Venues Extend the Reach of Pastors’ Messages
Mar 3, 2005 10:05 AM
A growing number of pastors are using video and data networks to reach beyond the walls of their sanctuaries. The new media tools enable churches to expand their memberships without outgrowing their facilities, and they allow worshippers to share in a pastor’s message and teaching unimpeded by distance.
Video venues, multi-site worship, and distributed worship are some of the tags being attached to this trend. In a typical implementation, worshippers gather at a number of sites for their own services, including live music, announcements, and teaching by campus pastors. Then, via video, they share in the message of the principal teaching pastor. So far, the most common approach is for the pastor’s sermon to be distributed on tape or DVD for delayed playback, although some churches are moving toward live broadcast links among sites.
Todd Rhoades, who administers a website called ChurchVideoVenues, says it is difficult to attach hard numbers to the trend but that more and more churches seem to be pursuing a multi-site strategy—even relatively small churches. The strategy is not without controversy, he notes. “There are a lot of pastors who are dead set against it and a lot of others who are unbelievably excited about it,” Rhoades says.
For Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Fla., geography was a decisive factor. Jacksonville is the largest city in area in the United States, points out Eric Jaffe, multi-campus director and pastor of Celebration’s campus in Orange Park, Fla. People who could easily travel to services in Jacksonville on a Sunday had a much harder time participating in weekday activities, Jaffe says. As a result, the church opted for a multi-site approach, with its third site due to be ready to begin operations on Sunday, March 6.
By Easter 2005, Jaffe adds, Celebration Church hopes to replace its tape distribution system with live broadcast, using pairs of reciprocal T-1 lines, plus large 16:9 screens and projectors at each campus. Live video brings its own challenges, he notes, including exact synchronization of activities at all campuses so that everyone is ready for the pastor when he begins teaching.
It also brings the risk of losing personal connection with the pastor. However, Jaffe says, “Once a church gets to be larger, it’s very hard to get a personal connection to the senior pastor. If you’re beyond about the 20th row, you’re watching the video screen anyway.”
Shane Montgomery recently helped launch an on-campus video venue for Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Ark., and came to grips with exactly this concern. The solution, he feels, hinges on the campus pastors, who must serve are more than just emcees for worship services. “You can’t lose the combination role of shepherd and teacher for the campus pastor,” Montgomery says.
As long as this concern is addressed, he adds, worship in a venue is fundamentally different in exciting and positive ways. Mainly, people have the opportunity to attend church in their own communities, among their friends and neighbors, and benefit from a level of teaching that can be hard to find in rural and sparsely populated areas.
“It can be hard for a church of 400 or 500 members to attract a top teaching pastor,” says Montgomery. “This can be a huge win.”
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