New Life Baptist Church, Birmingham

YouTube stars installed four new cameras and a video-mixing console, creating a more dynamic, modern ‘show’ which is now broadcast around the world.

New Life Baptist Church in Birmingham found a way to turn the terrible short-term issue of lockdowns into a long-term benefit.
 
The church leaders set up their own YouTube channel and began broadcasting services, using a single camera.
 
But this somewhat static picture didn’t fit in with New Life’s dynamic vision of community outreach.
 
So they dug deep, and spent considerable time, money, and effort on installing four new cameras and a video-mixing console, and creating a more dynamic, modern ‘show’ which is now broadcast around the world.
People are dialling in from up in Scotland and as far away as the Caribbean and the USA. Some have a connection to the church and others come across us, and enjoy our services.
‘It was hard graft,’ said the Rev David Barber, minister at the church in Kings Heath, in south Birmingham. ‘There was preparation work – like lifting floors to install the required cabling – and then the process of learning to work the equipment.
 
‘Fortunately we have someone at the church who works in that area who advised with the purchase of the necessary equipment and installed it, and a number of people, particularly our younger members, who were familiar with computers and enthusiastic to learn. Fairly soon we were streaming professional-quality services every Sunday.’
 
Video equipment and monitors set up and recording at the front of the church.The church now has some twenty or thirty people watching services live – complementing the sixty or seventy real-life worshippers – and approaching double that number watching recorded footage later in the week.
 
‘People are dialling in from up in Scotland and as far away as the Caribbean and the USA,’ said Rev Barber. ‘Some have a connection to the church – perhaps they’ve visited us before, or have family in the congregation – and others come across us, and enjoy our services.’
 
A further benefit is that this technology has made it possible for people to watch when they are ill or on holiday or unable to come. Further, it has enabled two house groups to meet online for weekly Bible studies where our minister produces a video for discussion. Our technology has also facilitated online groups for our local Churches Together who would otherwise be unable to meet in this way.
 
The church has yet to decide how to spend its prizemoney, though it is likely to be in improving streaming capability.
 
‘It will certainly come in very handy,’ said Rev Barber. ‘We were delighted to be a regional winner, and are really grateful to Baptist Insurance for helping out in this way.’