Using Facebook, YouTube and Zoom to record acts of worship
A guide to using Facebook, Youtube and Zoom to record and broadcast acts of worship from your church or church organisation.
Why record acts of worship?
There are times such as now during the Coronavirus outbreak when people will be unable to attend church services and all church events are cancelled.
It’s during these periods that recording and broadcasting acts of worship is one of the many things a church can do to stay in contact with its congregation and local community.
Copyright
Copyright law must be followed when livestreaming and recording your services. offers many church licences, and offers additional licences options for music to be broadcast. The CCLI website has a page which asks what you want to do, and what licences you need for that activity.
It is complex at times, but you don鈥檛 want to听break the law, even in times of crisis. You can also get a (an American company which operates in the UK) which bought听Calamus in 2019.
Alternatively, you can download our Getting to grips with copyright (PDF | 1mb).
Platforms, audience and equipment
Choose from Facebook, YouTube or Zoom. Others are available, but听these are used by billions of people around the world and very easy听to use.
Ask your members what platform they prefer to use. Do they mostly听use Facebook, and/or watch films on YouTube? That will help shape听your decision about which platform is best for your church.
You will need a tripod, and/or a mobile phone holder attached to听a gimbel, if you are wanting to use your phone to pan around the听church. Remember that your arm will get tired if holding a phone or听camera attached to a laptop for a length of time!
Mobile phone microphones aren鈥檛 the best and so it鈥檚 worth investing听拢30 in a microphone that can plug into your phone or device that can听be placed closely to the person or people speaking. It鈥檚 also best to听get all those taking part to use central point, such as the same听lectern, to save having to move the microphone around during the听recording or broadcast.
Anyone with a smartphone and the Facebook app听can click Live when creating a new post and be听broadcasting in less than a minute. The first thing to听do is to practice. Don鈥檛 make 10.29am the first听time you鈥檝e tried using Facebook Live when the Bible study starts听at 10.30!
Have a go 鈥� you can always delete any accidental live recordings.
When you press Live, you may see yourself! This is because some apps think you want to听record yourself rather than anyone else. Use the camera icon with the听two circular arrows in the top of the screen to switch cameras.
Turn your phone 90掳 so it鈥檚 horizontal rather than vertical. Imagine听your phone as a small TV and record your service this way so that it鈥檚听easier for people to watch.
You also see some bright graphics across the bottom of the screen.听Choose Live Video.
Description
You can add a description by tapping the area on the bottom of the screen.听Remember that this video may be seen by those who don鈥檛 know the church and so don鈥檛 be exclusive.
A description such as Anytown 黄色视频鈥檚 Family Worship from Sunday 15 March, 2020 will not only help to explain your video to those who听stumble across it, but also help with people finding your church using search engines such as Google.
Once you鈥檙e ready, press the blue camera button and you鈥檒l have around three seconds before you鈥檙e live.Remember not听to cough, laugh or make small talk close to the camera as all who are watching will hear you.
Once the service is ended, press Finish and wait a few seconds. You鈥檒l听then get the option to Delete the film or Share it. Delete it if you听don鈥檛 want to keep what you鈥檝e recorded in the videos area of your听Facebook page. Warning 鈥� this will mean that no one else can watch听your film at a later time. Share the film to add it as a post to your听Facebook page.
Once you are live, those watching it can Like or Love the video, in the听same way that you can any other post on Facebook, and can also send听messages. It might be good to have a second person to help in case听you want to be as interactive as possible, such as asking for听prayer requests which you can pass to the minister or worship leader.
Zooming in and out
You can also zoom in and out using your phone or device by using two听fingers, in same way you would zoom in and out when taking a photo.听Practice this on the camera mode, if you鈥檝e not tried it before.
驰辞耻罢耻产别听
To record an act of worshipon YouTube, you will need听to set up an account, if you don鈥檛 already have one. As with all social听media platforms, YouTube will ask you for an email address so that听it can verify who you are and so it can send you notifications if you听choose to receive those.
If you have more than 1,000 subscribers on your YouTube channel,听then you can Go Live.听Otherwise, you can record the act of worship, Bible study group or听other even that you wish to share, and publish it onto YouTube when it听has been finished.
Once you鈥檝e logged into your account, press the video icon and select听the Record button. (The Go Live option still appears, which is odd听seeing as you鈥檝e logged in and as soon as you press Go Live, you get a听message saying that you can鈥檛!).
Once you press Record, you鈥檒l see a camera switch icon, for you to change the camera you鈥檙e using, a big red record button and a听stopwatch at the top of the screen. When ready, press the red button.
Once you鈥檙e recording is over, YouTube will quickly run through the听film, and you have the option to trim it. For example, if you want to听delete the first few seconds or last few, then you can drag the left or听right side of the blue box on the bottom of your film and remove.
A white pair of scissors underneath the film signifies that you鈥檙e in the听edit mode. Please test this out before using it on a film you want to听keep. You could remove something you don鈥檛 want to!
Enhance
If you want to enhance your recording, press the magic wand icon,听to the right of the scissors, and select one of the options to age or听enhance your film. Swipe left to see the full range of options. If you try听a few and don鈥檛 want to change it, swipe right and select Normal.
Click the blue NEXT in the top right of the screen and you鈥檒l then听be asked to add a title, description, privacy options: Public means听you don鈥檛 mind who sees it, Unlisted means only those with the web听address of the film can view it, and Private means only you can听view it.
This is better if you intend to amend the video, but remember to听change the setting back once you鈥檝e finished editing it. You can access听听these options by pressing Public, which is the default option. You can听also add a location, which is good if it鈥檚 a film from your church as that听will help the church鈥檚 search engine rankings.
Then click Upload and YouTube will process the film. This may take a听few minutes depending on Wifi or 3G/4G/5G signal.听Once uploaded, you can see it by pressing your initial in the top right听corner, and selecting Your Channel. Once you see the video, press the听three vertical dots to the right of the title of the film, where you can听share it, add it to a Playlist, delete it or edit it.
Sharing it will give you a short URL for the film for you to send out by听email, text message, WhatsApp, Facebook or Twitter.
Zoom
Zoom provides services for video听conferencing and online meetings,听People can access it via an app on their smartphone or tablet, or via听a browser on their laptop or desktop computer. Landlines can also be听used, for those without access to the above.
Zoom costs around 拢12 a month but there is also a free option that听enables you to host up to 100 participants, for up to 40 minutes.
A full video tutorial from The Church Media Guys is available on听