- Free Worship Software For Windows
- Free Worship Software For Mac
- Free Worship Software
- Free Church Worship Software For Mac
- 13 Best Free Church Presentation Software for Easy Worship. One of the most popular open source worship presentation program out there, OpenLP packs a ton of features for managing and displaying. If you need a super simple, free and easy worship presentation software.
- OpenSong is a free, open-source software application created to manage lyrics, chords, lead sheets, overheads, computer projection, and more.
- ISing Worship is as simple to use as a karaoke system and but the lyric displays are formatted for congregational worship. The flexible playback system allows you to line up any part of the song that you would like to sing next while the song is playing.
- Discover and compare Free Worship Software Applications & Tools. Capterra is a free interactive tool that lets you quickly narrow down your software selection, contact multiple vendors, and compare platforms for your business.
EasiSlides is a free worship song projection software designed for projecting lyrics and Bible texts—basically, it’s designed for church worship. With over 80,000 downloads and counting, EasySlides is a very popular option for anyone looking for free church presentation software.
In this article, I’m going to walk you through a simple live streaming setup for churches that is quick to assemble and easy to use, even for small or portable churches. I will show you the gear you will need as well as my favorite software for streaming to Facebook or Youtube. Read to the end because I think you find that live streaming doesn’t have to be complicated, and with the right tools you can reach your church community online in a few easy steps.
There are a variety of ways you can go about setting up your system. While the setup I’m about to show you works great for my church, it may not work for your church. It all depends on your budget, workflow, and personal preference. I think you’ll still find this article beneficial because along the way I tell you about some alternative options to what you see here.
Important questions to consider
Before I dive into this live stream system, I want to encourage you and the leaders of your church to ask yourself the following questions.
Why do we need to stream our worship gatherings?
What is the return on investment going to be?
Are we doing it because we think we will have the same results as Elevation Church who has thousands of people tuning in every weekend to watch?
Is it because we want to check off a box of this we should be doing?
Is it because there are people in our church community who genuinely would benefit from the live stream?
Will live streams be a crucial part of our churches marketing strategy?
If potential visitors see our live stream for the first time, what will their impression be?
Do we publish the live stream publicly on facebook or youtube, or do we host it on a private web page where only people who know where to go will find it?
I don’t want to dive too much into whether or not your church should be live streaming in the first place, but I honestly don’t want you to waste your time trying to set it up if strategically it doesn’t make sense for you. My friend Brady Shearer with ProChurch Tools has a fantastic video on this topic here.
Assuming you are ready to move forward with a live stream system, let’s dive into the hardware and gear that makes this possible. Keep in mind, the system I’m going to show you is for our small church plant. I wanted it to be extremely quick to set up, easy to use, and we only need one camera angle. I’m not going to show you a fancy-pants Multicam system that you’ll find at a megachurch.
The Computer
Here’s a general overview of how a live stream system works. First, you need a computer to act as the hub for everything. It can be a Mac or a PC. Believe it or not, all of my research found that live streaming tends to work better on a PC. But since I’m allergic to PC’s, the setup I’ll show you here uses a Mac. The computer needs a stable internet connection. If you’re serious about reliability, set up a standalone network for your live stream.
The Video Source
Option One - A cheap camcorder and video capture device
The next thing you need is a video source. You can use almost any digital camera or camcorder so long as it has an HDMI output. I recommend checking out the Canon Vixia HF R800. Along with the camera, you will need an HDMI capture device to convert that video signal into something your computer can receive.
Option Two - PTZOptics USB camera
Alternatively, you could use a camera built specifically for live streaming with the USB functionality built in. That’s what I have here in my setup. I’m grateful for PTZOptics sending me this camera to show you.
Here’s what I love about it and why I think it’s worth price tag. It’s compact. At our church, we will place it on a tripod toward the back of the room near our sound console. It can be controlled remotely via remote control, and it can also be automated with Ableton Live. No camera operator is necessary. The image quality is excellent. The image sensor has excellent dynamic range, meaning details are retained in the highlights and shadows. The zoom is optical, so when we start zooming in it won't get all grainy like what you would see with digital zoom.
It will plug into our streaming computer with a USB cable. There is no need to purchase an additional piece of hardware for video capture. Depending on how far your camera will be from your computer, you may need a longer USB cable than the 6ft one that comes in the box.
Ableton Live can automate this camera. You’ll see a video about this on my channel soon.
So those are some options for capturing video. Make sure you think through how you are going to mount your camera. Since we set up and tear down every week, we will use a tripod. Maybe at your church, you can install it permanently.
Now let’s discuss audio capture.
