I have been reading a lot about technology and the church lately, specifically in regards to social media. Because of the latter, I came across a study done by Buzzplant (pdf). Though the sampling data were extremely small, the findings were interesting, particularly in regards to worship. I’m still not sure how to interpret some of the statistics.
For this post, we will focus on two sets of stats here: online content use & creation and visual media in worship.
The study reports that 52% of churches stream or podcast their sermons, yet apparently only 32% of churches use social media to receive feedback. Are the online sermons enhancing worship? Most churches don’t know, they don’t have an easy way of finding out.
If a church has their sermons online in a publicly accessible space, they should also have a way for people to make comments on them, online, publicly. This offers some enormous benefits, it allows for discussion, it allows the preacher to know if the point they tried to make actually hit home, and it allows for those members who may be unable to attend the service to still be part of the assembly from a distance. For example, a college student who grew up at your church might still be interested in what her pastor is preaching about. She lives a few hours away from church and, though she attends a campus ministry, she still feels like your church is home. Why shouldn’t we allow her to feel that way and empower her to continue to feel at home?
Allowing her to comment on the sermon she just heard will help her feel connected.
The other stat that caused me to write was the use of video in sermons. The chart to the right shows the breakdown. 29% of respondents report that their church has NEVER used video in a sermon, while a nearly equal amount, 27%, write that their assembly views some sort of video nearly each week. Why is there equality between the regulars and the nevers? Is it that the technology is too expensive for the average church to use or is it just that videos don’t really enhance worship?
To answer these questions, Buzzplant breaks down the data a little more. It shows us that churches with fewer than 500 people (presumably in attendance on Sunday) are MORE likely to use video than those with more than 500 worshipers. One can be led to believe that money is not the issue then. As to whether or not videos enhance worship, that is a subjective response. One can assume that it is possible to enhance worship with visual media.
Does your church use “new media,” such as social media and online content to ‘enhance’ worship? Does it truly enhance worship?
What suggestions do you have for implementing something like the above?
4 comments:
Online sermons are wonderful. Personally, I happen to like 3 versions, transcript, mp3, and video. However, not every preacher is gifted in all 3 areas, and its entirely reasonable to focus on just the ones they feel comfortable with and/or are practical. Ie, if a preacher writes out the entire sermon, a transcript is a no brainer... but if they dont, it may be tricky to find a group of parishoners willing to transcribe it week after to week. The same applies to video, while most may be fine on local cable, having their sermons on blogtv, or youtube, if short enough, may be a bit too much public visibility for some.
There is another aspect too. The proverbial, if the message is online, will folks skip church, and just download the mp3 to listen to on their Ipod while exercising etc. While I wouldn't rule out such from ever happening, its little different than radio or tv ministry where folks could record it and play it on a walkman twenty five years ago.
Ron, I completely agree, each preacher has their own unique talents and therefore each mode would have different benefits.
Here, I am advocating for a way to comment on the sermon. Then a person who is not physically at worship can still be part of the community in some small way.
What do you think about this?
Not only those who weren't in attendance could comment. It might be an interesting way for those who *were* there to interact with the sermon too.
All this presupposes that people continue to think about the sermon after they leave the sanctuary. Or even after the next song. I know a lot of people who do, but I tend to hang out with church geeks.
I wonder if having this kind of online conversation about a sermon would change how a preacher preaches? Would you add/delete some things based on what you think the feedback would be? Sort of like how I perceive some bloggers add or withhold some things based on trying to drive traffic to their sites. (not saying that would be good or bad for preaching...just wondering)
The thing to remember with posting things online is that it is the World Wide Web. We often forget that and are surprised when comments come from a very unexpected quarter - especially when the comments are unkind in nature.
I think to open online sermons up to that kind of social media conversationality without prepping both the preacher and the "regulars" could be setting people up to be hurt. A commenting policy would be a good thing to consider before starting something like this (maybe along the lines of what Sojourner's has?) And then someone has to be assigned to moderate the comments. That is not something you can just add to an already full plate or it won't get done. Assuming everyone will be nice... well, you know what happens when you assume things...
As for media, specifically movie clips in sermons... my personal preference is to not. For the same reason I prefer real flowers and real (not electronic) candles and real bread handed to me by real people. The insertion of media into that space feels like an invasion. On the other hand, we are called to be in the world... to serve the world. So if the clip helps to connect the Gospel to what's going on in society I could get behind it. Too often, in my experience, it has felt more like a gimmick. And gimmicks are the last thing I want in worship.
I don't want to be sold or manipulated in worship. I want the worship space to be a sanctuary from such things.
OK that's enough for now, don't you think? ;-)
Sean
A gentle way to get rolling on such would be to use a facebook page, rather than something like blogger etc... That way, only friends, ie members could comment, and it prevents the well versed 15 yr old out to make trouble from doing so. Once a certain level of comfort is in place, on both the parishoners, and the pastor, then a more open ended comment functionality could be added, ie networked blogs on facebook etc.
Also, if one has a tech adverse congregation... you could still go for feedback with something like 3x5 cards. Then a staffer could sort them out, publish them on the web (with anonymouse names etc) AND provide a printed copy of the webpage as a bulletin insert. An example of such was done at a Catholic church I attend with my wife. http://www.paxchristichurch.org/gift/February%20Gift%20Reflections_both.htm
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