A Digital Invitation
“We invite you to join [insert church name] for worship online this Sunday morning!”
For better or worse the Church is now online. Anyone wishing to join in on a worship service, listen to a devotional, or participate in virtual Sunday school have a wealth of opportunities from a huge number of different churches to choose from. While some churches have been online for years, for many churches this came out of necessity. With COVID-19 forcing the closure of any and all gatherings, churches were forced to embrace an online presence in order to remain connected with their respective congregations. Regardless of how it happened, this is our current reality. The Church is now online. Many people now expect to be able to attend worship services from the comfort of their own home. Others will go “church shopping” by watching the recorded worship services that are now widely available online. Why make the trip out when it is so much easier to turn on a computer?
Why indeed.
Church is so much more than what can be offered online. Church is more than simply watching a worship service, or meeting over zoom, or commenting on some posts on social media. Church requires physical presence of true community. Gathering together to support each other. To celebrate with each other. To rebuke each other. To comfort each other. We gather together in community because we recognize the image of God in each other and we love each other. We gather together because that is part of our calling as Christians and followers of Christ.
I’m not arguing that churches should avoid having an online presence, or rebel against the idea of being online. In fact, I believe that a good online presence is extremely important for churches to embrace. What I am saying is that as churches move more and more into the online space, we need to remember why we are doing it. We need to have direction and purpose. Each aspect of a church’s online presence (Social Media, YouTube, Website, etc.) has its own specific function, but there is an underlying purpose that connects all of it together. I believe the core purpose of a church’s entire online presence is invitation.
It is an invitation to be together. To be present in community. When a church livestreams or records a worship service, it is not meant to be an alternative to being present in worship together. It is an invitation to come and join in corporate worship together. It is a way to show people ‘this is who we are and this is how we worship together, come and be a part of it.’ The information listed on a church’s website about their worship services, including logistical information like time and place, are another form of this same kind of invitation. It is an invitation to be present and worship together, and a way to remain connected when that is impossible.
It is an invitation to be present with each other in discipleship. To walk with each other side by side as we pursue Christ together. Serving with one another. Praying with one another. Studying the word of God with one another. When we pursue discipleship together, we form relationships with each other. Relationships that teach us how to love one another regardless of our differences and disagreements. God uses these relationships to help support and motivate us. It is often through these relationships that God is most visible to us.
Community, physically present community, is one of the central qualities of the Church. Yes, God transcends the physical limitations of the church building, but God calls us time and time again to community with one another. Jesus showed this throughout his ministry. His ministry was built upon communion with others—and physical touch. Even the most powerful act of Christian remembrance, the sharing of the body and blood of Christ, involves physically touching the symbolic representation of Christ’s body and blood around the intimacy of a shared meal. If we are to truly follow Christ and embrace his ministry, then we must embrace physical communion with one another. A church’s online presence at its core is an invitation to this community.
Not a replacement.