Online Worship: Curse or Blessing?

If two or three (or more) gather in Jesus' name by going to the same Internet site at the same time and watching the same livestream program, is Jesus in their midst?  This, inevitably, is the challenging question about whether watching a worship service on TV or joining a worship service online is an act of worship.  To be sure, there is something qualitatively different about wearing a bathrobe and slippers and logging on to the computer than putting on presentable clothes and driving to a common place.  But if people seem to be able to "telecommute" to work without it affecting their workload, why can't people "telechurch" to worship?  After all, if God is everywhere present, that must include a divine presence in cyberspace too.

Personally, I prefer to worship in a common space with other people, but I also know that the experience greatly depends on what you bring to it.  This means that for certain people, at certain times, online worship might work better.  At the very least, there usually is greater flexibility of when to worship online (yes, like Cable TV offers, it's 'worship on-demand').  More to the point, though, if you feel safer and more accepted online (because of the anonymity that the Internet can offer), you are more likely to have a deep faith experience than if you come to a church anxious and defensive, afraid to talk to anybody and doubting that anyone there (including the pastor) has anything of value to share with you.  (On the other hand, over time you hopefully would be able to develop relationships with others who gather in the same place with you, which is much more difficult, though not impossible, online.)

I mention this because I recently came across an online article about one of the more well-known online worship services, called "Darkwood Brew."  It suggests a very serious question: is this one direction that the church will take moving into the next 20 years?  I certainly know that some people will try it -- actually, many are already doing online worship in one form or another.

Then again, I wonder if the centrality of jazz music for Darkwood Brew suggests a path that American Christian worship has inexplicably not taken.  Given the cultural importance of jazz music, I find it rather inconceivable that there is very little Christian jazz worship music.  Certain churches sought to use new technologies rather quickly, such as radio, television, and the Internet, to varying success.  There is no similar appropriation of jazz music, even after a century.

Social Media for Non-Profits -- Maybe Even Churches

Last week, an article in Faith and Leadership, an online publication from Duke Divinity School, detailed how established non-profit organizations are beginning to use social media like Facebook.  The title of the article is a challenge to any congregation: "No more excuses: Nonprofits give social media a try."

No church is mentioned in the article, which focuses on the recent experiences of organizations like the American Humane Society.  However, the opportunities presented to congregations by Facebook and YouTube, in addition to blogs like this one, are at least as great as those to national non-profit organizations.

For starters, they offer an opportunity to build our community outside of a weekly worship service.  Social media, though it cannot replace face-to-face interaction, can allow us to connect at any time, wherever we are.  If the church cannot overturn the "on-demand" culture we now face, we can adapt so that we are not overwhelmed by the demands it places on our schedules.  Social media allows promising opportunities in this regard.

In the short term, Eastgate's new media will be focused on this pastor's blog.  In time, we will explore other resources that may strengthen our community of faith, including other social media.