I get asked this question every single time we do major renovations to an A/V system at a church. I think we get asked this for two main reasons. 

Because of live-streaming and/or in-ear monitors, there is a microphone in many churches that isn’t quite intuitive. It goes by a few names: the audience microphone, the ambience microphone, the congregation microphone, a room mic…

So what is it? Why would we want to mic the congregation, or the room?

First I’ll explain goals for this microphone, and then talk about what that might cost. The good news here is that your church can get most of what you need here with microphones you already have laying around.

You might have noticed that Capital Hope Media isn’t (just) an A/V company, we’re really “an uncommon Communications Company that works with faith-based organizations.”

(Gotta have an elevator pitch).

We often say, “The A/V stuff isn’t the point, but it is necessary.” So what does a church do when the A/V stuff works reasonably well?

Answer: you get to pivot your focus to out-facing communications. You get to focus on ministry to your community, and not wires!

This step is overwhelming to many churches, and it’s easy to understand why. It immediately raises a dozen concerns, and the sheer size of the project is intimidating. Plus, anyone who has spent time leading churches knows, it is not easy to change the way a church operates. 

Once a week or so, someone asks me if they can install a Mesh WiFi system in their church. They work great in their home, so they must be great at church, right?

Wrong! Mesh Systems are very poorly suited for your church. And? They’re going to fail you at the most critical moments.

First I’ll explain why, then I’ll explain what you should do instead (for as little as a thousand dollars).

Live-stream views have gone up 32% year over year. That’s the biggest growth since the pandemic. 

What does that mean?. That is an indicator that online views dropped temporarily after the pandemic…but the broader shift to both/and for churches continues.

If your church is considering TVs for your sanctuary, how do you know if a certain TV size will be big enough? There’s a simple formula. Click through to learn how to assess this!

This article explains why budget-wise churches should use hardware to live-stream instead of software like ECamm Live, Wirecast or OBS.

Most budget-wise churches should use hardware to stream their services. A few advantages come with this. First, hardware is much more reliable and stable. Second, it becomes dramatically easier to train volunteers with hardware. In fact, a system I install regularly can be taught to a new volunteer in about 90 seconds. Try doing that with any software!

So you have TVs or projectors in your sanctuary. How do you run video cables between your computer (the Slideshow computer, running Pro Presenter or PowerPoint), and the TVs?

People try to do this two ways, and both are mistakes.

Some try wireless video, and

others try very long HDMI cables.

A few try a third option, HDMI to CAT5 converters.

There are a few problems I see regularly in churches. One of the big problems is with wireless microphones. After a church has purchased wireless mics, they have trouble with them. There are dropouts, there is static, there is interference…But I also see what the purchasing process looks like: they buy the most affordable thing they can find at Guitar Center or Amazon.

For some products, the most affordable version works fine. For example, the most affordable cars on the road (in the USA) meet basic safety standards. They can generally get you where you’re going. The most basic, affordable microwave you can buy will work fine. That’s not true of wireless microphones. Why is that? And what is the entry-level of reliable wireless?

In some of the churches I work in, “mega-church” is a dirty word. It often seems like a pastor struggles for clarity in their role, except they are sure they don’t want to become a mega-church!

I hear church leaders ask this question when they reflect on doing more effective online ministry. “I don’t want to act like a mega-church.”

I hear this when we reflect on the neighborhood around their church. “Isn’t this just market research? Isn’t that seeker-sensitive, mega-church stuff? Our church is for everybody.”

They say this in discussions about flat panel TVs in the sanctuary. “I don’t want to look like a mega-church.”

Here’s a secret: your church is (probably) already making great content every single week. That’s your Sunday morning sermon. Chances are good that this content is aimed at the audience you want to reach on social media, and, with a bit of editing, can be the backbone of a great outreach strategy.

It also solves one of the more consistent problems I see: whoever is empowered to use social media for your church is reluctant to say bold things because they don’t feel empowered by the church.

Generally, a church should consider which of the three following communities they intend to reach with their online worship:

New Front Door: This online worship is only intended to support people who are investigating our church before visiting in-person. We only hope it gives people some sense of what the in-person worship is like.

Only a few churches recognized that their online ministry is poorly structured because they need to ask bigger questions about their church. They need to ask identity questions, strategic questions about what their church has to offer the community around them.

Then, we talked about “discipleship pathways,” a useful tool many churches use for their in-person programming, structures and strategy. Cool.

So what do we do with these discipleship pathways on the internet?

That part’s kind of simple: you create content aimed at people in different stages of the Discipleship Pathway.

Most churches think of themselves as inviting people (from their local community) to be disciples of Jesus. For example, the United Methodist Church’s mission is “to make disciples for the transformation of the world.” We may use slightly different words, or add in an additional caveat or two, but basically…we exist to disciple people in the way of Jesus.

So…how do we do that online? How does the internet help us do that better?

I remember in the first weeks of the pandemic, it seemed very important to stream to as many destinations as possible. After all, we want everyone to find us! To be honest, this decision came from anxiety, not a thought-out strategy.

I still see churches doing this. They’ll stream to YouTube and Facebook, but then it’s not on their website! At best, their website features a link to one or the other.

Let me share a few helpful ways to think about this.

Live, in your sanctuary, the audio system is just adding to what is already there. As long as the mix is close, your brain will do some work to help you. But a livestream? It is as finicky as recording an album, where tiny differences are easily noticed by the average person. It’s hard. 

Our churches are doing “marketing,” whether or not we use that word.

I mentioned this once to a pastor, and his response summarizes how many pastors feel: “I don’t want to feel like a salesman.” You see, he conflates marketing with being a (dirty, manipulative) salesman. However, this is a big misunderstanding.

Do you remember the early days of the pandemic? If you’re like a lot of churches, you first tried to livestream in March 2020. You may have been shocked at the wide geography of viewers your livestream received. Perhaps you received viewers not only from other parts of your country but even from other continents!

After all, the internet is global (sort of).

When I meet with church leaders, they are often overwhelmed by the idea of recruiting volunteers to administer their tech booth. These church leaders have had difficulty recruiting volunteers in the past. They assume that only mega-churches can recruit enough volunteers to keep 4-5 people in the tech booth each Sunday. Perhaps you feel the same way!

So is it that hard to recruit volunteers? It's not hard if it's done correctly. Even in average-sized churches it can be done (remember, the average American church has about 75 people).