I’m totally over online church services

Church service countdowns… I hate staring at these. 

Online church sucks.

It’s been a challenging transition going to church since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. From my experience here in America, it’s obviously not the same as it was when I was able to physically attend a service and see my close friends at church.

I cannot take for granted the great blessing that we have during this pandemic. We have the technology to broadcast church services live on many different online platforms. I can still get my experience of hearing a preacher preach every Sunday and being fed the good word of the Bible. I am grateful for that.

Imagine if this pandemic hit us 20 years ago. What could we have done as an alternative to the shelter-in-place ordinance? It would be a massive phone conference (local calls only) every Sunday. Internet speeds would be at 56K for most people with limited computer programming. It would be challenging and the technology likely wouldn’t have been available to everyone.

But we are good right now because we can still “attend” church by pulling up our Facebook Live or YouTube app and watch it on our laptop, our phone or even cast it to the TV. We can still get church and we don’t have to even leave our home or even change our clothes. Isn’t that great?

No. It isn’t.

THE NEW ROUTINE

Church was never designed to be experienced at home via a screen like this. Church is supposed to be about the people gathering and sharing the Lord together. Watching a preacher stand there on a screen and preach for about an hour isn’t it. There is a lost vibe with it.

I’m not standing next to the people I worship with. I don’t get the greetings and hugs I am so accustomed to every Sunday. Worship time is now reduced to me just watching people on a screen sing. I could stand and put my hands up, but that’s just not it for me. When the sermon is being preached, it’s so hard to stay engaged with the message. My church experience isn’t the same and I’m getting tired of this routine every Sunday.

I wake up every Sunday and the excitement of preparing to go to church is gone. I don’t dress up. I don’t have the joy of seeing my friends. I don’t get into my car and drive out to the place I have known as my second home. None of that is there. Instead I am still in the clothes I wore to sleep and I just cast the service onto my TV.

During the worship portion where the worship leader/band leads the service through 4-5 songs of worship, my attention is not there. I am likely in kitchen making breakfast or just scrolling through Twitter on my phone while on my couch. My attention is just not there. It’s only by the time the worship set is done and the announcements are made that I then start to pay attention. After all, announcements are the only thing that could feature something new and exciting. But it isn’t. It’s reminders about the state of the church and when the next virtual stream will come.

Church just kinda sucks right now.

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ONLINE CHURCH WAS GOOD

I used to love having church services streamed online way before this pandemic hit. I used to work a job that required me to be in the office during the weekends. That meant on Sundays, I would not be able to attend church. But the online service was my saving grace because even though I was stuck at work, I could follow along church. It was my way of still feeling connected to my church even though I wasn’t physically there.

There was something special about seeing the church sanctuary filled with people. I loved seeing the whole crowd of people putting their hands up in the air and singing together. It was a live experience that I felt a part of even though I wasn’t there in person. The online church experience for me was special then. Maybe it was because I knew everyone else was experiencing church and the online option was made for those who couldn’t be there that Sunday.

If we didn’t have that online option back then, I would have been devastated but I’d be OK because only a few people would be affected. The rest of the church family was still there and it would be fine.

Now it’s different. If online service wasn’t a thing, everyone would be affected. It’s our means of connection and ironically, I feel so disconnected from the church. My faith in God remains strong but a core part of my faith is gone. And sadly, online church (which was supposed to help fill that void) has done very little for me.

I could only take so much of online church before it becomes just a mindless thing that I do. I’ve reached that point.

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CHURCH ZOOM FATIGUE

I like this SNL skit poking fun of the challenges of having church online. I know it is a challenge for pastors and their staff to get together and prepare an online church service. And big bravo to those who storm through a live service in lieu of doing a pre-recorded service.

But this is kind of where I am now. Church time used to be a special time where all my focus is church itself. But now there are distractions in the home, people who are trying to chime in or there is just a lost sense of attention to anything that’s going on.

I stare at a screen all day for work. That’s five days of the week where I am constantly looking at a screen. Then on my day of Sabbath (rest) for the Lord, I am once again staring at a screen. Oh and since the church wants us to remain connected with our Bible study groups, we have Zoom meetings throughout the week at night too.

