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Think of the Cross

The cross at its core is a kind of logo. Millions of people see a cross and instantly draw the association to the church. This is the kind of awareness you want when designing your church logo, a simple, yet powerful symbol of your faith. Hiring the lowest bidder often means that you’re dealing with an inexperienced designer, who will be unable, in most cases, to capture the essence of your church.

One Logo Doesn’t Fit All

A cheap bitmap logo graphic may work for the parish email newsletter, but a blurry graphic does not sit well at the top of a fund-raising letter, or in a brochure about church services. Different media forms call for different logo formats. If you want to plaster your logo on a billboard, you will need a vector image to prevent loss of quality, and if you want to trademark the logo, or use it in promotional materials, you will need a black and white, shaded format to stop any loss of pixels.

Low Bidder, Low Expectations

There are websites dedicated to something called crowdsourcing, where a potential client (you) would upload a design brief, outlining the desired logo concept. The graphic designers then send samples, and pray for you to select them. In some cases, the designs can be outstanding, however there could be hidden costs in getting the vector graphic, a shaded model, and there could be considerable difficulty in locating the designer afterwards if you want to change the logo, or have more work done, because the designer still owns the design, and can use this as leverage.

While temptation abounds in life, resist the temptation to settle for a budget, cheap bitmap logo graphic. The cost in the long run will be damage to your brand awareness, and you will have to pay more money later when you have to hire a professional graphic designer to fix the mistakes that were made.

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Online campuses for churches have the advantage of being able to access information at any time, day or night. Members can communicate online and enhance offline relationships by providing access to an online forum, or the ability for members to chat. This ensures that only confirmed members can communicate with each other to plan, discuss scripture, and talk about spiritual issues. It’s also possible to provide a more comprehensive education for members by allowing them to take courses in bible study online, and take quizzes to ensure members learn about important biblical concepts.

Video also plays a major role in online education. Providing a donation link allows your church to provide these services for free or a “Pay What You Can” option before starting the video to gain access. By recording regular church sessions and placing them online for members to review, you can increase church leaders investment in members by providing additional ways to view and listen to sermons on more than one occasion. A comment section allows members to talk about the sermon and discuss how the church lessons have affected their lives.

Using a free Learning Management System like Moodle or ATutor allows the church to keep costs down while benefiting from a highly customizable website that provides an effective method for members to communicate and interact. Improving the ability for church members to participate outside of normal church meetings helps to keep all members motivated, on track, and honest with each other about any spiritual issues that come up. Shy members can take their time crafting posts and asking questions that might otherwise be too difficult to ask in person.

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However, nowadays even novice users with only a basic understanding of computing can create and manage websites, and it’s all due to the various CMS (Content Management System) solutions available online. There is no doubt that the church CMS environment is much more dynamic when compared to the HTML one as it offers excellent website solutions and layouts on the go, allowing users to pick the one that best fits their needs and fully customize it.

This is exactly what Churches need as reshaping a predefined layout is done effortlessly through an interface that is both user-friendly and easy to understand. Aside from a quicker development process, when compared to HTML, CMS also offers users easier control over their pages and some other important advantages such as:

Reduced Costs – There are many Content Management Systems out there that are free of charge and can be used to create great looking websites. Also, far more complex portal development institutions can opt for subscription based CMS services that still provide a better overall cost when compared to hiring developers full time.

Restricted Access – The access to a CMS website can be completely customized according to individual roles. For example, the website administrator can assign a writer to only fill in content, but not upload it online and an author to review it, make changes and publish it. This can come in very handy if the work needs to divided among multiple users.

Site Search – Implementing a site search tool on a CMS website can be easily achieved and will help visitors find the information they’re looking for much faster.

Widgets and Plugins – These can also be installed fairly easy on a CMS website and will greatly add to its overall functionality. Some common examples are slide shows, customized forms and interactive maps.

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There is no doubt that the Internet currently plays a major role in our society. People use it to watch their favorite shows, to shop for products online and even for work related tasks. However, if you ask me, the true power of the Internet comes from the fact that it can instantly allow us to reach out and communicate with anyone on the planet that’s also sitting behind a computer screen.

Furthermore, mobile devices are starting to resemble desktop computers in terms of computing power and Internet connection speeds so it is safe to say that some people are online all the time. As such, reaching out to millions and spreading ideas and concepts has become a matter of owning a webcam connected to a computer with Internet access.

It is my opinion that Churches should start streaming services to spread faith (streaming faith) and the word of the Lord all over the world. This is truly the most efficient way to touch others and it even surpasses television as anyone with a computer, tablet or even mobile phone can have access to the streaming content. This enables the faithful to watch services and important events online, regardless of their location.

The Internet is still growing, there is no doubt about this and as the process continues more and more people are getting Internet connections and learning how to use PCs and mobile devices. Also, connection speeds are increasing with each passing year and it won’t be long until people will rely solely on their PCs for information and for access to their favorite broadcasts.

