VideoTeaching.com Will Your Church Use It?
I attended a 3 day conference a few years ago that was simulcast in churches all over North America. The music was live, but the speakers were not. I wasn't sure what to expect, but as soon as our video speaker beamed in, I felt right at home. Projected on a life-size screen, I never noticed that he wasn't really there.
Multi-site churches and video teaching are becoming more common in the church. CNN even experiemented with holograms during the last election. The latest addition to the video spectrum for churches is the free VideoTeaching.com, sponsored by LifeChurch.tv--pioneers in multisite venus.
Videoteaching.com is now live, and it looks like it will offer some interesting content. The move to video teaching in churches has both its benefits and shortcomings.
Benefits
- Churches can host big-name speakers who might not otherwise be available.
- There is an important bond between a pastor and flock, but having "outside" voices at regular intervals prevents a church from becoming enmeshed or ingrown. Outside voices can often address issues that inside voices cannot.
- Video teaching adds to the evangelical landscape--TV, Radio, Podcast, etc.-- it spreads the Word of God.
- It's tough to find good speakers sometimes! This has the potential to help.
- A Video pastor is often more teacher than pastor. My relationships during the week influence my message on Sunday. My message on Sunday influences my relationships during the week.
- Like the secular marketplace, the church faces challenges of big box franchises coexisting with smaller boutiques. Both have their place, but the growth in video teaching could lead to over homogenization of theology and style in the American church. American Evangelicalism already looks different from other Christian bodies.
- The Bible is clear that being a part of a church body is necessary for spiritual health. Church online or TV have their place, but they're not a substitute for in-person fellowship. Granted, the focus of VideoTeaching.com is for it's use within a congregational gathering.
- An issue hinted at with VideoTeaching.com is the temptation for pastoral plagiarism--preaching someone else's sermon as one's own. The temptation with video is to pass off another pastor's style as one's own...to take it to a 'hole 'nutha level..."
- Does your church make good use of any kind of video teaching?
- How has it impacted your worship service?
- How does it fit within biblical forms of worship?
- Does it have a place in all churches, or just those of a certain style?
