Caution: A Rant

Ok . . . ok.  I don’t know if we’ve met but I really am a pretty level headed guy.  It can take a lot for me to get bugged about something.  If this post is all you know about me . . . I’m sorry.  I’m going to rant a little bit about a term that is sometimes used to describe "the way we do church" that does get in under my skin.

Have you ever heard the label "Video Church"?  This phrase is sometimes used to described our approach.  There lots of people that I think rock use this term.  But frankly, I think it kinda stinks!  This term is used to describe multi-site churches that export a sermon through some video technology to other locations.  There are literally hundreds and hundreds of churches around the world using this tool to build churches that reach out to the world around us.

So what’s my "beef" with this term?  (I warned that I might be ranting.)

This year represents my seventh year in leadership of a multisite church using video in it’s adult services to extend it’s ministry beyond one geographic location – and one of the the great ironies I have found over the years is that the "video" portion of what we do is the easiest part of doing church this way.

It’s not a video that is waking up early to set up our environments on Sunday mornings.
A video doesn’t take time to care for a child in WaumaLand or UpStreet.
I have yet to see a video help a first time visitor feel welcome to church – without overwhelming them.
We don’t have a series of videos that we play for people in our Community Groups to help people develop closer relationships with each other and God.
I don’t think we’ve ever had a video donate to help propel the mission forward.
I think you get the picture . . . .

Yes.  We do use video as a simple tool to help us have a shared experience across a wide geographic area.  It’s one tool we use to craft irresistible environments for our friends.  That’s it.  At this point it makes the most sense for us as we move forward together in crafting the kind of church that we can invite our friends too.   We can talk more about the "why" of video in another post – today I want to dispel the rumor that it’s all about the video.

We are so thankful for the hundreds of people that serve and give sacrificially to help us launch Connexus.  And yes, we’re thankful for our great video team that helps us capture and send a great video every week.

So whadda think?  Do you think I’m way off on "video church" being a term that bugs me?

Rich Birch
[email protected]
Executive Director of Operations
Connexus Community Church

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