In your ALEX Yearbook report, Average Worship Attendance should reflect a count of people attending and participating in the worship service real time. This would include people present in the worship space, of course, and it can also include people that attend via video conferencing tools like Zoom, where it's feasible to count people.
For live streams of the worship service, keep in mind that a view of the live stream doesn't represent a person. It represents a device like a phone, tablet, or computer connected to the stream. Because stream views do not represent people, they should not be counted in reported attendance.
That said, though, if a person comments on or reacts to the live stream (such as a Like on Facebook or thumbs up on YouTube) during the real time worship service, that comment or reaction represents a personal interaction in worship, and that person could be counted in the worship attendance.
Views of the recorded live stream rebroadcast after the real time worship experience should not be counted in reported attendance.
DO include:
- Persons physically present in the worship space
- Persons joining by video conference that can be counted
- Persons who comment on or react to the live stream during the real time worship service
DON'T include:
- Stream view counts during the real time worship service
- Stream counts rebroadcast after the real time worship service
We plan to include a separate data item for reporting streaming statistics as part of the yearbook report for 2026.
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