The reality is that streaming to mobile devices is a no brainer with Ustream.tv. There is nothing to build or code, just plug and play. So there are not secret recipes here, I’ll just list out the work flow we have going and you can tweak it to your needs.

Here’s the signal flow:

Auditorium a/v feed > TriCaster Studio (switcher) > Canopus ADVC 110 > iMac > Flash Media Live Encoder > Ustream broadcast interface > Ustream Viewer

Our main feed for the live page of our internet campus gets encoded and fed to Limelight Networks from the TriCaster. There are two analogue outputs on the unit and we send one of them to the ADVC 110 which converts it to digital and interfaces with the iMac via firewire.

Flash Media Live Encoder is a free download and will recognize a camera or in this case the ADVC 110 hooked up via firewire. If you were going to livestream with one camera or come straight out of your IMAG switcher this would be the same setup you would use.

If you have livestreamed using FMLE with Livestream.com or other SMSP there is a slightly different workflow with Ustream in that you have to also use the Ustream broadcast control panel. To do this, you go into the advanced settings for your show and download the XML file for it. Then open this file in FMLE. This is nice because you don’t have to worry about getting long RTMP URLs correct. We tweak the settings to make it widescreen at this point. Once you’re set, fire off the feed and then launch the Ustream broadcast control panel. iPhone note: encode h.264 using AAC audio otherwise iPhones won’t work.

UPDATE: Here’s a screen shot of the FMLE settings we use. Except the source is the ADVC 110 rather than the iSight.

This is important, FMLE must be up and running before launching the Ustream controls (which you launch by clicking the ‘broadcast now’ button). At that point you click the button to make it live.

Like I said before this is counter intuitive if you have used FMLE before, because in most cases it’s all you need. I believe Ustream does this for monetization since the control panel contains ads.

That’s it on your end. Users need to install the Ustream Viewer app from the Android Market or the iPhone App Store. From there, they can search for your feed to watch it. Not the best workflow for discoverability …but it’s FREE!

Let us know how that works out for you.

Chat Highlights:

I miss my church (Gateway ) sooo much. Thank you for having this service for those of us that can’t be there. Without Gateway I feel so lost. Thanks for keeping me grounded and having this service online for us.

what a powerful message…I know the Lord is working in so many lives (mine included) thanks to the love and acceptance offered at Gateway!

Man, sometimes you hear messsges that just cut right to the bone. Thank you, God!

This is my first time attending the internet campus as I’m usually there, I must admit, it speaks volumes to the great ministries this church offers for wherever you are in Christ

I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect lesson for me today and I’m sure I’m not the only one

just back from “in person” service…gonna watch the live stream again…awesome message

“Wow, I have been living abroad for the past few years, and using that as an excuse to lose my faith. This is great that I can hear such a useful message in my own language. Thank you! From Helsinki, Finland.”

“Man this is so great! I feel like im right there in the middle of it all! And I;m singing along right here in my house!”

“This is an awesome idea… I am not feeling well and was sad that i was going to miss church then I remembered this live feed had started and I rejoiced”

“I like my home church and love my church family, but it looks like I will forever be a part of Gateway. Today our church is closed because of icy roads. I thank you for your ministry online”

“I’ve let anger and hurt to take over lately and boy have I gone astray. Thank you LORD for showing me clearly what I have been doing.”

“awesome, awesome, awesome! yet another way you guys are reaching out to ensure the relationship with God. it not about where you are, but that He is with you where you’re at.
YES!”

“LOVE the online experience!! Thanks Vince and team for getting this going and offering yet another way to experience God’s word and the great leadership of Gateway.”

“I wouldn’t have attended any service this morning. Thank-you.”

“joining online because i just had foot surgery and can’t make it in today. perfect timing for this launching if you ask me”

“I sense something profound has happened today! This could not have been easy, all the work that went into this was worth it.”

“Glad to see the whole Gateway experience go to the net. I have moved a little over 1 hour north and rarely get there, but going to gateway makes it hard to go to other churches.”

“there is an amazing anointing with this church model – a true sense of community, which is so difficult to truly get, virtually. i really felt like I was standing in a room bumping shoulders with bunch of people. thank you guys!”

“Ironic: I just shushed my 3 year old so I could hear John talking about not paying attention to his 3 year old. Whoops!”

With that said, it was a huge success. We saw visitor from seven countries outside of North America and we had some great chat going on during the experience.

I can’t wait to launch on January 17th!

When we plant a church in a community, it helps to know what the ideal target person looks like so that we can speak into their life and meet their unique needs.

What spaces do they frequent?

What apps do they use?

When are they online?

What pop culture stuff are they into?

What kind of careers do they have?

What’s their education?

What questions should we be asking?

9:00 – Introduction and Spiritual Framework – Vince

• http://www.deltronecho.com/2009/07/24/church-on-the-internet-the-vision/

9:30 – Team Generated Discussion #1 – (RC – Targeting Profile | what does an internet citizen look like?)

