion
Have you ever attended a live webinar that was engaging and where you were learning a lot. Then you watched the replay and it seemed to be missing something? It's the live engagement. The same content viewed as a lecture without interaction isn't as engaging as when you can interact with it.
There are certain parts of a worship service that are like this. If your church plays organ music quietly in the background while the ushers take up the offering, it won't be as engaging to those online as if they announce the offering time and then play and sing a song, instead.
Communion (aka the Lord's Supper or Holy Eucharist) is another one of these elements. You can't send the elements over the internet. The Star Trek transporter hasn't been invented yet.
For these last two elements of the church service, then, consider how you can "tell the story" of what's going on so that it's at least as good as being there in person. Perhaps that involves following people around as they participate, or showing emotions on different faces, etc. The vlog-style videos that are popular on YouTube now might give you some ideas.
... consider how you can "tell the story" of what's going on so that it's at least as good as being there in person.
Also, consider if you can allow people to participate. Online giving is something that a lot of churches have started using, with great effect. Whether it's texting an amount to a certain number or setting up automatic withdrawal from their checking accounts, people online can give. Maybe you just need to ask them to.
What I'm going to say next may be controversial, depending on your theological beliefs, and I'm not saying it's the answer, but something to talk about and consider.
If God is everywhere and His power extends everywhere, can He bless Communion elements remotely, just as easily as He can in your church building? If so, will He, if you ask?
Is there some other theological reason that someone remotely can’t participate in Communion? I think there might be, but perhaps not. At least consider it.
Conclusion
Live streaming a church service comes with its own unique set of challenges. Whether they're safety- or engagement-related, they can be overcome. Just put some thought and prayer into it and you might find that it affects people in positive ways that you couldn't have imagined.
