SubscribeTechnology connects snow-bound churches
For about three weeks, the inclement weather forced churches to cancel Bible studies, prayer meetings and Sunday services. By the time our pastor sent email, text and Facebook messages saying we would meet despite the weather, several of us were ready. Fortunately no one had to brave treacherous snow-covered streets. All we had to do was pick up our telephones and dial into an 877 conference service line.
Some churches, including my own, found a way to gather despite the back-to-back snow storms in the Washington-area. The telephone became a life-line for the church shuttered by the snow.
Some of my fellow Dayspring Community Church members were giddy on the line, thrilled that we would be praying together again. We prayed, read Scripture, sang songs and laughed, grateful to know that God was present with us and thankful for technology that allowed us to gather.
We were not alone. Others churches also found a spiritual respite in telephone conferencing, a method employed traditionally for business meetings. A pastor in Silver Spring, Md., remarked in a meeting that I attended, via the telephone, that more than 60 people called into the telephone line her church set up last Wednesday night.
Another pastor, Rev. E. Gail Anderson Holness told The Washington Post that she had ordered a teleconference number long before the heavens dumped more than 25 inches of snow on D.C. She put the number to use a Sunday when most worship houses were closed, and her church attendance swelled. People called in from cities across the United States and from several countries.
“We had a global service,” said Holness of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Washington. “At one time we had more than 100 people on the line.”
I first paid attention to churches using dial-in teleconferencing services last month when a friend’s sister who was visiting from Nebraska told me that her church regularly holds its Bible study on the phone. Her commuting pastor leads the discussion from North Carolina where she lives.
Later, I heard on the radio other churches urging listeners to call in to participate in services. It’s impressive the lengths some church folks went through drign terh snw storms to stay connected to each other and to enjoy corporate worship. But, I must admit as uplifting as the teleconference was for our Wednesday night prayer meeting, it could not match the wonderfully spirited time we enjoyed this Sunday. Nothing is sweeter than being able to to greet each other face to face and worship God together.
What did your church do to stay in touch or worship together during the storm?
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