Virtual Church

Hello! Today we are doing The Producer and the Prof.

And one of the reasons we decided to do so on this episode is we are talking about things that Carl has particular insight into.

We're talking about the virtual church today, which has been kind of a new way of approaching worship.

Carl's going to talk about why it's not necessarily brand new, but a way of approaching worship that has grown specifically since the pandemic.

So, Carl, do you want to give a little bit of background as to Trinity's history with a virtual church?

Sure.

So, Trinity started online church services for the first time with the COVID pandemic.

was not something that we had really explored until churches had to close.

Now, some of our transition was easy.

We already had people who create PowerPoints of our liturgies that are displayed on screens in the sanctuary, so that was already in place for helping people follow along on Zoom.

We had a video camera on hand that was connected to the laptop that was always used to project the PowerPoints.

We added a microphone or two, subscribed to Zoom, and we were ready to stream services online.

Then when we opened the church back up for in-person worship, we made the decision, and we have continued with this decision to this day, to have hybrid church.

That is, we gather in person and broadcast our services over Zoom.

A few years ago, Rev.

Deborah began streaming her sermon on Facebook Live prior to our main worship service, and we have kept those sermon streams going for the most part, even now that Rev.

Deborah has left, with lay leaders and supply priests putting their sermons on Facebook as well.

This podcast is yet another virtual offering that Trinity started in September of 2024.