That’s a lot.

What sucks is that I love my night meetings with my church groups. It has allowed me to connect with my friends on a deeper level during circumstances in which I may not have. (I would have to commute 90 minutes minimum to make it to my weeknight group due to rush hour traffic. It’s not an issue now.) I find this time way more special and intimate than online church. The reason why is simple: I am actually interacting with people.

But even at that, it’s a lot of screen time. You’re asking me to willingly participate in around 50+ hours of looking at a screen all week. Can’t do it. That’s Zoom fatigue.

There have been weeks where I have declined joining in on my weeknight Bible study groups because I am just tired of staring at screen. My experience with God through my friends should not be like this. But it has.

This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. But because of our circumstances, is there any other solution?

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This cannot be the only way a church is connecting with its community right now. 

THE FAILURE OF THE CHURCH

During times of crisis in America, I like to see how Christians respond. And with that, how Christians in the body of the church respond as well.

During mass shootings, how does the church respond to the acts of violence? When hate crimes become the top story of the evening news, how does the church respond? What about controversial incidents that challenge the church such as same-sex marriages and political tension? Does the church stay quiet and do nothing or do they address the issues upfront?

I want to see action, not inaction. I want to see a church that isn’t afraid to address the modern issues and challenges. Then after that, they look to find a response rooted in the love of Jesus. This is what churches should be doing during a time of crisis.

So we look at where we are right now during this pandemic. How has the church taken action during this crisis? Are they just going to post online sermons and videos or are they going to be proactive and put the Lord’s love in action?

The church is so concerned in maintaining their current congregation within their metaphorical four walls. They’re constantly updating their social channels about their services and ministries that the church has lost its identity in serving the people who are vulnerable and in need. Has the church done anything to use its resources to serve the elderly community who are affected most by the virus? What about finding alternative ways to offer the church kids support during these challenging times? What about the parents? Are the church leaders actively reaching out to see how the people are doing?

To me, the effort is so concerned about maintaining a holy online presence that the actual role of the church in serving the community through action is all lost.

This isn’t a knock at all churches. There are some that are super active in awareness and serving (yup, they woke) and I applaud them. From what I’ve seen, it’s sadly not that common.

But I know for a fact that if Jesus was physically walking in our midst right now, maintaining an online presence would not be on top of His priority list for the church. It actually would be close to the very bottom. Jesus is about authentic and deep connections with people and He would go above the norm to make it happen.

Online services miss out on a lot of that.

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SO WHAT’S NEXT?

I got questions.

• How can we move forward as Christians and as a church?
• How can we spread and share the love of God while we are pretty much stuck at home?
• Is there a way to make the online church experience better or are we stuck with this for the foreseeable future?
• Even when we are given the OK to gather again, would we even want to go back to a physical church location for our safety?
• Would God even say “well done, good and faithful servant” to us after this quarantine is over?

These are some of the things I am wondering and am not sure if there are good answers to them. We are about to hit three months of this shelter-in-place and I want to know if we as Christians have done our very best in being Christ-like for our community?

Will our legacy be how we went above and beyond to serve our community? Or is it going to be that we kept our Facebook updated every Sunday?

I understand that the way things are going on in the world, doing everything online is the most logical and practical way of communicating. But to only do that is to not see how big God is and we would only limit His power. A church isn’t supposed to stick with what is normal. God calls us to go above and beyond in faith. Does only doing a live stream accomplish that?

People are dying. People are losing jobs. People are struggling. People are hurting. People are scared. What is the church doing for them right now?

This Sunday, I’ll tune into online service again. And more than likely, I’ll watch it and it will be just another thing for me. I hope God uses it to speak to me and to others. I hope there is an excitement for everyone watching.

But more importantly, I hope that God can show everyone how we can use our own resources to serve the community outside of the Internet. And maybe God can help guide the church in being true leaders of the community.

Because if a church’s main goal during this time of crisis is making sure the Sunday live stream is ready, then they’ve lost their direction and calling to serve the community in the name of God.

I’m over this online church thing. I want to see action.