Most of us church leaders are walking up a steep learning curve right now. Especially in smaller churches, we need technical and musical resources as we move our services and communities online. We also need grace for ourselves and for others as we learn, fail, succeed, and grow.
I hope these resources are helpful for you. They cover platforms for services and small groups, music licensing, hymns and songs, and rehearsals and community for musical ensembles.
If you know of resources I should add, please let me know! I’m continually updating this post for the time being.
General Resources for Churches Online
- COVID-19 and Worship: Resources for Churches Adapting to Social Isolation – solid, well-organize collection here (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship)
- COVID-19 and the Church – Podcast episode exploring strategies just as the pandemic was hitting the U.S. (Getting to Nimble)
Reopening Resources
- Risk Assessment for Group Activities with Dr. Amesh Adalja of Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (Choralosophy)
- Four things you need to begin planning for reopening as well as this blog series of planning and reopening resources (Christine V. Hides)
- Online Forever? (Getting to Nimble)
Platforms for Online Services and Small Groups
- Comparing & Contrasting FREE Platforms and Procedures for Online Music Instruction – Useful for thinking through your platform options for church services and small groups (Produced by several music educators)
- Platforms for Sharing Church Services – Pros and cons of the major platforms (Sarah Bereza and Brent Johnson)
- Options for Streaming and Pre-Recording Services – Pointers as you decide what platform(s) are best for you and your congregation (Sarah Bereza and Brent Johnson)
- High-Tech Options for Streaming and Recording – Many church leaders are frustrated at their church’s tech capabilities and mistakenly think the problem is their lack of tech knowledge, when often, it’s a lack of tech itself (Sarah Bereza and Brent Johnson)
- How To Stream Zoom on Facebook Live – Useful if you want to include persons in more than one location on a facebook livestream (Youtube)
- Using Zoom for music audio? Change your audio settings to “Preserve original sound” – here’s Zoom’s tutorial
Licensing
A couple pointers on licensing for music:
First, a podcast/streaming license does cover pre-recorded music that you or musicians in your church have made (yes, I have double-checked with One License staff). In other words, yes, you can record yourself playing a piece covered under the license and then use that recording in a later service. What you can’t do is use another person’s or organization’s music recordings.
Second, remember that most choral anthems and instrumental arrangements aren’t listed by name in One License. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t covered. Look for the publisher of the anthem and if the publisher is listed, then the music should be covered (with rare exceptions, such as the Hal Leonard Corporation). To report the music, do a search for the piece and if you can’t find it, choose “Manually Submit a Song” at the very bottom of the search results.
The main music licensers for churches are One License and CCLI. Generally speaking, One License covers more “traditional” church music and CCLI covers more “contemporary” church music. Churches with blended musical styles often need both licenses. One License is offering a gratis license for churches through April 15th.
Other resources:
- The Church Musician’s Guide to Copyright and Licenses – start here! (Ashley Danyew)
- How to Pin a Link on Facebook Live – good to know if you have a license number you need to include (Youtube)
Hymns, Songs, and Anthems
- 30 Public Domain Hymn Accompaniments for Free Use – Audio files for use in online worship (Sarah Bereza)
- 98 Hymns for Fearful Times – A helpful list as you plan congregational music (Sarah Bereza)
- Hymns in Times of Crisis – Lesser-known hymns on both specific and general crisis topics (The Hymn Society)
- Songs for Unsettled Times – Short, simple songs that are easy to memorize and carry in our hearts (Music that Makes Community)
- Beckenhorst Press’s demo recordings are free to use for churches in their streamed and pre-recorded services right now
Choir, Rehearsals, and Teaching
- Taking Your Choir Rehearsals Online – Excellent guide to online rehearsals (Tori Cook)
- Tech for Choir Rehearsals and Small Groups – Platforms and formats that work best for musical ensembles, especially to encourage community (Sarah Bereza and Brent Johnson)
- How to Transition to Teaching Online – Online and tactile resources like printables (Ashley Danyew)
- Free Online Learning Platforms and Resources For PreK-12 Students – Includes a long section of music-related resources (Stephanie Ruggles)
- Aerosol Rate Study sponsored by the National Federation of State High School Associations
- Taking Church Music Online with Craig Harmann (Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza)
- Music Ministry with Brian Hehn (Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza)
Virtual Choir Videos
- An Easier Way to Make a Virtual Choir Video + How I Edit Audio in Audacity (Sarah Bereza)
- How to Create a Virtual Choir Video – Good place to start if you’d like to make a virtual choir video and aren’t a tech pro already (Church Musician’s Assistant)
- I Can Virtual Choir and So Can YOU – Yes you can make a high-tech virtual choir video, but it took a professional 80 hours to make one (Delrae Studios)
- A thorough how-to guide to making a higher-tech virtual choir video
I’m continually updating this post for the time being – if you know of resources I should add, please let me know!
