Tag Archive - video

Live Video Broadcasting Without Breaking Your Church Budget

May 2, 2011 in Tools, Web Ministry with 5 Comments

LIVE THEME LOGO

Many churches are “finally” realizing the impact that streamed media can have. One way that your church can quickly and easily embrace new media is by offering streaming video of your weekly sermon. If you’re not ready to broadcast your sermon, consider offering a video broadcast Bible study. The ideas are endless when you have the right tools.

One of those tools that makes video broadcasting easy is Live Theme. Live Theme is a WordPress theme that allows you to present a live or archived video stream from a single web page while allowing your viewers to interact and discuss the broadcast. Built on the same codebase as Standard Theme, Live Theme offers a wealth of tools:

  • Timer that counts down to your broadcast;
  • Rotating “bumper” images for ad placement;
  • Animated Twitter stream;
  • Facebook stream;
  • Optional photo stream;
  • Integration of social icons;
  • Google tracking code placement;
  • Full customization of style sheet;
  • Page navigation/menu control;
  • And much more!

I encourage you to take a look at Live Theme’s demo page to see it in action.

And I haven’t shared the best news yet … Today Live Theme announced a significant price reduction! This is not a temporary sales promotion. You can now purchase a Live Theme license for $49. Well worth this small investment.

If you or your organization are interested in learning more about WordPress development or Live Theme/Standard Theme customization, please let me know. Enjoy!

// UPDATE //

There have been a number of requests for examples of churches currently using Live Theme. Thank to Chris Ames at 8BIT for providing me with the following:

Publishing Sermons Online for Beginners

April 26, 2011 in Tools, Web Ministry with 1 Comment

Publishing Sermons Online for Beginners

I was meeting with a client earlier today and they were asking how to increase the amount of media on their website without breaking the bank or increasing their workload. I was glad to share a number of ideas with them, but the one application that I’ve encouraged clients to use for years is SermonsOnline.com. This nimble little application has been around for years, and is ideal for a small to medium size church just starting out with their web ministry program.

The Sermons Online Publishing System is a comprehensive solution for publishing rich-content sermons. The system consists of a desktop Publisher application, a web-based Site Manager, and media hosting services. Few web hosts provide the specialized environment needed to publish sermon audio and video. Sermons Online is a companion service to your web site, adding the capabilities you’ll need to get your sermons online. Tools include:

  • The Sermon Publisher – Provides you with simple, point-and-click software to publish your sermon audio and video. No technical knowledge is required.
  • Audio Feed – A feed of your most recent five sermons is published each time you add a new sermon to your archive. Visitors can subscribe to your feed to automatically download your latest sermon. Feeds are compatible with Apple iTunes®, Google Homepage, My Yahoo, Universal Subscription Mechanism (USM), Podcast:, Feed:, and RSS 2.0.
  • Online Donations – A donations link can be displayed at the bottom of your sermon pages. This link points to a Paypal Donations payment page for your ministry.
  • Usage Tracking – The Sermons Online service tracks the usage of your sermon web pages, podcasts, and sermon files. The results of this tracking are displayed on your Sermon Admin home page.
  • Scripture Link – The system allows you to reference each media file to specific scripture.
  • Media Sort - Users have the ability to sort your media by: date, speaker, title, series, or scripture.

Sermons Online costs $15 per month per gigabyte (GB) of disk space used. Yes, there are many other services available, but if you are a beginner Sermons Online is user friendly and easily integrates into your website.

**Photo: Courtesy of PurpleAirplane

Did you know that shift happens?

March 16, 2010 in Social Web, Web Ministry with 1 Comment

In recent years, I’ve been sharing the Did You Know?/Shift Happens video during my Web Ministry Past, Present and Future presentations. Like technology itself, this video has evolved rapidly. Originally intended as a what’s new in technology presentation for his colleagues, Colorado high school teacher, Karl Fisch, was able tap the evolution of communications and technology; telling the story simply for all to understand. Now in its fourth iteration, I am continually surprised to hear gasps from the audience when sharing this gem. Enjoy!