Virtual Church
May 11, 2009
With many relatives in the Highlands and Islands, it is interesting to see this proposal for covering the many vacancies that exist in these areas. What fascinates about the article, however, is the claim that live video link will mean that "a number of congregations would be able to experience and take part in the same service." No. They will take part in something, but not in the same service. Watching a service by video is not the same as being in the service, any more than watching a game at the Kingsholm ground is actually taking part in the same event as seeing it on television. The reference point may be the same, but the experience is entirely different.
Bodies are important in worship. It's important to be there. Videolinks may be the only option in these instances, but it inevitably reduces the service to transmission of information, and an emotionally detached experience, not something involving the whole person.
Still, as a country boy by upbringing and conviction (though sadly no more by practice, as of necessity), I am glad to see that somebody is thinking of people in the countryside as still worth reaching; the countryside has long been neglected but, in Scotland, has arguably been the mainstay of orthodoxy, a point that should not be forgotten in church priorities. What is the church going to do about the rural situation? This solution may be as good as it gets at the current time, given the glamour associated with urban `authenticity' at the moment. What we need now are some training programs in Rural Ministry to combat the post-industrial Marxist predilection for cities.
Bodies are important in worship. It's important to be there. Videolinks may be the only option in these instances, but it inevitably reduces the service to transmission of information, and an emotionally detached experience, not something involving the whole person.
Still, as a country boy by upbringing and conviction (though sadly no more by practice, as of necessity), I am glad to see that somebody is thinking of people in the countryside as still worth reaching; the countryside has long been neglected but, in Scotland, has arguably been the mainstay of orthodoxy, a point that should not be forgotten in church priorities. What is the church going to do about the rural situation? This solution may be as good as it gets at the current time, given the glamour associated with urban `authenticity' at the moment. What we need now are some training programs in Rural Ministry to combat the post-industrial Marxist predilection for cities.
