In recent times, many churches have switched to ‘online mode’ but what does that look like from an insider’s perspective? My mother is a pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Sugar Grove, Pa, and we moved from an ‘in-person’ congregation to a ‘Facebook live’ church that is done exclusively from our dining room.
What takes place: First is the setting up of the laptop (sometimes we will need to use more than one) and the moving of the table out of the way, this is all usually done Saturday after dinner; then my younger sister and I clean the dining room which usually just means dusting, vacuuming, and straightening. Next comes the assignment of parts. We need a person to be the liturgist, and a person to read scripture, this, again, usually falls on my sister and me because my dad is playing guitar and our mother is reading the sermon. Then come the pugs, which we just stick outside for the hour.
When the time actually comes to be ‘live’, we can’t show up in our pajamas, we actually have to look like we are going to church; a nice dress or a tie and buttondown is how we usually dress for church.
Then we move to Wednesday nights which is where my mom and dad do a Bible study. This is the most enjoyable thing to be apart of and also the most irritating. My sister and I are in charge of the dogs, in case they start barking, wanting food and taking them for a walk. We recently got a pug puppy and he’s quite rumbustious.
This is really interesting and cool that you guys still pretty much get to have the whole Church experience right at home while most people get to mosey down the stairs in their pajamas 5 mins. before the sermon starts.