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007184 – Why people go online

http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ah8mk6j9scwh_37gxv3mk5m – Internet Citizen presentation

http://www.pewinternet.org/Infographics/Generational-differences-in-online-activities.aspx – Activities online by generation (short verion)

10:00 – Team Generated Discussion #2 – (Betty Blake Churchill – The Voice of Gateway)

• Church resources example – http://open.lifechurch.tv
• Attend | Connect | Serve | Grow | Lead

10:30 – ‘Front Door Spaces’ – Vince

“Front Door Spaces” – places to get people discusing religion online in meaningful ways, and eventually leading them to something deeper that has the same feel, specifically the Gateway Internet campus. Meeting people, engaging in their lives, and getting connected.

• themysteryisthetruth.com
  • Podcasts
  • Movie nights (probably once a month) – community experience (ala 24, American Idol, …)
  • Next steps:  gathering content, needs writers, how do you deal with moderation
• prayerlabyrinth.com
  • Similar to the old style prayer walk, small actions that put significance into a prayer (e.g. throwing pebbles into a pool, adding a note to a bucket, etc)
• twelveeleven.me
  • Developing for Rami as a platform.
• Others
• Servemob – flash mob for serving/giving to people – kiva/micro-loans
• Caringbridge/care calendar/relational tithe – being there to support people who are hurting, healing
• Goodhappened.com – anti-fail blog #goodhappened – photos/videos/updates of social good that happened in your life or around you
  • Cross-linking to to servemob to get folks doing more when needs not 100% met
• How can build community frameworks for Gamers/Guilds/Rockband?
• Confession destruction – collect them (anonymously, like postsecret) and destroy them
• Layer VOIP  on these sites in appropriate places:
  • Group prayer as a station in the prayer labyrinth
  • Mysteryisthetruth – weekly live QA, recorded, streamed, and available 24/7 as a podcast/audio download
• Positive version of F* my life – LMF – quick notes about positive things that happened in their life.

11:30 – Team Generated Discussion #4 – (Karin – Authenticity – What Does That Look Like For Internet Churches)

• Learning to ‘listen’ online

12:00 – Internet Campus Vision, Framework and functionality

• What does it mean to have ‘church’ on the internet?
• Launch schedule
• Leadership Roles
• Spiritual Growth Strategy

1:00 – Lunch

The Reality
The internet is, for all intents and purposes, not unlike any community that a church planter might consider as a mission field. Yes, there are some obvious differences that often take center stage in the conversation but I would like to start by putting those aside. We all realize that there are some mandates in scripture for the actual physical gathering together of believers that we should not ignore. This is true, but we also have a mandate to take the Gospel to the ends of the Earth. So I say this; lets take this thing as far as we can and see what God can do.

What We’re Not Doing
It also needs to be said that what we are not doing is simply re-broadcasting the worship service from Gateway Church. Just like any Gateway campus we need to take the Gateway Church mission, vision and values and apply them to the community that is being targeted.

Church Planting Basics

Become a Part of the Community
When we plant churches in physical communities the first thing we do is become a part of the community. At its most basic level, we need to move there before we can have a church.

This is the first step for the internet campus too. We need to ‘move’ to the internet first and foremost. So the question is; what does moving to the internet mean?

Pre-Launch
Generally we start with some ‘soft launch’ experiences that give us the opportunity to try out our technology and fine tune our programming before the official grand opening.

Grand Opening
The official launch of the church plant. Marketing and word of mouth are all timed to peak at the grand opening.

Implement Leadership Strategy
Once the church is launch the next thing is to draw leaders out of the crowd that has been gathered.

Spiritual Growth Plan
Once we have some more leaders in place the spiritual growth strategies can be implemented.

More Outreach Efforts
The cycle comes back around again as we move the leaders and members of the new church toward evangelism efforts.

So here are the questions:

1. What does the ‘target’ person look like in the Internet Community?
2. What does a ‘gathering’ look like in the Internet Community?
3. How far are we going to take this?

That’s a lot of people. And that’s a lot of people that are largely not being served by any Christian organization that I’m aware of. It’s pretty well untouched by Christians, as is most of the gaming community.

I’ve been a guild master and a guild officer in a WoW guild for about three and a half years now (a “guild” is your online family, the folks you spend all your time with, and I’ve been dubbed “guild mom”).  There are several Christians in my guild, which I find interesting but not coincidental.

Part of the eccentricity of any gaming community is that you have to know the language, and know it well, to be accepted. You must be a gamer, and a gamer inside that game, to have a certain level of “street cred.” In my particular case, I don’t eat and breathe WoW like a lot of my guildmates, but I know the lingo and can relate. I genuinely care about the lives of the people in my guild, and I ask about them. I’ve met many of them in real life.

For me, these relationships aren’t virtual; they’re as real as my “real life” friendships. I talk to these people on a VOIP server almost daily. I’m privy to details in their lives that only their spouses and closest friends are (and sometimes not even those). I am friend and confidante, because I am willing to put in the time, listen, and care. I’ve asked several people if I can pray for them and have never had anyone say no, even those I know to be agnostic at best. In a few cases I’ve shared God’s love. It’s believable, because it comes from the guild mom, who clearly already loves them.

What’s your mission field?

We don’t want to simply broadcast the Gateway Church service. If that’s all we wanted to do, we could have that up and running this weekend.

As I share the early vision of this awesome project with a lot of people that thought keeps popping into my head.