3 Ways to Get Your Sermon Recording Ready before Sunday

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Are you trying to take your church online until the coronavirus passes? If so, one of the hardest parts is figuring out your sermon recording—and then how to share it. It can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. 

These simple instructions can help you get up and running in time for Sunday. (If you have any trouble, our Church Support Center is open and ready to help.)

Get ready to hit “record”

Before I detail how to record your sermon, two quick questions:

• Do you want to record your sermon audio by itself, audio with slides, or audio and video both?
• Do you typically use slides for your outline, passage, or supporting quotes?

Once you know which format you want to record in, you’ll want to make sure you have the right equipment. You’ll need:

• A microphone
• If you’re not recording video, something to record with (you could go with an audio recorder or computer connected to your microphone, with software capable of recording audio [Faithlife Proclaim, Quicktime, or Audacity])
• If you are recording video, a video camera and tripod (or another kind of mount) connected to your microphone

Got it all ready? This part is something of a choose-your-own-adventure. Click the links below to go to the section that fits what you’re doing:

• Recording sermon audio with slides
• Recording sermon audio only
• Recording sermon video

Option 1: Recording sermon audio with slides

You can do that easily in Faithlife Proclaim. Once you’ve opened Proclaim, here’s what you do:

1. Create your service slides. Get your verses, quotes, and other graphics lined up.
2. Set up your audio device in Proclaim. You’ll want to start by plugging your audio input into the computer you’re running Proclaim on.
3. Add recording cues to your presentation. Your sermon will start and stop recording on the cues in your presentation.
4. Go On Air, then preach.
5. Hit Esc or deselect On Air to end the sermon recording.
6. Make edits as you need to.
7. When you’re done, hit Publish to send the final audio to your church’s Faithlife group, Faithlife Sermons, Faithlife TV, and anywhere else you have set up.

You can find more details on any of these steps here.

Hitting Publish when it’s finished sends your sermon audio with slides to your church’s group on Faithlife.com, Faithlife Sermons (which pushes to your podcast, if you’ve set it up), Faithlife TV, and your church’s Faithlife Site (if your site is built with us).

Got questions about using Proclaim for your sermon recording? Schedule a time with our support team here.

Option 2: Recording sermon audio by itself

The simplest way to do this is by using a separate recording software (like Audacity or GarageBand) or device. 

1. Record your sermon audio.
2. Make any needed edits in your recording software.
3. Export your sermon to standard file formats like .mp3 or .wav.
4. Upload your sermon audio to Faithlife Sermons. (If your church doesn’t run slides, Faithlife Sermons may be a better fit for you than Faithlife Proclaim. Try it free for 30 days here.) Side note: you can also upload your sermon to your church’s group on Faithlife. It’s a free option, though you lose some functionality, like updating your podcast.
5. Add the sermon on your website. If you use Faithlife Sites, your sermon automatically updates on your website. You can also find the sermon audio embed on Faithlife Sermons, then add it to your church’s website.
6. Add the sermon to your social media page and church-wide email. You can share the sermon link from Faithlife Sermons, Faithlife TV, or your church website to your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account.

Option 3: Recording sermon video

Start by choosing the camera you want to use. We recommend using a good video camera, though an iPhone or smartphone can work in a pinch (you’ll just sacrifice some audio quality). If you go the smartphone route, you can record audio at the same time on a separate device and simply match the audio to the video once everything is recorded. You can edit the video with a free software like iMovie (included on Apple computers) if you need to make any changes.

Here’s what you do:

1. Record your sermon video.
2. Edit the recording, then export to a standard format like .mp4.
3. Upload your sermon video to your Faithlife church group. Anyone who’s a member of your church group can watch all your sermons anytime. You can also send a direct link to people who aren’t in your church group so they can watch your sermon without signing in. To watch previous sermons, they can simply join your church’s group.
4. Add the sermon video on your website. If you use Faithlife Sites, your sermon will automatically update on your church website. You can also find the video embed on Faithlife TV to add to your site.
5. Add the sermon to your social media page and church-wide email. You can share the sermon link from Faithlife Sermons, Faithlife TV, or your church website to your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account.

You can get started with Faithlife Proclaim on a free 30-day trial. Getting your Proclaim account set up takes only a few minutes, so you can be ready to record and share your sermon before Sunday comes. 

Got more questions about sermon recording? Contact our Church Support Center, and we’ll be happy to help.