How I Stream My Church Service to YouTube and Facebook

Richard Lewis

How I Stream My Church Service to YouTube and Facebook — A Small Way to Give Back

When the pandemic hit, a lot of things changed — including how we worship together. Suddenly, gathering in person wasn’t an option, and our church needed a way to stay connected. I knew I could help. Before all this, I worked as a developer advocate, so I’ve always enjoyed solving tech problems and sharing solutions. This time, I felt it was a chance to use that talent to serve God and my church community.

I decided to set up live streaming to YouTube and Facebook so that everyone in our congregation — whether down the street or across the country — could still be part of the service each Sunday.

The setup might sound a bit old-school-meets-modern, but it works beautifully:

Here’s what I use:

  • Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 — This little interface is the heart of the audio setup, bringing sound into my PC. https://amzn.to/4jce9pH
  • Vintage soundboard from the 80’s — Yep, still going strong! But instead of running cables everywhere, I use a Lekato WS-60 wireless system to send the audio signal from that old board to the Scarlett 2i2. https://amzn.to/4i3ohAl
  • Elgato Camlink 4K — This lets me bring in slides and other video feeds. It’s simple, reliable, and makes the stream feel polished. https://amzn.to/4iTOVNb
  • PC running vMix — The amazing part? vMix gives churches free licenses! It’s professional streaming software that lets me mix video, slides, and audio like a pro. https://bit.ly/3G7wBl2
  • Video Camera — Any camera with an HDMI output or that can be streamed over your internal network will work. You can spend any where from $50 dollars to 100,000 on this easily. But I would avoid the webcams when possible. If I had to choose again I would pick some of new Logitech cameras https://amzn.to/43DwGqE

Each Sunday, I set up early, run tests, and hit that “Go Live” button. It’s not just tech — it’s ministry. People who haven’t been to church in years, or couldn’t leave home, started watching. Some reached out to say thank you, and that’s when I realized this was bigger than just streaming — it was about connection, comfort, and community.

I’m grateful that I had the skills to do this, and even more grateful I could use them to give back to God and serve others in a small but meaningful way.

If you’re thinking about doing something similar, I’m happy to share more details or help however I can. Just reach out!