The Impact of Innovation on the Virtualization of the Church.

Using Digital conferencing during and after the pandemic crisis

The use of social media and online participation in global church fellowship has never been part of our church life over the years. Many pastors and churches have often discouraged such practice as "Unchristian" until now. Some had voiced out strong opposition in terms too hard to digest as if social networking is of the devil. Others never wanted anything to do with even considering the digitization of the church in this new century. They had preferred keeping the old practice as a safeguard and with all kinds of conservative arguments. In fact, many pastors wanted things to remain as they are.

Now, all that has changed with the new normal introduced by the pandemic crisis. Digital networking and conferencing have become the "new normal" both personally and communally in most churches worldwide. The COVID-19 has brought a new reality with innovations to the church services.

The smart and creative outfit of zoom, Google meet, Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook has bridged the time and space in church gatherings. No longer are these platforms considered as black sheep but the helper to get the word to a large group of people that otherwise could be deprived of the daily spiritual meal.

I had once in the past discussed the necessity of installing sound digital-based facilities in a local church. The pastor of that church almost excommunicated me from his reaction to my wise counsel. His argument was based on preserving his willful ignorance and stay close to new possibilities. But the coronavirus has changed all that with nowhere to turn to for help but the digital devices.

The digitalization and virtualization of the church ministration during this pandemic has introduced a new kind of centralization and de-localization of the Church. The digital world has opened the church to a new phase of expansion in the ever-changing world of technology. God is using digital technology as the means of choice to edify the church.

With digitization came the development of broader networks of believers through social media using more of the online technology for individual and group meetings. This practice would continue even after the lockdown has ended as the means of beating down the cost of conferencing and meetings in a virtual environment.

The digital world of video-conferencing and live streaming has allowed for greater support and worldwide participation in all areas of church services. Now offering the possibility of seeing the different participants, and hearing the voice of the larger community as believers discuss the grace of God and common good among believers and our future challenges. All done without any strict rules, bylaws, and restrictions for our online fellowship meetings.

The virtual meeting of brethren face-to-face will always be valued and necessary. This pandemic has called us anew to balance this value with our deep commitment to Christ. This has become the new normal.  However, digitalization calls for the need for balance between the main, local, and house churches at all levels. Already there is a conscious or unconscious digital transformation behind holding service. With this crisis, church service is being adapted in an extraordinary way to match the new reality.

Though it is not just a question of technology, it is also a matter of how the church interprets spirituality. Digitization has taken down the ecclesiological divide and notation replacing it with a more liberal atmosphere in this time of lockdown, and suspension. However, the real test shall come after the end of the lockdown. All eyes are looking forward to the time after the pandemic crisis ends:

The present move of the church from the local to the digital age will have an impact on the balance within the church: in terms of how we think about the church structure, organization, leadership, and authority. Also in terms of the institutional and financial sustainability for the local churches affected by the crisis.

Moreover, the global crisis has offered unique challenges to pastors and church leaders to devise new ways of conducting church services using the platform of virtual networks. With the crisis also providing unique opportunities to advance our spiritual growth, more so through online platforms that up to now have developed modestly to reach the lost. This has opened up new opportunities in broadcasting their sermons, communicating with their congregations, and engaging people virtually.

The pandemic crisis has brought about a situation in the church where believers who are isolated and socially restricted from attending church services have a digital world to enjoy fellowship. Whereby, pastors who hate an empty house with disconnected believers have a solution to feed the sheep without physical contact.

Under that circumstance, church leaders are creating new ways to reach and care for the flocks through online video streaming of sermons and prayer service.  Some are hosting pastoral counseling and sharing edifying messages and lively teachings with links to followers.

For the first time, in the history of the faith, worldwide church services were conducted online in every nation on earth. This is new in the history of the church, as nothing of this nature has ever occurred.  The pandemic crisis has caused the church as a whole to move from the brick wall to the silicon web. The use of digital technology has become the preferred platform of choice worldwide first time in the history of the church.

The use of digitalization became imperative, as the church had no option to work around the lockdown. The only possibility was to move services online. In the process, the established churches speedily moved in to capitalize on the power of the technological blitz to reach the faithful.

Also, the internet connection became the stone the builders could not reject in reaching the faithful. Many churches out of necessity turned to the digital world without condemnation. With the churches moving with urgency and agility, setting up facilities to contact members and viewers on the live streaming platform.

In the past, the pastors and church leaders who despise the use of the electronic media are lining up with urgency to do the spiritually unthinkable as they thought. They are essentially learning how to be ubiquitous in a limited sense. Now they are beginning to understand the need to be portable, digital, and effective. Also, the need be identified as relevant in a world sold to the media world.

In the past, many churches have been slow to adapt or use virtual networks. Many had reasons for not joining the bandwagon. Some pastors and leaders had suspicion built around the present technology, especially social media technologies. They hold strongly to the belief that the devil is the prime mover of the internet. They also believe that God cannot use the web to reach believers.

Some were so concerned about the corrupting influences of the social media revolution fearing the effects that it might portend to the youth. Some had believed that these technologies will take the youth away from the faith because of the kind of attention that the technologies require, making it hard for the youth to attend to spiritual matters. Some other reason advanced could be the misconception and strange obsession of many believers with the spirit of the Antichrist.

In addition, most of the elderly who are not tech-savvy and refuse to adapt to modern changes had reason to resist the digital world. Since the virtual church has no physical congregants, therefore there is nobody on the benches.

With all the reason advanced, though the virtual church is very different, yet in this crisis, she has offered an opportunity for believers to interact with each other in a virtual world. Even in a more creative and, actually, more efficient ways.

Indeed, there is a great opening and opportunities for a virtual community church worldwide. With pastor and teachers inventing commendable avenues to reach out to believers in this period of heightened expectation.

During the height of the pandemic crisis and lockdown that followed, I have participated in Facebook programs live-streamed to thousands of homes. At the same time embracing every opportunity to see many others joining us in the virtual community.  However, this is a preview of what we had hoped by the exigencies of the moment. Knowing that it is one thing to watch services online, but another thing to be exposed to a new website that creatively teaches the principles of the Bible. Yet it is altogether a different thing to engage spiritually with believers while practicing social distancing.

So the question is in what ways can the new media engage believers in experiencing God's love? How can believers embrace the grace of God? How can they become better versions of themselves, not only today but long after the pandemic subsides?

However, the supply of the Lord's Spirit is presently helping believers cope with the pandemic outbreak in the ensuing spiritual and economic hardship. On a practical level, the local churches with an already well-established presence in the community can be a good vehicle to reaching out to the world with a digital footprint. The local footmark of such churches can become the platform providing the needed base for the digital church. Always such ministries have a head start in serving their communities in this current crisis.