|
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
It was recently reported that restaurants say that their in-person business remains around 20% down from pre-COVID levels. But, for many, their take-out business has greatly expanded and is making up for that 20%. Many of those restaurants never had take-out options before and now that business is keeping them afloat. And for those who were thinking about eliminating it, they either decided against it, or are losing revenue that might otherwise be available to them. Restaurant consultants are now saying the this is just one of the changes that restaurants are going to have to accommodate to to meet the needs/wants/desires of their customers.
The same is, or will soon start, happening in the church. While there were churches who were streaming their services on the internet prior to COVID, they were, overall, few in number. But then almost overnight, most churches started streaming their services because they had to. Many of them have stopped doing that for a multiplicity of reasons, and many others, including us, continued, also for a multiplicity of reasons.
Most churches think of themselves as a physical location that might also have a digital presence. The thinking around this is that those who are physically present in the building are still the “primary” way we do church, and those online are simply observing what we do here. And the preference is still that people come into the building to do church as we have always done it. The question that then develops is that sustainable over the longer-term.
According to Carey Nieuwohf, a former church planter, megachurch pastor and now church consultant, the answer is no. He has said that one of the trends we will see over the next ten years, which is what this series of letters has been about, is that church will shift from being a physical location with a digital presence to a digital presence with a physical location. Churches will have to start staffing, either with paid staff or volunteers, for digital presence and content, or they will cease to be relevant or exist.
And this is about more than just worship. It’s about all areas of the church that needs to have a digital presence, or digital access. In many ways we are already doing some this with hybrid classes and meetings, but there are many more steps to take. One of those changes is in how we approach online worship so that it is not simply viewing what’s happening in the sanctuary but there is greater integration between the two and those online have an experience created for them.
Think about a sporting event. Watching in the stands is great, and there is something special about doing that. But watching it on TV is also good, if not superior in some ways. TV also captures a much larger audience, and what you see on the TV is not what you would see if you were there. Same experience, but it’s a different production for each group. So, this is not an either/or, but a both/and. We still have a physical presence and location and we also have a digital presence, and that digital presence will continue to grow.
As part of this work, we have engaged with Gabe who helped us install the current streaming system we use to help us imagine the next steps of online worship to help us improve. The simple part of that is the likely addition of a third camera as well as the ability to control the sound specifically for the stream. Right now, the stream gets the inhouse mix, which often sounds great for those in the sanctuary, but is less than ideal for online. So, for example, we cannot adjust mic volumes as was being requested online last Sunday because that would change the in-house mix. This addition would allow us to be able to produce a much better online worship experience.
This new reality will also force us to begin thinking in new and different ways about how we do church, including how we engage in an online community, and reach out and connect with people not just in Los Alamos but around the world. And, as a reminder, this is not work that we are doing alone. These conversations are taking place throughout the church, and for those who are not yet having them, either they will or they will cease to exist.
Church will no longer be about 100% in-person participation, and that’s a good thing because it opens up huge possibilities for greater engagement, even with those who can no longer physically attend. And while there may be some entirely digital churches, and possibly already are, it won’t be 100% about digital participation either. There has to be some blend of these two, but the church has to start realizing that the internet is not going away. In fact, digital engagement will only continue to increase, and so we need to rethink what we do and how we do it so we can continue to offer the good news of Jesus to the world.
Blessings,
John
What I'm Currently Reading:
-
Exploring Forgiveness edited by Robert D. Enright
-
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
| 
