The 2015 Live Stream has experienced great success! While on average live attendance is under six viewers, our regular attendees are able to keep a vivid digital connection to the family. Where Live Stream clearly has seen an increase is the number of views post live Worship. There has been an increase from 20 average views to 40 average views per week in the 30 days that follow the service. While we are only able to store online 30 days we have see several weeks with ~70 views and up to 92 views before the video expires. This expiration is due to the Live Stream Free account we use auto-removes the videos after 30 days.
We have received positive feedback as folks have been able to join in worship when ill, after a long week who participate in their PJs, are at work, and have been away with family but catch up in the afternoon prior to meeting with their small group to discuss the service and sermon together. During the Christmas Eve service the Live Stream allowed families with children to participate in the service in the fellowship hall below the service overhead.
The platform was build to last 3-5 years without upgrade, and we are on track without requiring any capital costs. However there is no regular video archiving as it is currently and ad hoc manual process, also the system is not on a back schedule so if there is a failure all archived data is lost and a the system must be rebuilt from scratch.
With the successes in 2015 we have seen a drop in volunteers on Sunday morning. Two of the students have stepped up to assist however there is a need for a few more committed volunteers to join the team in 2016. The ask is for one operator per week to create the event, start the stream, operate the camera during the service, and end the event. We covet your prayers and support for 2016.
David Wolf
