Image courtesy of Hope Community Church, Raleigh, NC
No doubt things will look different when churches begin meeting again in person. One thing is for certain, they will be using more technology. In fact, Church Production Magazine's survey shows that 56% of churches expect to increase their spending on technology in 2020.
In a survey conducted June 2-10, 2020, Church.Design's sister publication, Church Production Magazine (CPM), surveyed its readers to find out how churches are responding to and emerging from the coronavirus lockdown.
The survey's goal was to learn how churches are approaching a return to in-person worship services, as well as what staff has learned from the shutdown since early March 2020.
One of CPM's areas of particular interest was how church tech teams report that they're adapting to recording or live streaming their worship services. Another important area of interest is what churches are finding in regards to the reach and success of their online worship services, and what their plans are, moving forward, for distribution of their worship services.
“We went from not live streaming to 100% live streaming in one week. We are now able to reach a global audience that we were not able to reach before." Survey respondent note
When do you expect to begin hosting live, in-person services again?
21% - already are hosting live services
19% - expect to start in early June 2020
24% - expect to start in late June or early July 2020
20% - do not know
Do you foresee maintaining your current (or similar) level of streamed or recorded services after social distancing is relaxed?
91% - yes
9% - no
How do you expect the coronavirus outbreak to affect your church's spending or investment on technology for the rest of 2020?
56% - expect an increase
23% - expect little or no drop in spending
17% - expect a short-term drop in spending
Primarily, how are/were you reaching your congregation during the pandemic?
- 41% - live streaming
- 35% - pseudo or simulated live services (recorded services played back at specific times)
- 7% - video on demand (VOD)
How many views do your live streamed or recorded services receive per week?
51% - less than 500
26% - receive between 501 and 1,200 views per week
10% - between 1,201 and 2,000 views per week
7% - between 2,001 and 5,000 views per week
6% - over 5,000 views per week
What devices do people use most often when viewing your church's content?
95% - desktop or laptop computer
92% - iPad or tablet
89% - cellphone
45% - OTT device (Roku, Apple TV, Xbox)
17% - broadcast television
Where do most of your viewers access your live or recorded church services?
67% - Facebook or Facebook Live
61% - YouTube or YouTube Live
55% - church's own website
8% - Vimeo
What resolution is your church using to live stream?
87% - high definition
12% - standard definition
2% - Ultra HD or 4K
What streaming protocol are you using?
37% - RMTP
13% - RMTPS
1% - SRT
0.8% - Zixi
9% - other
50% - not sure
Do you run your audio paths separately from your video and then embed them together for your final feed?
76% - yes
24% - no
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Church Production Magazine sent the survey to 18,000 and received complete responses from 324 for the study. All reported percentages are rounded.
"We have found that getting people through the virtual church door to hear the Word is much easier than getting them through the physical church door.” Survey respondent note