How could live streaming a service benefit the church body?
While I was working at a church in Irving, we decided it would benefit us to stream the services live for a few reasons. One minor reason was because other churches had already set a precedent. This only helped us consider the concept, but not enough to pursue it. The biggest reason was to allow church members who were sick or away on vacation to tune in and see how their church was doing while they were gone and to still feel connected to their church family. I have had many people personally tell me how wonderful it was to be in the mountains in Colorado, the beaches of California or among the land of 1000 lakes, and still be able to watch a live stream of their church worshipping our Almighty God.
Being connected to a church family is very important to our walk as Christians. God wired us as social beings because He is a very social being. He desires to be in a relationship with us so badly, he sent His son to die on a cross to forgive our sins so that we could be in fellowship with Him!
“The church exists primarily for two closely correlated purposes: to worship God and to work for His kingdom in the world … The church also exists for a third purpose, which serves the other two: to encourage one another, to build one another up in faith, to pray with and for one another, to learn from one another and teach one another, and to set one another examples to follow, challenges to take up, and urgent tasks to perform. This is all part of what is known loosely as fellowship.”
― N.T. Wright, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense
Christians have tried alternative forms of fellowship because work, leisure, or other circumstances is prohibiting them from fellowshipping with their church family in person.
Christians in the 60’s-90’s would ask for a bulletin from a Sunday they missed because they knew the entire service and songs could be found in there. They could then try and experience the worship their church family did on that Sunday gathering by singing through the songs in their own home and then share their experiences with their friends during their next fellowship time.
Current generations in the context of an internet driven and super connected society, look toward watching their church’s service live over the internet and then share what they’ve learned or how God has moved them on social media and then fellowship with their friends in real time. The tools technology gives us is astounding!
Ultimately, the two churches I have been the technical director for have decided to pursue streaming services online because we believed it fulfills and encourages the church’s purposes. To worship God and to work for His kingdom in the world. The live stream is ultimately a tool for the local congregation to encourage one another, build each other up in faith, to pray with and for one another and all of the other purposes the church has for Christians.
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