Why We Stream Our Worship Services
We’ve been streaming our morning worship service live online since 2013, but back then we only streamed audio from the service. Recently, we also started streaming video, so that you can not only hear us, but see everything as well. And while we’re still working to smooth out some bumps in the road, many people have let me know how much God has blessed them through this new way to participate in our worship services.
That’s why we stream our worship services.
We don’t do it merely because we can (although, since we can, I think it’s worth trying). We don’t do it merely to be trendy, or because others are doing it.
We stream our services to minister to people.
There are many people who can’t make it to church gatherings for one reason or another. Some are occasional reasons, such as being sick or being out of town. But other reasons are more prolonged, or even permanent, such as a prolonged illness, or even just the natural process of aging.
There are also many people who just aren’t ready to join a church just yet. Maybe they’re afraid of being put on the spot, or standing out from the crowd. Maybe they’re afraid the building will cave in on them (that won’t happen, by the way). But maybe they’re also interested in hearing what the church is all about, and they crave to know more about God and the Bible.
I definitely don’t think streaming our worship service is always the answer to how the church should minister to those who experience these or other reasons people are unable or unwilling to gather with the church. But it can be part of the solution for some people.
And if streaming our worship service online helps us to minister to some people we wouldn’t be able to minister to otherwise, then it’s definitely something we want to do.