It has been a year since the world was thrown into the age of media as our main source of communication with the world. For many businesses, they have finally developed a well-oiled system that incorporates as little human interaction. This is due to the efficiency of the interweb. People have figured out how to place orders online, pay online and even have people drive their food and or packages to their doorstep. All instructed from wireless devices. But what about those facilities that are more orientated around the community and human interaction, say a church.
How has the church evolved into the digital age?
For most churches, it was a struggle to switch to an online presence that became more of a project than a way of worship. Then there were some who were already dabbling in the ways of youtube and recorded messages that when the sudden shift to online serves was not that much of a concern. In fact, more people have noticed an increase in attendance, while others believed the integrity of attending has diminished. I think it is safe to say, the world has benefited from this pandemic spiritually more than we think.
There are more opportunities for discussion about the gospel and worship compared to memes and political views. While it is not the most popular subject spoken, the ability for conversation to spark is more abundant.
A great example of an outstanding church that has thrived and used the media to its advantage would be True North. They are a newly planted church when the pandemic just started. Man what a rough start. Thankfully they had a well-established foundation in the interweb and that carried them ahead of other churches. (It is not a competition but due to their advancement in technology they were able to go so much farther faster for such a young church). I and some other classmates will be working with True North and learning how to continue to improve and go farther in their outreach of worship. More specifically how to stand out among the sea of music videos and Jesus be my boyfriend songs.
To be continued on what we find.
Hello Mayer, just wanted to say I really enjoyed how you wrote a blog post on this topic, because many of us tend to forget that we went to church on a regular basis and were involved in community every single day. However, Sadly due to the pandemic, that wasn’t the case and it forced community craving church people to have to quarantine and watch church online. What I really enjoyed most about your blog post is how you went in depth to explore how churches switched from an in-person group of believers to an online digital aged community of people who still craved a message. Another aspect of your post that I really enjoyed was how you acknowledge the positivity of the pandemic. At times, people only see the negative side of things, but you really saw that the pandemic was a blessing in a way for some churches in an attendance increase and various other things. Lastly, what was interesting about your blog post was your example of True North church which we talked about in class. It was interesting how you highlighted their struggle in the beginning, but now that they are established with a building, people, and resources, they are off to bigger and better things. Great blog Post!