The Audio Source
It’s just as important to have high-quality audio, especially when you are streaming worship music. An easy solution is to purchase an inexpensive audio interface like the Behringer U-Phoria UM2. With our setup, I am going to send a Mixbus output from our sound console, the Midas M32R into this audio interface which will then plug into our streaming laptop via USB. Our sound tech will have the ability to create a separate mix for our live stream.
Live Stream Software Recommendations
That covers the hardware needed for this live stream setup. Now let’s dive into software and how to send you to stream to Facebook or Youtube.
I think this is the most challenging part of building a live stream system. There is such a large variety of paid and free options for live streaming software that it makes it difficult for me to give you one recommendation. It also depends on whether you use a Mac or PC. Here’s what I found in my research.
If you want to use the free option, then check out OBS Studio at obsproject.com. Overall I was impressed at how stable this software seemed for being free and open source. It works both on Mac and PC. The problem with OBS is that it’s not a simple plug and play solution. Be prepared to watch a ton of tutorial videos and troubleshoot audio syncing issues with this software. For my situation, I simply don’t have time for this. That’s why I would rather not use OBS.
If you are a Mac user, I would recommend ECamm Live. This software is plug and play and super easy to use. You can link up your Facebook and Youtube accounts in seconds, and it has cool integration with Facebook live so that someone could monitor the facebook comments from ECamm rather than having to open Facebook in another window.
If you are a PC user, I would recommend checking out VMix. I wish VMix was available for Mac, because from what I can tell it looks like the best solution for live streaming a worship gathering.
Both Ecammlive and Vmix are paid software options, but in my experience trying to dabble in OBS, the $60-80 price tag is worth saving you and your volunteers a headache.
Finally, you will need a Facebook or Youtube account for your church to stream to. Hopefully, your church hasn’t been living under a rock for the past 10 years and you already have those accounts set up. I’ll show you how to send your stream to both.
That covers all of the different pieces of a live stream system. To recap, you have video capture and audio capture devices that send your footage and sound to a computer. The computer runs software that will then push the stream to Facebook, Youtube, or a custom RTMP server.
The setup we use at our church
Now I want to conclude by showing you how this all works with my setup.
I’ve got my PTZOptics camera and my Behringer UM2 interface plugged into my Macbook Pro via USB.
I’ll open up Ecamm Live and select the camera and audio interface as my source.
Next, I’ll select Youtube as my destination and login to my Youtube account through Ecamm.
I can adjust the settings of my Youtube video including title, description, and whether it will be public, private, or unlisted.
When I’m ready, I simply press the “go live” button.
It’s super easy.
I highly recommend testing out your live stream in private mode multiple times so you understand how it all works.
In the near future, I’m going to bring this setup to church and record a service to share here on the blog and Youtube channel. Since we meet at a high school, we do not have access to reliable internet, so we will just record locally. But one cool thing you can do with most live stream software is playback pre-recorded video files. You could record your Sunday morning service and then live stream it Sunday evening. That could allow you or someone on your team to actively monitor comments and engage with people.
Keep an eye on my channel as I will continue to release a few more videos related to live streaming for churches. I’m really excited to automate this camera with Ableton Live, and of course, I’ll show you guys how to do it.
If you are a worship tech nerd like me and you want an organized list of all the gear I use in worship, download my worship ministry toolkit. I’ll include a section in the toolkit that outlines all of the gear and software mentioned here.
×Pexels.com
Category 1- On-Stage
OnSong replaces paper and binders with interactive chord charts and sheet music on iOS devices. With the AirTurn wireless foot pedal, you can flip between songs without taking your focus off your music. Need to change the key of a song at the last minute? No problem. Any key with a swipe of a finger.
Planning Center Music Stand is designed to allow you to swipe or step through PDF’s with a foot pedal, take personalized notes, and play attached audio. You can link multiple devices so that one person can turn everyone’s page, even if the devices are a mix of iOS and Android.
Polytune by TC Electronic. With PolyTune, you simply strum all the strings on your guitar or bass at once, and it will immediately tell you which strings need tuning.
iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/polytune/id364009203?mt=8
Presentation Clock does one thing—it is a countdown clock with a large display that changes colors at thresholds you determine.
ProPresenter Stage is designed to work with ProPresenter and allows each device to select a different layout, so the lead worshipper can view lyrics only, while the band can view notes and chords. The pastor can see the current slide text as well as the next slide text. You can even send a message to the device from the control room.
SoundCue (iOS) is an app to run click tracks for the band. It has a metronome along with musical elements like percussion that can add to your sound on a Sunday morning.
SoundMeter X turns your iOS device into a handheld sound level meter, data-logging dosimeter, multi-channel data recorder and real-time analyzer.
