Best Church Presentation Software for Windows | Renewed Vision

Looking for the best church presentation software for a Windows PC? You’ll find plenty of options, from feature-limited free presentation software tools like Google Slides to robust software solutions designed with the needs of a worship service in mind.

Some options are tailored for the needs of houses of worship, while others are designed for a general business market (but may still work in a pinch).
Below, we’ll show you everything you need to know so you can choose the best church presentation software that runs well on PC and is perfect for your church’s needs.

Special Considerations for All-PC AV Setups

If you’re using PCs for your display needs or have an all-PC AV setup, be aware of a few special considerations — especially if you’re migrating from a Mac setup and aren’t as familiar with the PC market.

Do You Need Mac Support, Just in Case?

Think through whether you will still need to support Macs. For instance: what if a guest speaker shows up with a MacBook? The guest speaker may not want to use your presentation software, and you’ll need a workaround to connect their laptop.

Think through whether you will still need to support Macs. For instance: what if a guest speaker shows up with a MacBook? The guest speaker may not want to use your presentation software, and you’ll need a workaround to connect their laptop.

Either you need to connect the speaker’s Mac directly, and use whatever software they have, or you’ll need to import Mac-friendly file formats into your presentation software.

To rule out last-minute hurdles or incompatibilities, we recommend choosing a cross-platform solution that works well on Mac and PC — and to avoid any hardware in your AV setup that doesn’t place nicely with one or the other, too.

Not All PCs Are Created Equal

There’s a lot of options in the PC market, and not every PC available is capable of powering advanced worship software, especially if you’re pushing your software to its limits with video streaming, software encoding, and multiple outputs.

If computer specs aren’t your thing, first decide what presentation software you want, then check it’s recommended computer specs, and get some outside help on making a purchase.

Some Software Solutions Operate Differently

Not every “cross-platform” app is using that term to mean the same thing. For some, cross-platform means it’s the same product on both Mac and PC.

But other apps—PowerPoint, for example—don’t work this way. The PowerPoint version for Mac, has features missing from it, plus some additional features not included in PowerPoint for PC.

You can make a PowerPoint file in either OS, and open it on any device that runs PowerPoint. And they’ll usually look the same. But there can be differences in the display of the files, and there are plenty of differences in the user experience and interface.

If you’re switching from Mac to PC, it’s worth paying attention to just how different a company’s Mac and PC experiences are.

Features You Want in Church Presentation Software for Windows

As a whole, worship presentation softwares have matured significantly in the past decade, and many solutions are jam-packed with features to display lyrics, images, videos, and more in beautiful and engaging ways.

But not every ministry uses its presentation software in the same ways or needs all the same features equally. As you evaluate the various options for software for churches, create a list of the key features you need, the ones you want, and the ones you will probably need for special events.

Some special events to think of include: streaming in a missionary over Zoom, movie night or a Super Bowl watch party, doing a funeral or wedding, showing baptisms on the big screen, a guest speaker bringing their own laptop, and of course, being handed a PowerPoint file 10 minutes before the service.

There is also future proofing: what will you need in 5 years? Before Covid, streaming church services was a nice-to-have feature, then thousands of churches started streaming in a hurry to keep ministering to their people at home. Covid was an anomaly, but in 5 years, where do you see your church going, and what will it need to be there?

Professional-Grade Slide Editor

If you’re using your presentation solution to create presentation slides on a weekly basis (or multiple times a week), then the biggest feature is its ability to create those slides.

You want a solution with an advanced professional-grade slide editor that allows you and your team to create engaging slides quickly and easily. You also want those slides to look better than the average business presentation.

Look for a solution that includes drag and drop capability, pre-built templates, and can import songs quickly from online databases like MultiTracks.com or SongSelect.

Most softwares will come stocked with themes to give you a good starting point, which you can modify to suit your needs.

Church-Centered Features (Song Lyrics, Bible Versions, and More)

One of the biggest reasons to choose a church-specific solution instead of office-oriented solutions like PowerPoint and Google Slides is how much time you can save thanks to church-specific features. You can make some things work if you have to, like fitting sermon notes into PowerPoint’s presenter view. And you can always manually type or copy in song lyrics and Scripture passages.

But think about how much time you spend doing that each week right now. Switching to a church-oriented solution like ProPresenter eliminates most of that manual work. By connecting to a song library like CCLI’s SongSelect or MultiTracks.com, ProPresenter and other church solutions can automatically import songs from a wide-ranging database and even populate copyright information automatically.

It’s a similar story with Scripture texts. ProPresenter includes 125 versions spread across over 30 languages. You can even import two at once, automatically — perfect for bilingual ministries or for close comparison of texts.

Rich Media Support

Office-oriented products and free solutions tend to have limited media support. If your ministry uses video content, you need a solution with rich media support. This includes looped background motions, announcement videos, random videos the speaker gives you at the last minute, and live streaming a remote speaker in.

The best solutions can support nearly anything you throw at them. ProPresenter’s distinct video layer can handle a wide range of video files and formats and lets you do what you want with video content.

Appropriate Control Methods

How a presentation is controlled is also a factor, you generally want a solution that offers a wide range of control methods. Does your speaker want to use a remote? Does a dedicated AV team member run the show? What about from a tablet or phone?

Fully-featured solutions (ProPresenter included) allow for any scenario, including remote control via smartphone, thanks to dedicated remote apps.

Pro-Grade Video and Streaming Capabilities

As your live presentation needs grow, you want to reduce complexity where you can, not increase it. That often means finding solutions that can do multiple things, and require less operators than individual positions.

Whether you’re looking for a software encoder for your livestream needs, or you need support for broadcast-quality audio and video outputs, ProPresenter is the only church presentation software with this kind of pro-level support.

ProPresenter doesn’t just output presentation files to run over top of your video content, it actually processes the video content, encoding it into RTMP or RSP formats, and sending it out to your platform of choice.

Support for Multiple Displays

Last, make sure to look at what a presentation solution can do with multiple displays. Most office-oriented products can output to two displays at maximum: an audience and a stage view.

However, church environments are often more complex than that. For example:

• The main feed for the auditorium, plus stage displays for the speakers.
• A lobby feed that shows what’s happening in the sanctuary.
• A separate lobby feed that’s just rotating announcements.
• Livestream feed.
• Producer or Operator views, for the people behind the scenes.

That’s a lot to keep up with, and you don’t want to end up with separate presentation files for each of these.

ProPresenter supports all of these, and it’s unique layer-based architecture allows you to customize what outputs get sent to which display channels.

ProPresenter 7: The Best Church Presentation Software for Windows

If you’re looking for the best church presentation software for Windows, you’ve found it.

ProPresenter 7 has the robust support you’re looking for, covering all the functions and use cases that churches and houses of worship use on a weekly basis. ProPresenter can do even more, too, giving you the power you need for even the most complex environments or special events.

Whether your church is large or small, ProPresenter makes sense. It’s simple enough for volunteers to start using with minimal training, but its pro-grade features can handle nearly anything your team can think of.

Ready to see ProPresenter for yourself? Download your unrestricted two-week trial today!