Almost every year there is a major snowstorm during the winter. When that happens, businesses, stories and Churches shut down, especially if there is a significant amount of snow that accumulates.
So what happens when there is a snowstorm that prevents people coming to your Church building? Do you shut down? In years past, before the internet, that was what happened. However, we have learned a lot since the start of the pandemic and Churches no longer need to shut down if a major storm or emergency happens. They can still meet.
How are Churches able to stay open? Because of live stream and video service capabilities. See, while the actual Church building was closed, they were still able to stream a service to people. They can do that in a few different ways:
- Show a previous recorded service again. It’s always good to have a backup. After all, if you are streaming services from platforms like Resi and to places like YouTube, you always have a copy. Resi keeps all the services you stream for up to 15 days. YouTube keeps them permanently until you delete them.
- Live stream a service LIVE from someone's home. You can do this directly to YouTube or Facebook and people can watch. It won't be a highly produced one and it may only be the main minster giving a sermon, but at least people con congregate online and experience the service together.
- Add to a previously recorded service and make it fresh and new. Here you are taking an old service and insert some new announcements into it. This does take some time so it would be really hard to do it with under an hour. If you know for sure days before, you can start putting together the different elements you want. For instance, you can take a message and worship from an older, previously recorded service. But then you can a new intro, mid-service and a set of exit announcements and next steps to make it fresh.
Being online with live streaming capability not only enables your church to get to experience church and community together on any given Sunday but it is really helpful when a snowstorm or untimely event shuts your Church and other Churches down. For instance, because your Church was streaming live, other people who were without church that week could experience God's word and worship on those weeks.
Technology is always evolving, making things cheaper and more assessable, That means you can invest just a few dollars and your Church can experience Church every Sunday whether your Church building is actually open or not.
What do you think? How else have you seen online ministry save Church over the winter months? Share your ideas below or on social media.
Through the Digital Church Network we are helping physical and digital churches better understand the discipleship process, and helping churches and church planters understand this and other decentralized mindset shifts. Joining the DCN is free and be encouraged!
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