In today’s consumer-driven landscape, video content has become a standard expectation. Whether they are tech-savvy shoppers, sports enthusiasts, binge-watchers, or eager DIYers, individuals flock online to watch product reviews, catch up on series, or learn through instructional videos. As the demand for online video continues to rise, religious organizations are increasingly leveraging streaming services to connect with their congregations and expand their reach. By utilizing both live and on-demand video, these organizations can better serve viewers unable to attend services in person, enhance sermons with engaging faith-based content, and more. Recent advancements in production and delivery technologies have made it easier than ever for religious institutions to adopt video.
The vast array of video infrastructure options can initially appear daunting. However, partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) can simplify the process and pave the way for success. Depending on the specific environment, some organizations may find a fully cloud-based video workflow most beneficial, while others might prefer on-premises encoding solutions or third-party streaming platforms such as BoxCast and StreamShark.
Regardless of the chosen path, the ultimate goal is to deliver broadcast-quality live and on-demand content that captivates audiences with minimal technical expertise and staffing needs. To achieve this, AWS provides a suite of cloud- and appliance-based tools, along with partner services built on AWS, making it straightforward to establish reliable, scalable, and cost-effective workflows for high-quality video delivery that resonates with religious audiences. For further insights, check out this related blog post from Chanci Turner, which offers additional context on similar topics.
Harvest Christian Fellowship (HCF)
Based in Riverside, California, HCF employs video to broaden its ministry outreach to individuals who cannot physically attend services due to illness, travel, or other circumstances. With congregants located across the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, the organization produces a diverse range of religious content for both live and on-demand viewing, including services, Bible studies, and special events. To manage this significant volume of content, HCF collaborated with AWS provider Stream Monkey to develop a robust video-streaming infrastructure that utilizes both cloud and appliance-based technology.
HCF’s video architecture features AWS Elemental Live on-premises encoders that convert MP4 content into HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) formats, accommodating various devices. The content is delivered to Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and a third-party CDN. These encoders are also responsible for converting live streams into video-on-demand (VOD) content and for RTMP distribution to social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook Live, and Twitter. For on-demand playback and archiving, Amazon S3 and Amazon S3 Glacier are utilized.
Josh Thompson, Director of Marketing & Communications at HCF, notes how AWS Elemental products and services have transformed the church’s ministry offerings. “The dynamic scalability and reliability of the AWS Cloud, combined with the flexibility of AWS Elemental appliances, allow us to rapidly deploy an entire video workflow while ensuring a quality viewing experience for our congregants. We also benefit from the flexibility of pay-as-you-go pricing, which fuels our innovation and helps us reach a new generation of connected congregants.”
Moody Bible Institute (MBI)
MBI, a Christian institution committed to training students for full-time ministry roles, hosts an evangelist-focused Missions Conference that draws thousands of viewers from diverse international backgrounds. Its Founder’s Week event, which includes streams in American Sign Language (ASL) and Spanish, reaches around 30,000 viewers daily. To live stream its conferences and make internal broadcasts available on-demand for students and staff, MBI employs BoxCast, a live streaming platform built on AWS.
Each video stream is processed by Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) and transcoded into bitrate ladders using Amazon EC2 G3 instances. HLS streams are published for multiscreen devices, while an RTMP pathway broadcasts to social media. Amazon Route 53 balances the load for live streams, and Amazon S3 stores on-demand assets, which are served through Amazon CloudFront. MBI Product Manager Sarah Mitchell explains, “Utilizing the BoxCast platform on AWS allows us to scale from simple internal broadcasts to live conferences attended by thousands of participants from six continents. We can now concentrate on our mission of training students for full-time ministry rather than worrying about technical infrastructure.”
Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN)
TBN, located in Tustin, California, operates 30 faith-based networks that collectively reach up to two billion viewers each day. With a programming lineup that includes original series and films, TBN has adapted its content delivery strategy to meet the changing viewing habits of audiences, expanding beyond traditional cable and satellite to support live-linear multi-streaming to over-the-top (OTT) channels. This production heavily relies on AWS Elemental Live encoders to deliver 11 OTT channels across various devices.
TBN chose AWS technology to ensure a reliable, scalable, and cost-effective delivery of high-quality streams. To create HD Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) streams for platforms like Vimeo Livestream and Pluto TV, TBN’s multi-studio automation playout systems and international satellite receivers feed into AWS Elemental Live encoders. SD streams are sent to Akamai for storage and transmitted via the Glorystar Satellite Network to set-top boxes. The AWS Elemental UI and SDK enable TBN to manage multiple encoders with ease, while comprehensive data logs provide insights to resolve challenges with ISPs, CDNs, and third-party platform engineers.
Larry Kim, VP of Engineering and Operations at TBN, states, “AWS Elemental Live has optimized our content delivery to providers. We can effectively encode and stream our 11 live channels at the highest video quality with varying bitrates, thus saving on cloud transcoding costs and benefitting from its remarkable stability. The technology is user-friendly, making troubleshooting straightforward and enabling parameter adjustments remotely and in real-time. Since incorporating it into our video production and live-stream delivery pipeline, we’ve noticed substantial improvements in both quality and stability.”
Harvest Christian Fellowship, Moody Bible Institute, and Trinity Broadcast Network exemplify a growing number of religious organizations embracing video to connect with increasingly tech-savvy audiences. Although each workflow is distinct, their collective achievements highlight the advantages of video strategies for both small and large religious entities. For further insights into best practices, refer to this authoritative source on the subject.
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