To Stream or Not To Stream…the Glory of God is the Question

Churches have been broadcasting sermons online for the better part of ten years now.  As the technology developed, livestreaming via church websites, Facebook Live, and Instagram Live became the most popular choices.

The technology enabled music, preaching, and the presentation of the gospel to leap beyond physical limits.  Anyone could log onto a church site or page and worship from home.  What could be better, right? 

But not everyone shared that excitement. 

For some churches, there was (and still is) a hesitancy to broadcast their services online.  Several concerns driving their hesitancy, but there is one that is most often voiced.  Churches fear that members will just choose to stay home and watch from their couches (much like many have chosen to do for professional sports).  And for this reason, many churches have never livestreamed their services.

But then, Covid-19 struck, and public worship wasn’t an option. As a result, churches had no choice but to livestream in one form or another.

As now, as the country has opened back up, the question for the churches who were hesitant to stream in the first place is whether to continue. 

Certainly, many church members do not feel safe returning to large public gatherings, and others are immunocompromised and attending is not a possibility.  But others have just chosen to continue to worship at home out of ease. 

Since the latter is a concern, I have even heard it argued from some churches that the livestream shouldn’t be very good because you don’t want people to have the option of just staying at home out of ease.  The thinking is the stream should create a desire to return to public worship. 

This reality leaves the church with a dilemma.  Should they stop livestreaming now that the country is reopening?  And if you continue streaming, what should the quality be like?  

Here at Church Training Partners, we offer this advice. 

Streaming your services should fit into the overall theology of worship of your church. 

If your theology of worship is defined solely by your physical gathering, don’t stream.

If your theology of worship includes making your services available to those who can’t be present, stream.

If your theology of worship includes proclaiming the gospel to the nations, then stream.

If your theology of worship is intended just for the saints, then turn off the camera. 

But this truth should be clear.  If you are going to stream your worship service, make it excellent.  Make it of the highest quality and do it in the highest regard for the glory of God.

Make sure it streams strongly.

Make sure everyone on the screen can be seen.

Make sure the sound is clear.

Even if your streaming is a temporary service, our encouragement is to do it to the glory of God and to do it as absolutely best as you are able to produce it.

The worship of God calls for nothing less.

If you have any questions about coaching or training, don’t hesitate to reach out.

You can learn more about us at www.churchtrainingpartners.com or you can contact us at admin@ctpmarketplace.com or 919-412-8161.