I officiated a wedding on the Jersey shore last autumn on a Friday night. Understandably, the family and wedding party stayed at the beach while I returned to my church on Sunday morning. As we shared joys and concerns as a church family, the member running the Livestream excitedly exclaimed that the bride and her family were joining us digitally. We had already shared the joy of celebrating her wedding, but what a special joy it was to be connected online to share the news and excitement!
Even before the pandemic and online church, I was a firm believer in the Spirit connecting us over time and space. My family has been spread about the country since my sisters and I went to college, and I’ve always taken great comfort and assurance from the truth that worship connects us across the miles. When we celebrate World Communion Sunday in our churches, we proclaim that we celebrate a global feast that began with the early Jews, was transformed by Christ, and continues to connect us with past, present and future followers of Jesus. Sometimes we bring different slices of bread that might be used in different parts of the world to remind us that the Lord’s Supper is the transcendent world feast of all of God’s people together.
Like many small churches, our church’s presence online was brought about by the pandemic. We moved to online-only in March 2020. By the grace of God, we only had one Sunday where our recorded service did not stream at the planned time. Other than that, Facebook Live has worked well for us as a platform to join in worship. And we have kept our online streaming even as we have moved back into our sanctuary.
Pre-pandemic, I encountered many Christians who would say, “I can’t make it, but I’ll be there in Spirit.” I would argue that online connectivity has made it possible to be present in the Spirit in a new way. Beyond the opportunity to connect with church family from far away, online church has made it possible for me to pastor to someone without a church. And it is truly exciting to be exploring adding virtual worshipers to our membership and church family. I know there is still more we can do when it comes to expanding our online ministry, but I also know that we cannot afford to do less. Whether we saw the Spirit moving us this direction or not, our once local church family has grown to include faith family across the country, and we have come to recognize these participants by name through prayer, greetings on Sunday and sharing in the details of their lives.
We recently had an important conversation with our confirmation students about finding a church home if they move away from the area after high school or during their college years. We talked about PC(USA) churches but also theologically similar denominations. One student interjected confidently, “And we can always just go on the Livestream until we find a church or when we miss our church family.” For all the challenges that come with online spaces, what a gift to be able to find your church family online on a Sunday when you’re lonely and far away!
I believe the Holy Spirit has always been at work — never constricted or constrained by distance or time. But I love glimpsing how the digital church is making these spiritual connections happen. And it is quite something to be part of the new thing that God is doing — welcoming online participants into our faith family, looking for ways to expand participation and interaction during online worship and recognizing the limits of online participation … then wondering if it is possible to move beyond them.
A few years ago, only larger churches seemed to have an online ministry as part of their future. But I’m excited to see smaller churches partner with the digital expansion of the Spirit that is already on the way. There is so much we can do with the help of technology and the Spirit with us. The Spirit beckons us to expand, grow, change, to be flexible and adaptable. The future is upon us and unlike ministering through a pandemic, this piece seems worth being excited about.
