Heard On the Street

Is it still church when the pastor doesn’t show up, but gives his message by video?

The following set of facts is a true story overheard literally on the street last night.

Everything else went as it usually does in this very large church in a very large city. The congregation was led in music by the normal group of people, an associate pastor led the congregation in prayer and the offering was taken while someone sang and again led the people in another song. Then the pastor showed up on the screen, but becasue the place was so big, no one, but those in the absolute front of the church knew he wasn’t stnding in his usual place. It wasn’t until the end of the service when people stood up to leave that they realized he wasn’t there, it was all a video broadcast.

So, again, is still church when the pastor doesn’t show up to preach but gives his message by video?

I’m not just talking about video simulcasting to multiple sites, but actually not being physically present to preach at one of the sites because he’s away, travelling back from a conference, or dealing with prior commitments. Pre-recording the week’s message so the flock still get to see their beloved pastor on the screen and hear his voice speaking to them, just earlier in the week. And making this the standard operating procedure, not just a once in great while kind of thing. All of this taking place in a church of thousands, with some exceptionally gifted and well-known preachers and Bible teachers on the staff who could easily pinch-hit out of the jam.

Have we really reduced worship in the word to a video series? What happens after the beloved pastor leaves or dies? Can we still run his picture and message on the screen as a re-run?

Something tells me this is not going to be a healthy trend for the church. Worship in church on Sunday mornings (or Saturday nights, as is also the case in the above example) must be more than a lecture series centered around the personality and speaking style of one man. This is, in my humble opinion, bordering on idolatry.

I just wish this were an aberration but apparently this trend is growing. We’ll have to come back to this some other time.