Access (in) All Areas

Fr Richard Green, Cynon Uchaf Ministry Area Lead, delves into how livestreaming services has changed outreach in the church by bringing the gospel to people wherever they are.

One Sunday in March 2018, during an unseasonal cold snap, the good people of Aberdare woke up to a blanket of snow. Cancelling my other services, I trudged over to St Fagan’s where about half a dozen hardy souls had also made the trek to church, and we held our Eucharist. Someone had the bright idea of livestreaming the service on our church Facebook page for the benefit of those who couldn’t come. The person concerned must have had a very sore arm at the end of the service, since she had to hold her phone up for the duration!

After that dramatic Sunday we didn’t really do livestreaming of services again. Until, that is, the momentous events of March 2020, and the first Covid lockdown. With worship suspended, my mind went back to that snowy day two years before. I quickly ordered a tripod for the phone (no congregation allowed, so the option of someone holding it was ruled out!), and once again gave livestreaming a go.

It soon became apparent that many people appreciated our livestreamed services. Although forbidden from meeting together, it kept a sense of community going as best we could during those difficult times. Congregation members felt that they were still part of a worshipping family.

As the lockdown continued, the way we did things evolved, as we learned by experience. We soon realised that churches are very echoey, so we invested in a microphone to plug into the phone and be attached to the lectern. The clergy enjoyed seeing peoples’ comments appearing as the service unfolded, and we soon made use of this feature. For example, we invited people to submit prayer requests which were read out during the service. We would also “go live” five minutes before the service and welcome people as they logged on and said a virtual “Hello”.

I had a lovely email from someone during the pandemic who had set his elderly mother up with Facebook so she could join our services. He said how much she appreciated the livestream and hoped that we would continue after the pandemic as his mother was housebound. That comment stayed with me, and so this is what we have done. Some people who watch and comment online I have never met; that doesn’t matter. Others will watch online if they are away from home or unwell on a particular Sunday. I should say that we also livestream our mid-week services as well as those on a Sunday.

I firmly believe that this is now an important part of our ministry, and is so easy to do, but makes such a difference to people. I also believe that the church should make use of modern technology to advance its mission and ministry. My only regret is that it took a snowy day and a global pandemic to prompt us to start.