SHARE:  
Various churches and denominations have chosen various strategies to address worship practices in a time of contagious disease. One of those strategies is to stream church service online to minimize exposure of our most vulnerable populations - older adults, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, as well as those who work with at-risk populations or have them in their households.

One motivation for churches to offer online options - the same reason many schools are implementing virtual classes for the next few weeks, and conferences and public gatherings are being postposed and cancelled - is to help in avoiding a rapid spike of cases that could overwhelm the health care system by "flattening  the curve," or spreading out the number of coronavirus cases over a longer period. Additionally, a long-term benefit of online and livestreaming church is accessibly of the Word to anyone who for any reason is homebound.

If your church currently livestreams services, we want to know about it! Please send your livestreaming information, including links, to Samantha Henderson, Communications Coordinator in the SWCA Synod Office - shenderson@socalsynod.org.
Taking Church Online - Resources
Creating Live-Streamed Worship in 3 Days (HackingChristianity.net)
Churches want to care for the spiritual health and connectedness of our congregations. Our church opted to provide online worship, a livestream of a worship service with volunteers and staff to our folks who were at home. The following is how we adapted, created, and published livestreamed worship in only 3 days .
Epidemic Preparedness: An Opportunity to Cultivate an Online Worship Community (Caffeinated Church)
I f you are considering a live-stream of your worship service or other alternative ways of using technology to meet people where they are, remember that personal connections, the connections that are made from an individual to an individual, are important. How can you create communities within your community to maintain personal relationships? How can you shift meetings, worship services, or youth events from in-person gatherings to virtual experiences?
Getting Stared with Church Online (Practical Resources for Churches/Zoom) - Wednesday March 11
If your church is wondering how to begin to do church online, join us for a webinar to get you started. We will cover online worship, bible studies, and meetings. We'll talk about the basics of zoom, helpful tips for equipment and set up, how to help folks without computers phone in. We'll even help you find simple tutorials for your members new to the online world.
Southwest California Synod of the ELCA| (818) 507-9591| news@socalsynod.org| www.socalsynod.org