Log on and join in
Over 70 people joined one of our churches' Sunday morning service via Facebook this week - some of them from outside the Diocese.
St Paul's in Salisbury trialled broadcasting their 10.30am gathering on Facebook Live.
Nick Baker, Director of Operations at St Paul's explains how it went:
"Because some people are probably not going to feel confident coming to church we decided to trial broadcasting on Facebook Live.
"It went really well; we had 50 people logging on to join us and so bearing in mind some were couples, that was probably about 75 people altogether.
"From a technical point of view it wasn't that complicated, anyone could do it with a good quality smart phone and either Wi-Fi or a 4G contract with plenty of data.
"We made sure we communicated to the church using both our weekly email, Facebook and Twitter, and so people knew they could tune in and had a link.
"We used a Samsung S10 which was supported on an improvised stand to remove shake and broadcast by 'going live' on the Facebook app. We did improve the sound quality by taking a direct feed from our sound desk into the phones mic/ headphone socket rather than using the phone mic or an external mic which was something we had had feedback on from our last time doing this.
"I also had a laptop with me and so I was able to 'host' and use the laptop to engage with people as they joined us. One of our church members even had a 'watch party' on Facebook where she invited family and friends to join her.
"We had very positive feedback from those who were involved including Liz Beadle who posted:
""Joining you from Fowey Cornwall."
"Izzie Mann added:
""Thank you for taking into consideration those who couldn't come, really appreciate it."
"And from Salomi Uzagare:
""Thanks to the Lord and all team members at St Paul's who made this wonderful worship and service online. I couldn't come to the service as I work night shifts, but can be a part of it.""
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