Streaming & Podcasting Your Worship Service

Do you stream or podcast your worship service? Technology continues to make advances that allow us to offer more and more quality resources to our congregants. There is something quite wonderful about being able to offer your worship service to members who aren’t able to attend a service, who want to hear that great sermon again, or who want to share it with a friend or family member. And as worship leaders and planners who don’t have the liberty to travel around to other churches, watching others' services can inspire and expose us to new worship thoughts and practices.

But is it legal? Fortunately, the answer is yes—if you prepare and do your homework! The major copyright licensing companies who provide services for churches related to worship have made the streaming and podcasting option very accessible. We don’t have room to give all of the details, prices, or guidelines here, but they are readily available at their websites: ccli.com and onelicense.net.

Generally speaking:

• this is an add-on option to the basic copyright license these companies offer

• it only covers songs listed in their catalogs (thousands)

• you must follow the guidelines for reporting on their website

• any song or hymn not covered by CCLI or OneLicense needs permission from the copyright holder

• it does not cover any pre-recorded music

If you already stream or podcast your church services, are you willing to share the link with us so that we can share it with others? If so, send the link by email to [email protected]. In this way we can use technology to network and learn from each other.