August 26, 2024

According to a recent study by Pew Research, 10% of people who go to church are online-only attendees, and another 16% regularly switch back and forth between attending in-person and streaming worship services.

That means over a quarter of people who are involved in church regularly tune in to a streamed worship service.

That's a lot of people...

...and a lot of work, especially for those of us who didn't have any digital presence until the pandemic forced us to!

If the Good Shepherd is willing to leave 99 sheep in order to reclaim the ONE who wandered from the flock, surely WE can put forth a little work in order to strengthen our connection with the 1 in 4 who attend our churches digitally.

I've watched 178 Cumberland Presbyterian services online this year. A handful of those services were highly produced, and a bunch more were simple but highly watchable (clear sound, good video, maybe even a few captions to help with the flow of the service).

And then there's the service where the camera was aimed at the preacher's neck, not his head, for the entire sermon....

And the ones that were filmed and posted sideways (I turned my laptop sideways and watched anyway!)...

And the ones that focus on the pulpit the entire hour, even when no one is at the pulpit for long stretches of the service...

I doubt any of us got into ministry in order to produce online content (but if you did, talk to me: we could use your help!). We stand in front of our congregations each week to deliver a message, to share a Word from the Lord, to speak Truth seasoned with Love and Grace to Whosoever Will Pay Attention that Sunday.

The Message, the Word, and the Truth matter, whether "whosoever will" is sitting in a pew or at home on their back porch.

Brothers and sisters, we aren't just "streaming content," we are offering "streams of living water" to thirsty people who may never set foot in our church.

Let's do that well.

[1] Tell Your Viewers Who's Preaching. You know who's standing behind the pulpit, but if someone is new to the area and has decided to check out your church online, they have no idea if they are hearing your pastor, a special guest, or someone who's just filling in for a week.

Who cares?

Visitors care.

According to Lifeway's 2024 "Pew to Pew" report, 86% of people said the quality of preaching is an important consideration as they check out possible churches. 

Martin Luther, guest preacher

Make sure your online visitors know who they're listening to: add the preacher's name to the facebook post or to the title of the YouTube video. It's a simple thing, but only a handful of the online services I watched told me who was preaching.

[2] Get a Little Closer. The only thing I hate more than pictures of me is videos of me. In fact, when I was preaching each week, I wanted the camera as far from me as possible.

That was a selfish choice. I was more worried about what I looked like than about effectively communicating with the online audience. Lord, forgive me.

Preaching is more than just words. The preacher's gestures, expressions, and eye contact are part of the way the message is delivered.

If it's possible, help your audience get the full impact of the sermon by zooming in a little closer when the preaching begins. 

Rev. George Estes, Holy Conversations Worship Service, General Assembly 2024

[3] Show Us the Congregation. It will make a world of difference for strangers like me who are tuning in, AND for the members of your church family who want to be there with you in person but can't.

At Shiloh CP (Palmyra, TN), the camera is trained on the congregation until the sermon begins. I have never met a single person in that church--I can't even find Palmyra on the map!--but I felt like I was part of a worshiping community as I watched from home.

Changing the view from "pulpit only" to the congregation or musicians is possible even if all you have is a phone on a tripod.

Just find a place in the sanctuary where you can get several good views, park the tripod there, and ask a responsible teenager to move the camera a few times during the service. It's a game-changer.

Shiloh CPC, Palmyra, TN

[4] Last, but not least, remember: the camera sees and hears more than you realize!

CAMERA OPERATORS (especially smartphone cameras): When you whisper to the person next to you, everyone online is eavesdropping, whether we want to or not.

PREACHERS: The camera still sees you, even when every head is bowed and every eye is closed in the sanctuary. If you are shuffling papers, wiping your nose, or straightening your hair during the prayer, people online are likely to see it.

Set a good example: when you pray, just pray.

And all God's People said,

Amen.

During my next round of sermon listening (September 3--November 17), I'm trying out a variety of sermon evaluation checklists and worksheets to see how user-friendly they are (or aren't). If you'd like me to listen to one of your sermons and send you the checklist I used to evaluate it, I'd be happy to share that with you. If not, I'll just keep it to myself.

Email me (jnewell@cumberland.org) if you are interested.

Be sure to include your church name, presbytery, and where to find your services online (facebook, YouTube, your church website).

Thanks to everyone whose sermons I've watched this year already. You are ministering to me day after day, and I appreciate it!

--Rev. Jen Newell, Program Director, Louisa Woosley Preaching Initiative

The Louisa Woosley Preaching Initiative is a grant-funded program of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Our goal is to equip ministers and candidates for ministry to preach compelling sermons to today's diverse and often divided world. 

For more information about the initiative and our programs, visit our website.