NY Times Article on Godcasting
UPDATE: On the other hand, read this blog entry on Mark Batterson’s Evotional blog. Interesting food for thought.
Brian Slezak is blogging at The Appian Way blog about this article which appeared in the New York Times a couple of days ago: Missed Church? Download It To Your IPod (registration required).
I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about podcasting, godcasting, or videocasting church services, or for that matter including streaming audio or video of church services on a church website. This is not to say that I think podcasting or videocasting is problematic in itself — I think there are great uses for it, primarily in memorializing the spontaneous life of the church. But actual services, I’m not so sure.
On the one hand, I know that it provides a service to those who are out of town or housebound. That, I believe, is a good thing.
On the other hand, I am concerned that providing audio or video versions of our church services reduces the gathering of the church to something to be watched or listened to rather than something to be participated in. I realize that issue goes beyond the use of a church website to how we actually perceive the nature of a church gathering, but I think it’s an important consideration for those of us involved in strategizing with churches about their web presence.
I have an acquaintance who was interviewed by a major newspaper in our area several years ago regarding a large local church’s use of real-time video feeds. One of my acquaintance’s comments was chilling. It was something to this effect: “When we wake up in the morning, if we don’t feel like driving all the way to church (about 30 miles from where he and his family lived), we can just stay in our bedroom, flip on the computer, and watch the service from here.” To me, that’s chilling.
If something we do on a church website discourages people from participating in the physical gathering of the church, is that a good thing?
The New York Times article gives the example of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. The church’s pastor, Mark Batterson (who we’ve recently written about here, had some interesting things to say:
Mr. Lewis’s pastor, the Rev. Mark Batterson, started podcasting, or “godcasting” as he prefers to call it, last month to spread the word about his congregation. The hourlong recordings of his weekly service, available on theaterchurch.com, have already brought new parishioners to his church, he said.
“I can’t possibly have a conversation with everyone each Sunday. But this builds toward a digital discipleship,” he said. “We’re orthodox in belief but unorthodox in practice.”
Mark says that godcasting has brought new people into the church. I wonder if there is any way to know if people are participating in the physical gatherings less because of godcasting.
I guess the bottom line is that I’m conflicted about the effectiveness of godcasting actual services. If a church does use godcasting and/or videocasting of actual services, I would strongly encourage the church to spend time emphasizing the nature and importance of the regular physical gathering of believers. That way, people won’t be so easily tempted to think of the church service as something to be watched or listened to.
As always, comments are welcome!
I believe that the internet provides today's church with a historic opportunity .... to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love in ways which could only have been imagined in times past. The objective of this website is to explore the various ways in which today's technology can be used to spread the gospel around the world.
