Here are some useful digital resources for parishes to help engage more online, navigate the legalities and receive online donations.

For further help or information, please contact the communications team: communications@derby.anglican.org or 01332 388680.

Receiving donations online

To set up a provider to receive and process online donations for you, and receive a significant discount in some cases: 

>> Parish Buying website
>> Parish Resources website

Copyright and licence information

>> What copyright is and how it will affect you
>> Read the latest copyright guidance from the Church of England, including advice on live streaming licences
>> Live streaming worship music and staying legal
>> CCLI licence
>> ONE licence
>> Performing Rights Society (PRS)

Zoom

>> How to use Zoom for a church meeting, Bible study, prayer session or small group
>> Zoom plans and pricing
>> Zoom security

Video

>> A beginner’s guide to live streaming
>> Going live FAQ
>> How to set up to film a video on a smartphone
>> How to premiere a video on Facebook and YouTube
>> How to improve the quality of audio in video recordings
>> How to upload a video with Facebook Creator Studio
>> How to create subtitles

Social Media

>> Diocese of Derby's Social Media Guidelines
>> Online social media courses from the CofE
>> Facebook: Pages vs groups vs profiles
>> Facebook pages for churches
>> How to set up a YouTube channel
>> How to create an Instagram profile and business profile
>> How to use Instagram stories
>> How to schedule a post on Facebook and Instagram with Creator Studio
>> Paid advertising: How to boost a Facebook post

Other useful platforms

>> How to create and invite to a WhatsApp group
>> WhatsApp group calls
>> Skype group calls

A Church Near You
Please note: the diocesan communications team cannot grant you access to your A Church Near You Page - but we can help you get access if you are struggling. Please follow the instructions under 'Become an editor' first.

Become an editor
Editor help centre - Please contact the help centre if your request to edit has not been approved
Create a page
Embed a video
Add a livestream tag to your page to appear on the livestream map
The Resource Hub (for editors)

Photography and design tools

The Diocese of Derby photography guidelines
www.canva.com Free design tool
www.spark.adobe.com
www.unsplash.com
www.pixabay.com
www.pexels.com
www.freepik.com

Safeguarding

Contact the diocesan safeguarding team
Read the Safer Environments Guide for sharing images and video online [PDF]
Advice for using digital conferencing with youth from the Safeguarding team

Information provided by EMSOU, the East Midlands Special Operations Unit of the five police forces in the East Midlands region.

When it comes to Video Conferencing, for many, the sudden adoption of remote working, social
distancing and self-isolation has created a demand for simple easy ways to stay in touch with
family, friends and co-workers.

The demand has popularised many apps and one of the most talked about in Cyber Security
circles is Zoom, a video chat platform, available in both free and paid for versions.

Unfortunately, Zoom has received quite a lot of adverse publicity because of a number of
important security flaws. Criticism has ranged from uninvited people joining your conversation
to deliver racist messages or pornographic images, to poor encryption methods that mean
private conversations are not always private.

The guidance below has been written for home and business users that may have adopted
zoom, for its ease of use, availability and in the absence of a paid for service.

WHAT CAN I DO?

For those of you using Zoom, make sure you have the latest version of their software. Click
your user icon and select 'Check for Updates'. Usually, updates fix known security flaws.
Running anti-virus software or a firewall on your computer and keeping software up-to-date
will improve your security.

If you are holding public meetings, where anyone can join the conversation, be sure to
configure screen-sharing settings.

Go to 'In Meeting (Basic)' and select 'host alone can share' or turn off screen sharing
entirely. This can also be controlled by the host during a meeting.

Finally, turn of 'Annotation', if you are worried about how people might annotate your shared
slide show.

Stop Uninvited Guests

Setting up a Zoom meeting creates a 9 digit ID. Anyone who has this ID can join the
conversation. Don’t advertise it publicly by posting it on your Social media.

If you use the 'Options Panel' when setting up a meeting, you can add an access password
too. Would-be trolls now need an ID and a password to gate crash your meeting.

Use the 'Advanced Options' to enable a 'Waiting Room'. This puts people in a holding area before you grant or deny them access to your conversation.
Organisers can lock the meeting once everyone who needs to has joined. Click Manage Participants >> More >> Lock Meeting.

Stay Private

The organiser of a meeting can record audio and video from the meeting. Also, anyone involved in a ‘private chat’ can save this as a log file.
Turn off video and mute yourself unless needed. This prevents video recording conversations in your home or exposing information inadvertently.

It is possible to encrypt your video calls in the settings panel, which will improve the confidentiality of your conversations. Be aware, however that there is no certainty as to whether this is end-to-end encryption.
Accessing Zoom through the browser is more secure than downloading the app. The feature is available on the log in screen when invited to a meeting, although hard to spot.

Always Be Aware

Your conversations may not be as private as you would like. Is Siri, Alexa or Google assistant in range? They will ALWAYS be listening and passing info back to their servers to maintain the connection and sampling purposes.

Final Thoughts

Whatever platform is chosen it is vital that all the security settings are reviewed and implemented as appropriate.

In circumstances where sensitive or confidential discussions are being held other providers, such as Google Duo, Skype, Face Time, WhatsApp and Webex might be alternatives.