If you think about it, there is almost endless potential here for spreading faith all over the globe. Moreover, live streams are easily set up, come with low costs and with absolutely no limitations in terms of broadcasting hours of duration.

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Necessary Equipment

For a simple video streaming setup, you can use just a decent personal computer and a video camera. This is a great option for churches with smaller budgets. A prebuilt computer from a local electronics store should be available for around $500, including monitor and accessories. You can further lower the cost by just purchasing the computer tower, then supplement with second-hand accessories. Video camera prices vary widely based on the quality of the camera. For a decent model, you should expect to pay over $150.

Additional Equipment

An audio mixer is one additional tool to consider, and for medium to large churches it is likely one is already available. If one is not available, an 8 channel audio mixer, which should be enough inputs for most churches, can be purchased for around $300.

A video mixer is the next most important option, but the pricing easily clears four digits. It should only be looked at for those who want to put a professional edge on their video, as you can expect to pay professional prices.

Necessary Software

You will need broadband Internet access, software for capturing and streaming the video, and a hosting service for a website or video stream.

A high-end broadband service might cost $100 a month, but as you will not be directly streaming to viewers, an average service at about $50 will suffice.

There a large number of options for video recording and streaming. The prices range from freeware to $40 for professional level software.

Unless you expect hundreds of viewers, you can opt with a simple HTTP streaming option that works on any website that supports video. There are free options in website hosting, and paid hosting should not run more than $10 a month for a simple website. For streaming servers, the price increases to around $50 a month.

Total Initial and Recurring Costs

The total minimum investment consists of a computer, camera, and software. For the highest priced options in these categories, the total should be near $1,000, with recurring Internet access and server costs of $150 a month. For the lowest priced options, the initial total should be around $700, with recurring costs of about $60 a month. With just 100 active members in the congregation, you can set your church up for streaming video with each person tithing a few dollars, making it an affordable option for a church of any size. Church video streaming is truly within reach for most churches today.

References

http://millie.furman.edu/mll/tutorials/digitize/17capturestreamingvideo.pdf

http://www.aja.com/en/products/ki-pro/#/overview

http://millie.furman.edu/mll/tutorials/digitize/17capturestreamingvideo.pdf

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/streaming/http.html

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There are two things that you absolutely must-have for a successful web presence; scalability and longevity. Scalability is the fancy web builder term for a website that can be viewed on multiple browser formats. This means it can be accessed from a laptop, a desktop, a Smartphone, a tablet computer or any number of other mobile computing devices. If your site doesn’t look good on any one of these formats, you will fail to connect with your reader. Worse yet, if the page doesn’t load correctly the interface buttons may not work at all, and the site will be useless to visitors. Making sure that your builder is optimizing your site for several different formats and not just formatting for standard HTML 3.0.

Longevity is the other key to a web page. You need to have a format and content that will stand the test of time. By using a relatively simple format with standard buttons and utilizing headings along the left-hand column on the page, your readers will easily be able to navigate your site and find what they are looking for. Again, this doesn’t have to be an extremely complicated site. Simple, streamlined pages load fast, look better and keep people on your page longer. Adding social media plug-ins and other special areas for people to chat is definitely something to consider. The entire point of creating a website for your church is to spread the Word. Chat rooms and social media are the perfect mediums for this.

The real key to getting what you want out of a website is explaining that you want a site that allows users to participate in a dialogue. This is why a simple interface that is easy to update should be the highest priority. Google is very conscious of the freshness of a site, so the more easily it is updated the more relevant the content will be and the higher it will rank. And getting your church website to the first page of Google is the best way for it to spread the Word. If you want to make a good decision then make sure you look at the best church websites company you can partner with to develop the website you are hoping for.

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/building_scalable_websites.html

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Who Can Access Your Church’s Streaming Video?

Anyone with access to wherever you decide to host your streaming video can watch your church’s service. While you can limit the number of users by restricting access to the video stream, which can be necessary if you are reaching bandwidth limits, this means that essentially anyone with Internet access should be able to watch your services.

Services for Those Abroad

An unfortunate fact of our times is that many of our family and friends will end up overseas, fighting to protect our freedoms. These soldiers are separated from their homes, and for many of them church is an important part of their life. A video streaming service can be accessed even when they are serving abroad, allowing a little piece of stability for those who deserve it the most.

Connect to Those at Home

Even when in the area, several factors can keep a person from being able to attend services. The elderly and disabled often have difficulty with making trips, and some are completely incapable of doing so. A streaming service brings church directly to them, and with chat services and e-mail, they can be just as much of a participant in the services as someone physically there.

There are also those who have not visited your church before who may be interested in attending. Being able to view the services online is a quick and easy way for them to get a feel for your church, and the reduced hassle makes them more likely to do so.

More Than Just Sermons

Once you have a video streaming service established, you can expand beyond just broadcasting your Sunday morning sermons. Prayer messages, individual group meetings, Sunday night services, Wednesday prayer meetings, vacation bible studies, and other events can all be broadcast live. If you are interested in live streaming church services then check out our website and get in depth information from a truly quality streaming service.

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