Church livestream preflight checklist: what to check before every service stream
A printable preflight checklist for a church livestream, from a solo volunteer with a phone to a team with a switcher: what to settle once, what to check midweek, then 60, 30 and 10 minutes out, including a private test stream, a go or no-go rule and a check from the viewer's side, with a Stream facts box and variants for a Mass and several campuses.
Free printable PDF
Livestream preflight checklist
What is inside
- A preflight in six passes: once, midweek, 60, 30 and 10 minutes out, then going live
- A private test stream and a check from the viewer's side, with the sources beside the steps they back
- A Stream facts box, a go or no-go rule to agree before Sunday and a preflight log
- Variants for a solo volunteer with a phone, a team with a switcher, a Catholic Mass and several campuses
Enter your email and confirm a code to download. We email you a copy the first time each day.
What the checklist covers
Settle it before the week
- Check the platform will let you go live: YouTube needs a verified channel with no live-streaming restrictions in the past 90 days; Facebook needs an account at least 60 days old and a Page or professional mode profile with at least 100 followers (YouTube Help, Meta).
- Name a stream lead and an alternate, and write the Stream facts box once: where the link goes, who holds the login, who has the hotspot.
- Check what you will play in the stream, and tell the room that the service is streamed (CCLI, a diocesan policy; information, not legal advice).
Test it like a viewer
- Run a private or unlisted test stream about 30 minutes out, with audio and movement like the real service (YouTube Help, StreamingChurch.tv).
- Watch it on a separate device, on mobile data, and listen to it (StreamingChurch.tv).
- Use a wired connection, pause other uses of the network and keep a backup network such as a mobile hotspot (Resi).
Agree a go or no-go before Sunday
- At 10 minutes out, check that the recording is running, the right destination is selected and the viewer message is written.
- Decide before Sunday how long you will troubleshoot before you go to the recording only.
- When something fails, use the recovery card for the steps, and log what you found afterward.
Frequently asked questions
Work in passes. Once: check your platform can go live, name a stream lead and an alternate, and tell the room that the service is streamed. Midweek: get the link out, check the network and the graphics. An hour out: connect by cable, log in and confirm the destination. Thirty minutes out: run a private test stream and watch it on a separate device. Ten minutes out: confirm the recording is running, then go or no-go.
StreamingChurch.tv suggests streaming to a private or unlisted channel to check video and audio quality. YouTube Help says a test should include audio and movement like the real stream, and OBS strongly encourages a test of a few minutes rather than just jumping in to your first stream or recording. Resi compares the test to a dress rehearsal. Then watch it on a second device, as a viewer would, and listen to it.
One church streaming provider, Resi, suggests a minimum of 5 Mbps upload speed for HD streaming, though faster is better to avoid buffering. Test the upload speed on the church network, close to the time of the service, and pause other uses of the network. YouTube and Facebook list their own bitrates, and the Sunday setup and teardown checklist from Church Media Kit puts them in one place.
YouTube Help says you need to have no live streaming restrictions in the past 90 days and you need to verify your channel. Meta's Live Video API reference says the Facebook account must be at least 60 days old, and the Page or professional mode profile must have at least 100 followers. Check both well before the first Sunday.
Many church policies say yes. One diocesan policy says an announcement will be made to the congregants that streaming or videotaping will take place, and the Church of Scotland's guidance says visible notices should be placed on the way into the church. Your denomination's or diocese's policy comes first. This is information, not legal advice.
The passes are the same. For a Mass, ask your pastor where the camera may stand and what the stream may show, and note that the USCCB's televising guidelines say elements of the liturgy should not be omitted. For several campuses, name a stream lead for each campus, keep a separate Stream facts box for each and test each campus's stream on its own.
Use the recovery card. This preflight is for prevention before the service; the card, When the stream dies: a recovery card, sets out what to do when it fails, from the first checks to the backup recording and the words for viewers.
Yes. Enter your email, confirm the code we send and the PDF downloads. It is also emailed to you. Marketing email is sent only if you tick the separate box.
No. The checklist is for your team and your own streaming setup. Church Media Kit helps afterward: Sermon Clips takes an MP4 or MOV upload of the recording and makes vertical, captioned clips, a transcript, a summary, small group questions, social posts and a recap email for your team to review.