Tempo is a metronome app. Practicing with a metronome can improve personal timing/rhythm, but it can also lock you in better with the other musicians. Tempo has options for a variety of time signatures and beat patterns and the ability to create custom sets.
Tonal Energy Tuner was designed by a band director to support individual practice and large ensemble rehearsals to help musicians improve sound quality and intonation. Tuning, volume, articulation, release, duration, and steadiness are the elements it uses to help musicians improve their sound.
Tunable describes itself as a “visual toolkit for musicians.” Onstage, use it as a chromatic tuner, but it can also allow you to learn to play in tune with sustained pitch history. As notes are held out, a white line draws how steady the pitch is. The straighter the line, the more consistent the pitch.
Worship Band In Hand extends your worship team virtually via band tracks. It features in-app purchases for worship songs.
Worshipsong Band is an open format, free multitrack player and chord reader with the ability to play up to 15 stems. It plays loops and has chord charts synced with lyrics so the team can play along without sheet music.
Category 2- Music & Stems
Music Maker JAM is designed to create, share and discover tracks across a variety of genres. Pick from thousands of studio-quality loops, beats and melodies to start mixing your new track – then share instantly with a world-wide audience.
Prime by the Loop Community offers premium, original artist master stems, but you can also upload your own audio from any source. Change the key. Change the tempo. Customize the song arrangement. The app is free with in-app purchases.
Soundcloud is a platform where worship teams can share and even monetize their music with a global audience, as well as receive detailed stats and feedback from the SoundCloud community.
Spotify is a digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs. You can use it to discover new worship music or quickly assemble and share playlists with your team.
Worship Team features thousands of songs, easy interface, iOS/Android apps, and legal rights for your church starting at $9 a month.
Category 3- Songwriting/Arranging
Hum is designed to organize your songwriting ideas combining lyric-writing, note-taking, and audio recording into a single app. Hum also keeps everything backed up and in sync with Dropbox and allows you to tag and sort any of your lyrics and riffs by key, tuning, tonality, color, and mood.
Logic Pro X is Apple's professional audio production software and the counterpart to its entry-level Garageband app that comes with Macs and iOS devices. The $199 suite offers audio recording functionality alongside world-class virtual instruments, effects, and thousands of high quality audio samples and loops.
Music Memos is designed to capture and organize musical ideas in a personal library—like voice memos, but for songwriters. It automatically detects tempo, rhythmic feel, and chords from your recordings to let you hear your musical ideas accompanied by a rhythm section.
Playback turns your iOS device into a simple MultiTrack player for all of your MultiTracks, CustomMix, and MultiTracks Cloud content. In app features include: transitions, click track tone flexibility, tempo changes, and key changes. Playback has three subscriptions: Intro (Free), as well as Pro and Premium subscriptions with a 30 Day Free Trial.
Free Worship Software For Windows
iOS https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/playback/id751755884?mt=8
Reaper is a digital audio workstation (DAW) used for recording, editing, and producing audio files. Reaper is cross platform with a small footprint and sophisticated routing capabilities. Reaper is known for being highly responsive making editing fluid. Plus, the demo is fully-functional for 30 days, so you can take it on a test drive before committing.
Rhymer’s Block gives you basic rhymes, near rhymes, and slant rhymes. It can also track your rhyming patterns, color coding as you go.
Simple Songwriter LE gives you a touchscreen environment to quickly generate song ideas. List view allows you to browse your songs chords, while the song key section can transpose your idea to any key. You can record song ideas for later playback.
Songspace is specifically crafted to write songs collaboratively. It streamlines workflows such as listening, leaving feedback, searching, creating playlists, and pitch tracking. All while simplifying advanced tasks like data exports, asset delivery and registration.
Song-Writer Lite: Write Lyrics lets you write lyrics and record in the same place. The app comes with two premade folders “complete” and “in progress” (you can add more of your own). It also allows you to label sections with verse, chorus, bridge, and so on.
Word Palette is like Magnetic Poetry, but in an app. Type with your phone’s keyboard or click the palette icon to see four sliding lanes of words. Build poetry from the lanes. You can even import words to create your own palette—which is pretty helpful in writing songs for worship.
Category 4- Team Coordination & Planning
Basecamp is an easy-to-use service that helps teams coordinate on projects. The platform supports file sharing, message boards, calendars, and project planning.
Dropbox is a cloud storage application that brings all your files together in a central place. It syncs across all of your devices and makes it easy to share. (So your IT team will quit yelling at you for crashing your inbox with ginormous music files.)
