I appreciate what you are saying here and it has often been my argument with those who do not see the value of sharing church or “doing” church on-line. Yes, it would be great if everyone came to physically to church, but for many reasons that is not always a possibility-whether due to frailty, obligations on Sunday, work, travel, or just life, I believe that having access to worship and other Christian community on-line can make a difference. I do not have a large following, but I’m ok with that. What I remind people is that I am called to be faithful and if by having the worship available online makes a difference to just one person than it is doing its job-connecting people to God and something greater than themselves. Thanks for posting this.
I work at a large but not mega- church. We have grown in online attendance after COVID. On a Sunday we might have 1400 people on campus, and 600 online. Those people online all consider our church to be their church. It's evident when I run into them at walmart or eating out. They'll say, "hey I know you from church... Well I watch online every week..." I don't preach every week, I'm the Discipleship Pastor... I'll respond with "I'm so glad to connect with you!" and we will talk a little bit. I say this to say that I value digital church connections. I'm just not sure many of us have it all figured out (I certainly don't).
I appreciate what you are saying here and it has often been my argument with those who do not see the value of sharing church or “doing” church on-line. Yes, it would be great if everyone came to physically to church, but for many reasons that is not always a possibility-whether due to frailty, obligations on Sunday, work, travel, or just life, I believe that having access to worship and other Christian community on-line can make a difference. I do not have a large following, but I’m ok with that. What I remind people is that I am called to be faithful and if by having the worship available online makes a difference to just one person than it is doing its job-connecting people to God and something greater than themselves. Thanks for posting this.
Thank YOU for the affirmation and your faithfulness to your people.
The people that I serve have feelings. They need to know that they matter.
I work at a large but not mega- church. We have grown in online attendance after COVID. On a Sunday we might have 1400 people on campus, and 600 online. Those people online all consider our church to be their church. It's evident when I run into them at walmart or eating out. They'll say, "hey I know you from church... Well I watch online every week..." I don't preach every week, I'm the Discipleship Pastor... I'll respond with "I'm so glad to connect with you!" and we will talk a little bit. I say this to say that I value digital church connections. I'm just not sure many of us have it all figured out (I certainly don't).
Thanks for sharing this -- It makes all the difference to me that we honor the dignity of the person and their choice.
I'm so glad to hear that this post resonates. Thank you for sticking with me! 💜