Video conferencing for your church

Video conference calls are a great way to host a meeting without having to physically be in the same room. They can be meetings of all sorts, just a virtual coffee meeting, prayer meeting, online service, bible group, a PCC meeting, or a book club.

There are many software solutions available, so please do your research to find one that suits your need. Popular choices include Zoom or Skype, which are both free.

For guidance on holding PCC and APCM meetings during the COVID-19 restrictions please click here.

Zoom

Zoom is free for meetings of up to 40 minutes and allows up to 100 people on the call, find out more here. If you would like to have calls that last longer than 40 minutes, then you may want to consider taking out the Pro version. You can purchase it directly from Zoom here, alternatively if you are interested in hosting more than one meeting at a time, Charity Digital offer a discount on having multiple hosts.

Please click here to take up this offer, you will need to select the FAQ ‘How do I get started and place my order’ to find the details. Please make sure you have your church’s charity number or HMRC Gift Aid to hand to complete the registration.

Click here for some very comprehensive set up instructions from Vineyard Church, Cardiff.

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is a video conferencing software available through Gmail. It allows up to 10 callers to join a call. Google also has a paid version called Google Hangouts Meet which allows for much larger group calls. Follow this link to find more about pricing

Please see this very comprehensive instructions on how to set up Google Hangouts, provided by Vineyard Church, Cardiff.

Skype

Skype is free and allows up to 50 people on the call. Generally, for larger video meetings, Zoom seems to offer better video stability. To host a Skype meet you will need to login or download the Skype app either on your PC tablet or phone, set up a meeting and send out the link to everyone who would like to participate, this can be done via a WhatsApp group message, an email or an Outlook appoint invitation. Find out more about Skype here.

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