Create or edit a channel
In Sermons, create different channels for content you want to stream live or provide to watch at any time. For example, you might have separate channels for a contemporary service, a high school service, and a membership class.
Important
You must be subscribed to the Publishing Premium plan to create channels.
Create a channel
Select Sermons in the top navigation in Publishing.
Select Add channel.
Follow the channel wizard to set up your channel's name, formats, and times.
Once you complete the channel setup, you are directed to the new channel's Settings tab, where you can:
Set the channel description and availability
Select format options
Update watch live settings
Add links
Set up a podcast feed
Set up a podcast feed
If you're already uploading audio files for your sermon episodes, use those audio files to start a new podcast feed on Apple or Spotify. This is a great way to share your weekly sermons in a podcast, put out bible study episodes, and more!
Important
It is not currently possible to pull audio from an existing Apple or Spotify podcast into your sermon channel.
To view and configure your podcast settings:
Go to the Audio podcast settings section of the channel's Settings tab. This section is only available if you selected Podcast when you set up the format.
Select artwork for your podcast feed. Upload images from your device, your saved library in Publishing, or the Unsplash integration.
Copy the auto-generated podcast feed URL, which you will need when setting up your podcast feed in Apple or Spotify.
Paste your Apple or Spotify podcast directory feed URL once your podcast is set up there.
Give your podcast a title.
Select a category and sub-category for your podcast, which will update in Apple/Spotify.
Set your podcast language and whether or not the podcast may contain explicit material. This also updates on Apple/Spotify.
Enter the podcast author's name.
Enter the podcast contact email.
To set up a new podcast feed, you must first ensure that a church email is entered under the Church Information page in account settings.
Tip
Your church email address does not have to match your AppleConnect or Spotify account email, but it will be the email address listed in the Apple or Spotify podcast directory.
Once you've ensured you have a church email in your account settings, follow these steps to start your podcast.
Create a Spotify Podcasters and/or an Apple Podcasts Connect account.
Follow the instructions to create a podcast episode on AppleConnect or Spotify.
When asked for an RSS link, copy and paste the auto-generated Podcast feed URL listed in your channel settings.
Once you have set up your podcast, copy the Spotify or Apple podcast feed URL and paste it into the applicable Third-party podcast directory field URLs field in your channel settings. This allows the podcast to be displayed in Church Center!
Set the channel description and availability
Add channel information and set it to be published on Church Center on the Settings tab.
Select the ✏️ edit icon on the top left to choose the channel artwork. Upload images from your device, your saved library, or the Unsplash integration.
Tip
Use the image sizing guide to upload the right size and file type.
To edit the title of the channel, select the Actions button at the top right of the page and choose Edit title from the dropdown.
Add details about the channel in the Description section.
Set whether the channel should be published or unpublished on Church Center in the Availability on Church Center section.
Select format options
Choose how the episodes will be available on Church Center in the Formats section.
Scroll down to the Formats section of the channel's Settings tab.
Select Watch live to enable livestream videos on the channel. If Watch live is not enabled in the channel settings, those channel episodes will not show the Watch live option.
Select On-demand library or podcast to add video or audio episodes to your on-demand library or add sermon audio to your podcast. If on-demand is not enabled in the channel settings, it can still be enabled for each episode.
Video: Add your pre-recorded video link to an episode for people to view whenever! Livestream videos are not automatically converted to on-demand videos. They must be added to your episode manually.
Audio: Videos added to Publishing are not automatically converted to audio. To offer sermon audio for an episode so that people can listen on the go, upload an MP3, AAC, or MP4 file or add a link to a file hosted elsewhere.
Important
Check out Planning Center's pricing tiers to make sure you choose the audio download subscription level that is appropriate for your number of listeners.
A download is one instance of an uploaded audio file being downloaded from either Church Center or a podcast platform. Watching a sermon video or downloading an audio file hosted elsewhere will not count against your subscription.
Podcast: Each time you create a new episode with sermon audio, that audio can be pushed to a Spotify or Apple podcast. When someone listens to a podcast episode on Spotify, this does not count toward your downloads subscription. When someone listens to a podcast episode on Apple podcasts, this does count toward your subscription.
Select Sermon notes to make episode-specific notes that allow congregants to follow along with a sermon.
Update watch live settings
Choose your livestream settings.
Scroll down to the Watch live section of the channel's Settings tab. This section is only available if you have enabled the Watch live option in the Formats section.
Add your Default start times to set the times that your live event takes place each week. You can change the times for a specific week on the episode page.
Add minutes to the Countdown timer to start the stream a certain amount of time before the episode's start time.
Set the length of time from the episode's start time that the Watch now link shows on the channel's public page.
Enable chat during a live sermon for people logged in to Church Center. Members of groups can chat with each other if their group has enabled chat. Anyone who is logged in can participate in the general chat. A new conversation is created just for this episode and cannot be accessed later.
Important
To enable general or group chat during a live video, you must have a subscription to Planning Center Groups, even if your subscription is at the free level.
Select My livestream URL stays the same from week to week if your streaming provider allows you to use the same embed code for all streaming events. Add the default code as the default livestream link for all episodes in the channel. If not, leave this field blank and input a livestream embed code in each episode's settings.
Add default links
Add links to your channel that will be accessible when viewing an episode from that channel.
Scroll down to the Default links section of the channel's Settings tab.
Select the Add dropdown to add a custom link. This can be an existing People form, a Giving Fund, an external URL, or an Order of Service if you have a connected Services service type.
Select the default or custom icon for your link.
Add a title.
Select your form, fund, Order of Service, or add your external URL.
Select Save to save the link.
Drag the six-dot icon on the left to reorder the links. The link at the top will be the Featured link on live episodes.
Select the ✏️ edit icon on the right to edit or the 🗑️ delete icon to delete the link.
Tip
Newly added links only show on episodes created after the links were added.
Create a new series
After you create a channel, you can create a sermon series to organize the episodes in the channel.
Select Sermons in the top navigation.
Select a channel.
Go to the channel's Series tab.
Select Add series on the right.
Select the ✏️ edit icon on the top left to choose the channel artwork. Upload images from your device, your saved library, or the Unsplash integration.
Use the image sizing guide to upload the correct size and file type.
Select the title to edit it.
Under Summary, add information about the series.
Once you create the series and add episodes, those episodes will show on the right.
Tip
After your channels are set up, create episodes for specific videos.
Edit a channel
Select Sermons in the top navigation.
Select a channel.
In the channel header, select the ✏️ edit icon to change the channel image.
Select the Actions menu on the right:
Edit title: Update the channel title.
Delete channel: Deleting the channel will delete all episodes and any uploads. This action cannot be undone.
Convert to Series: If you created a channel to organize your sermons by topic, convert all of the episodes to a series and add them to another existing channel.
Make any other needed changes to the series or channel in the Series or Settings tabs.
Rearrange channels
Select Sermons in the top navigation.
Under the Channels tab, drag the six-dot icon on the left to reorder your channels. The order on this tab is how channels will appear on the Channels page in Church Center.