Yesterday (on Easter), I woke up (on purpose) before 5am. I had decided to experience Tampa Underground’s Easter gathering. Tampa Underground is a hub-and-spoke model of church, in particular microsites. There is a governing center (the hub) with a whole bunch of committed satellite sites (the spokes). It is different than the American standard model of denominations in that each microsite is very particular and small on purpose. This is in contrast to many American churches that are small and particular by chance, atrophy, directionlessness, or some leader issues.

Yet, the hub-and-spoke model created a very different (historically) expression of an Easter service. We were (predominately) on Zoom. Due to Zoom limitations, some people were watching on Facebook. What made this interesting is that there were people from Ireland, the Philippines, France, and the USA all leading different aspects of this worship gathering. Imagine that! An international/intercultural Easter gathering! Talk about turning the world’s systems upside down!

If there is one thing that church online does better than the physical gathering on Sundays (or whatever day your church gathers), is the ability to gather from around the globe. There is a special power when people outside of your immediate world speak into your life.

The standard model of church is able to do this, but the protection of one’s local context (often out of unrecognized fear) creates an atmosphere where this is much harder. The advantage of the hub-and-spoke model is an automatic decentralization that really allows for such a creative and expressive Easter (or any church) gathering.

So, while much of the church is still trying to figure out what the digital means for their local expression, there also needs to be a shift into thing what we can do with this technology. This time is a challenge. This time is also an opportunity!

One of the biggest (and most valid) critiques of doing church online (or, as in the current COVID situation, only online) is the lack of connection. We humans are made for connection. Understand that this is coming from an introvert. I too need connection. There is something about physical connection. There is this matter of being present with one another that often defies logic.

Many people of the more digital persuasion are not persuaded by this undefinable need. Some people dismiss the “digitarati” as broken or emotionally-stunted people. Some may be that way. Most, however, are driven by numbers not undefinables, or so they think. Honestly, numbers are good. Those that often dismiss the digitarati don’t connect the numbers to the people.

There is the historical people are not numbers. They aren’t. They are people with stories. However, numbers represent people, people who have stories. Numbers can and do tell stories, too. They tell the story of people and their history. Numbers should be paid attention to.

What does that have to do with, “now what?”

There are lots of numbers watching church online right now. That cannot be enough. There are usually a lot of numbers watching football, soccer, basketball, hockey. Numbers can do many things. And they are lacking…and so is online church.

Yes, online church is the wave of the future. Okay, it was. It is now the present. Our next steps, and I know mine, is how we move to discipleship and spiritual growth. Really, much of online church is what already happens in the so-called \”real\” physical church…audiences and consumers.

Even some of the younger people of the church do not find this online expression to be very satisfying. That’s actually a good thing. In a day and age where there is great concern regarding disconnection, that the technology-embedded generations recognize a difference is a good thing!

The reality is that all of us are looking at ways to develop and maintain community while we are physically distanced. Small groups online is the way we are going to all have to go, and it will not be the most comfortable or the most incarnation we think or feel it ought to be. That\’s okay.

Online church services and online small groups may online be for a short time. It also may be for a long time. We don’t know. There are currently denominations/traditions/regions/local churches that have chosen, for example, to not celebrate the Eucharist together. There are others who are bending their theology to allow some sort of communal Eucharist celebration. There are others who have no theological issue with online communion at all. Most of the longtime online churches have that theological perspective.

This is a time of learning. What needs to be done to be the church? What does it mean to be part of the church when we are distant?

One of the things that this is teaching us is that how poor our Bible teaching has been. It’s probably better to say, how poorly have we empowered and encouraged people to pursue Christ through reading the Bible in discernment on their own. We have, it seems, overly centralized God’s word. For those who object to the term “self-feeding”, I do agree to an extent. Yet, this shows why it is so important to create some form of “self-feeding”.

Without decentralization, we would have never been gifted Paul’s words. Think on that for a moment. When Paul wrote he was away from (or never even met) the churches he wrote to. This isn’t that new.

In the American Western Frontier (from the 19th century) there were the Methodist Circuit Riders. They existed because the people were disconnected from one another. They went around to deliver the Word of God and the Eucharist, and to baptize. What has been utterly fascinating is how much the American Church has forgotten that. The Church of the Nazarene came from much of that, as many of our churches are in very rural areas, which is odd having been started on the streets of Los Angeles in the “wrong” side of town.

Perhaps, we have lost what it means to be connected. This might also be an echo what the USA is experiencing in its current cultural and political climate. We are disconnected from one another, even in our own neighborhoods. Perhaps the greatest lesson we are learning in the current COVID situation is that we are disconnected and we don’t know how to be connected.

We all compare ourselves to others. Churches compare themselves to other churches. Pastors compare themselves to other pastors. Online streamers compare themselves to online streamers. There is some good in that, as long as one is looking for a goal and to learn. The problem lies in looking at the current state as if your current state is similar. It isn’t.

The COVID-19 virus currently sweeping the world (whether physically or mentally/emotionally) is shining the light back upon this for me, especially for those who are finding themselves in the middle of trying to do something with which they are unfamiliar and unprepared.

There are a number of easy ways to get online streaming started. However, your first run will probably be a bit rough. It might even be awful. That’s okay. In many ways, just to be clear, I’m preaching to myself as much as I am speaking to you. I mentally rip apart each of the streams I do with what I did badly. As long as I don’t tear myself down and learn from it, and improve, that’s fine. It should be the same with you.

A lot of small (i.e., don’t have muchany “spare” money) churches are going to be live streaming this weekend. They will be doing it on a shoestring or zero budget. It’s also likely that those further along the streaming road will criticize the shortcomings of the stream. It’s quite possible that congregants, too, will be unhappy and complain. Not only are the congregants unable to go to church, now they have to watch this “awful” thing on their phone, computer, or TV.

The sad reality is that many churches (including my own) will be compared to “professional” setups that (frankly) most churches just can’t afford, or would even want to. The big “professional” setups cost a huge amount of money. This is not to say that the “professional” setups are wrong, they just aren’t the calling of most churches.

Ultimately, give yourself grace to do this. While broadcasting online really isn’t that new, churches (even those who are “professional”) are still learning exactly what it means to be “church online”. Don’t think you need to be up to speed this Sunday.

In his book, Rings of Fire, Leonard Sweet writes (pg 13):

In the language of Nassim Nicholas Taleb, we must learn to be an Antifragile Church that can embrace vulnerability and weakness and celebrate the positivity of stress. To be “antifragile” is to trust the order behind the chaos, to flourish from random environments rather than established settings, and not to be afraid of antifragile preaching that can take place outside the normal patterns (systems) of church. YouTube, Facebook, podcasts, and other digital formats (screens) are a few antifragile ways to preach in a hostile culture.

I was recently involved in a conversation which talked about how the “local” church must/should remain local, and yet understand that the moment they go online, their online expression (in whatever form) is no longer local. This is incredibly important to understand, as we now have a unique freedom to speak the truth about Jesus Christ in a way that a greater proportion of people will not feel threatened by it.

The internet has been a great source of bad, honestly, no matter how much we might “love” it. It can—which is the point of this site—also reach the world for the Gospel. Roads can be bad, as bad drivers (or even good drivers under bad circumstances) can kill a person with a bad decision. We’re not talking about banning roads. The internet can bring a lot of evil and corruption right into our pockets. If we ignore that power, however, do we really want to look a Jesus and say, “sorry, I was too concerned with what might have happened, to care that I could have shared about your grace, love and mercy.” That’s not a conversation I want to have.