The below is a letter that was sent out to our church regarding how to make the most of our streamed church services.
I hope you are holding up ok given the circumstances. I wanted to share with you all that you need to know about accessing our services this coming Sunday. But firstly I wanted to ask, how can we best be serving you right now?
The ministry team is very keen to hear your thoughts about how we can make this situation work. We would particularly like to know how we can be serving you and feeding you at the moment. If you have ideas, or if there are things we've overlooked please reply to this and let us know.
Below are some FAQ's
1. HOW CAN I ACCESS THE SERVICES?
From this Sunday our two services will be streamed on Facebook Live, Youtube and our church website. If you're unsure of where to go just go to www.stpaulscanterbury.com and you won't be able to miss it.
The stream will be running from 9.00AM for a 9.30AM start AND 4.30PM for a 5PM start.
We will also send out a text to the congregation before the services begin.
2. WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE WHO CAN'T ACCESS THE INTERNET?
Of our regular attendees there are very few people who don't have access to the internet. Those we know of have been invited to join others at their homes. If you know someone who might have slipped through the cracks, please reply to this.
3. WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT?
Firstly it's important to be realistic. This won't be the same as meeting in person and there's a real grief there.
Some things will be the same - there will be singing, prayers, notices, bible readings and a sermon
But some things will be different. The services will intentionally be shorter than a regular Sunday (about 40mins). This is for two main reasons.
First, keeping engaged on a computer screen is much harder than in person. So we need to be realistic about what we can achieve online. Second, we want to give space for people to continue other elements of church in their homes in smaller groups.
In the coming weeks we will send out 'home worship' guides for you to use (prayers, questions to dig deeper into the bible etc).
For this Sunday Luke has prepared a kids activity guide for this Sunday which has gone out in a separate email to parents and care givers.
Michael and Luke have been working tirelessly to adapt to this situation and are trying to redeem as much good out of a situation we wouldn't have chosen. Expect the services to improve as we learn how to adapt.
4. HOW CAN I MAKE THE MOST OF THIS EXPERIENCE?
If it is safe for you to do so I would encourage you to gather at one another's homes in groups of 4-6 to keep up some face to face fellowship and to enable people to engage with the content together.
If you would like to join other people but don't know who to ask please reply to this and lets see if we can work something out. Some people have already offered their homes as venues to gather.
Engage with the service. We will be singing and praying and reading God's word like we normally do. Sing, pray and read from home. Perhaps log on to our Facebook group (if you have it), or use a WhatsApp group to communicate with other church members during and after the service.
I would cherish your prayers as we do this. Again, there's been a small team who have been working very hard to pull this off. Pray that any technical hitches will be sorted out tomorrow when we do a 'dress rehearsal.' Pray that in God's kindness this would come together for the good of his people and the multiplication of the gospel. Pray that our fellowship with one another would continue as we still meet up (in smaller number) to pray with and for one another and to spur each other on in the faith.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Steve