This article was written by Daniel Oesterle together with Janina Crocoll and Bastian Rauschmaier of SoulDevotion (in German). SoulDevotion equips young people to follow the example of Jesus in every area of life.
Like many other churches and ministries, we developed online programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions that came with it. The great thing about it is that we can now reach people wherever they are and whenever it suits them.
As part of SoulDevotion’s ministry, last year we increasingly livestreamed or prerecorded digital times of worship on YouTube, and we held a two-day online worship conference.
Our best-practice tips for a successful worship livestream
In a (non-representative) survey, we gathered feedback from 150 people between the ages of 17 and 50 who watch worship streams from time to time. Based on the results and our own experience, we came up with a few recommendations. We hope they help you too in your digital youth ministry and your church.
9 tips for an ideal digital time of worship
- 01 It starts between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. (for parents of younger children, from 8:00 p.m.)
- 02 It gives viewers a chance to get to know the people taking part personally, for example by introducing the hosts
- 03 Its audio quality is as high as possible
- 04 It focuses on well-known songs
- 05 It includes a short, down-to-earth message
- 06 It leaves room for times of silence that viewers can use personally.
- 07 It lasts between 45 and 60 minutes
- 08 It has a clearly communicated time frame
- 09 It can offer ways to interact but shouldn’t focus on them, because only 1/3 of viewers actively use them
What else we learned
- If you offer ways to interact, they need to be built in meaningfully. Tools that are used only for voting or for asking simple questions work best (one good tool, for example, is Slido).
- Don’t neglect hosting. It helps to think about what a good host would do and say.
- Worship livestreams should offer room for both depth and lightheartedness.
- When it came to worship livestreams, many respondents said these words mattered to them: joy, enthusiasm, recharging, fun, depth.
Looking for tech and equipment tips for livestreaming?
If you want to learn more about the technical side of livestreams for your church, we recommend the online courses (in German) from our friends at the Simplex-Akademie.
