For churches that didn’t have a strong grasp on the latest tech, the race is on to get online services up and running quickly.
Have you attended church from home via online services on your computer? If you haven’t so far, there’s a good chance you will soon.
The novel coronavirus pandemic has churches scrambling to make sure they can hold their services on the web. They want to still minister to their parishioners. But they also recognize the need for social distancing, which is important in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Some churches have been ahead of the online services curve for a while now. I’ve attended church via the web from several churches over the past few years.
It’s an interesting experience, but for some, it’s not enough. Last summer, I wrote about the online experience. For an introvert like me, attending online takes a lot of pressure off that allows you to skip social anxiety.
But some churches haven’t quite “arrived” at that point. So the pandemic forced them to look for ways to get their messages to their congregations as more sanctuaries shut down for safety’s sake.
One church in Charleston has been welcoming other pastors to their facility to pre-record sermons on their stage and with their cameras. The church then sends them digital files that they can post to their websites and/or social media. The church hosting the tapings is providing a unique service to fellow churches in doing so.
Other churches are going it alone, exploring platforms like Facebook or YouTube for the first time as they try to get the message out perhaps a bit sooner than they were ready to do so.
I hope parishioners are mindful of grace in this process. Churches that have less experience with such tech will get things wrong. Bear with them.
Keep in mind that they’re still trying to accomplish their mission as best they can, even if it’s not perfect.
And that’s what really matters.
