FRONT OF HOUSE
NO BARRIERS | Kent Morris
Andy slowly circled the building for the second time , not sure if he wanted to park or just head on back home . He anticipated the positive aspect of his plan to attend a worship service after being out of church for several years . He missed the feeling of community and oneness he recalled from his time as part of the youth ministry . But , he also knew walking through the church door would mean encountering strangers with an odd sense of friendliness and an awkward moment if he sat in someone ’ s preferred seat . With his car idling while halfway into a parking space , he decided it was just too much ; threw the shifter into reverse and made for home with a quick stop at Starbucks as a treat to himself for making the effort .
Once home , Andy grabbed his iPad and jumped on social media where he saw a livestream of the service he almost attended . With nothing to lose , he stopped scrolling and watched the service unfold in his hand . The next thing Andy knew , an hour had passed and he was now back among the churchgoing public .
After half a year , livestreaming represents the “ new normal ” for most churches . In fact , it ’ s not easy to recall how we assembled in person , close-quartered and with physical embrace without feeling a tinge of reluctance to behave in the same manner today . Now that we are comfortable experiencing worship in our living room , we need to consider how we can improve the moment for those who attend our services virtually . But , just as there are now no barriers to entry for an online worship service , there are also no barriers to exit as well , meaning we must find ways to keep people engaged and participating in the service .
In a live in-person service , leaving the meeting means disturbing others and making a scene , but online it ’ s as simple as logging off . To keep people engaged , they must have fluidity and continuity which require us to employ a solid , reliable media platform such as Boxcast or Resi , formerly known as Living As One . These paid services offer more up-time and quicker response when something goes wrong and they are worth their cost simply because studies show fully half of viewers leave after a second viewership interruption .
Besides delivery , content is the other retainer of viewership . Without a compelling reason to stay , people leave . As techs , we can help our speaking pastors by suggesting graphics which can be used as full-screens to demonstrate a point and by encouraging them to take a thirty minute in-person sermon and reduce it to twenty minutes for online participants as repeating a point three different
ways does nothing to improve online retention . For our worship pastors , we can help by suggesting more medley song compositions and the use of fewer words between songs . For announcements , we can suggest those be run either before or after the service core . Giving can be mentioned and then reinforced through the use of lower thirds instead of turning the service into a televangelist fundraiser .
To drive up interest contextually , we can employ smooth , slowly intentional video framing pushes to emphasize a point and pulls to broaden a topic . We can gently pan the platform to define spatial parameters while switching between two similar perspectives on the speaking pastor every few minutes which invites the viewer to reattach their mind to the subject at hand .
Online church is not the entertainment business , but it does fall within the concept of digital space reality where people behave differently than they do in-person . Thus , we must address the issues as they are and be ready to engage proven techniques so the Word is carried forth .
Kent Morris Kent is a 40-year veteran of the AVL arena driven by passion for excellence tempered by the knowledge digital is a temporary state .