Planning Center is popular with worship teams—because it was designed specifically for them. It facilitates scheduling of volunteers, organizing rehearsals, and confirming setlists. The program is browser-based with apps for iOS and Android.
Free Worship Software For Mac
Podio is a cloud-based project management and collaboration service to help teams manage multiple creative projects. Instead of endless emails, the chat system allows only the pertinent people to receive notifications for an item in progress.
Slack is designed for real-time coordination and greatly simplifies communication. Ever have someone miss a rehearsal because they didn’t get the memo? Slack was created so that type of thing doesn’t happen.
Trello helps teams manage workflow. It is a visual project management app that is easy and intuitive to use. Not only that, but it works well on mobile devices.
WorshipPlanning.com features a drag-and-drop worship flow page that allows planning down to the second. You can include songs from the song library, provide element-specific notes for team members and schedule practices on the rehearsal page.
Workflowy is an organizational tool that is based on lists. It helps you organize your brain making it easier to visualize whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. It’s outline format with hierarchies lends itself well to planning services—especially if you like a minimalist approach.
Category 5- Presentation & Service Flow
EasyWorship is backed by a media store with backgrounds for worship and eye-catching sermon videos
iSing Worship is as simple to use as a karaoke system and but the lyric displays are formatted for congregational worship. The flexible playback system allows you to line up any part of the song that you would like to sing next while the song is playing.
MediaShout was one of the first presentation software companies for worship and they have continued to add features as they’ve grown making it a robust platform.
Open LP is free, cross platform (Linux, Windows, OS X and FreeBSD) open source worship planning software that includes remote apps.
Proclaim puts a comprehensive library of drag-and-drop resources at your fingertips, making planning and creating a service fast, easy, and collaborative.
ProPresenter is one of the most popular cross-platform (Mac and Windows) lyric and media presentation packages. The ProPresenter Remote app is designed to take “remote control” to the next level by displaying all playlists, presentations, slides, producer controls (timers, messages, nursery calls). Telestrator capability via an in-app purchase.
Shoflo is an event production software that allows your production team to build real time cue sheets, show flows, rundowns, production schedules and more all in real time.
Free Worship Software
Category 6- Bibles, Concordances & Hymnals
Baptist Hymnal is a free app that includes over 200 hymns with full lyrics and four part vocal lines created from the same master files used for the printed edition.
Blue Letter Bible is designed so you can compare multiple translations, link to commentaries and concordances, access the Hebrew/Greek lexicons, and perform advanced word searches.
Book of Common Prayer (Android) is based on the 1979 Episcopal Church of the United States of America edition and Holy Bible (King James Version)
Book of Common Prayer (iOS) app is designed to help the church pray together across traditions and denominations with morning, midday, and evening prayers for every day of the year.
Hymnals includes all the best-selling Roman Catholic hymnals right to your Android device. The app is free—through it you can in-app purchase the hymnals you need.
Melodies of Praise includes the hymns from the Assemblies of God hymnal. Features include quick search, content search, and search by author.
Strong’s Concordance was first published in 1890. (Pretty sure they didn’t see the app coming.) It lets you compare how a word is used elsewhere in the Bible, check other translations, and other deep study. The Lite version provides functional demos of Genesis and Matthew.
The United Methodist Hymnal is designed for iPad and includes page scans of the hymnal, search, and information about songs and their authors. The free app includes the 281 public domain songs. In-app purchases provide access to more.
YouVersion offers 1714 versions in 1205 languages so that everyone can read the Bible for free in the app or online.
Category 7- Random Useful Apps
Canva allows you to create professional-looking graphics for websites, social media, and projected slides in a snap. (Or you can just whip up a meme to send by text message.) Canva is free with in-app purchases.
CamScanner turns your smart phone into a document scanner. So the next time someone scribbles a set list, you can digitize it instantly.
Free Church Worship Software For Mac
Kindle is Amazon’s reader, but did you know there is an app that works on Mac, PC, Android and iOS? Take your Kindle library with you anywhere, or use it to pull a book up onscreen for small groups.
Paper by Fifty-Three replaces your analog notebook and allows you to draw, diagram, write and scribble in an elegant, easy-to-use interface. It is specifically designed to help you capture ideas.
Text It Later is the solution for when you have an awesome idea at 3am, but it would be completely inappropriate to text someone at that hour. You send immediately, so you don’t forget, and they still like you when their alarm wakes them at a normal hour.
Typeform is used by Hillsong to manage the worship team. It’s similar to Google Forms, but has more features. See how they use it here:
Zoom is an application for web conferencing. One of the things that people love about zoom is that you can invite people to the meeting via a URL link—which can be great for a quick meeting with people from multiple campuses.