I’m just guessing you may not know who this is. Let me introduce you to Peter Thourson, the guy who’s just basically responsible for streaming live church services on the iPhone. You heard me right. Peter works at New Hope in Hawaii along side the church’s Technology and Innovations Director, Michael Sharpe. In case you’re unfamiliar with New Hope, maybe you’re heard of Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, the congregation’s Lead Pastor. I’ve blogged my church attendance at New Hope before because they’re in my Foursquare family.
I interviewed Peter recently since they’re a good 6 weeks into mobile streaming their services. Here’s Peter’s take on a couple of the questions Christian leaders find themselves wrestling with these days:
How do you perceive the shift that technology is pressing on today’s church? Is it good to use technology both in church and to “broadcast” church services?
Technology is definitely changing the way that churches interact with their congregants because technology is rapidly changing the way that today’s society interacts. There are so many ways that churches can use technology to advance the kingdom. We are now seeing the demise of printed material. Newspapers are going out of business and books are being converted into ebooks. People today are so connected, that even in the middle of a recession, the majority of those polled said that the internet is the last thing that they would give up.
Yet while society is rapidly advancing and huge corporations are making sweeping changes in order to adapt; many churches are reluctant to let go of their hymnals and organs. It might be a fear of being sacrilegious or perhaps it is just nostalgia, however, churches are often the last to embrace and adapt to technological changes.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that over the past decade American churches are seeing a disconnect and church attendance is steadily declining. This isn’t to paint a bleak picture, rather it is to emphasize the importance of staying relevant. If one looks at the list of the fastest growing churches in America, they share a common spirit of innovation.
These churches are finding ways to use technology in redemptive ways for the gospel. There are three main technologies that can be highly useful for churches.
- SMS messages are a great & inexpensive tool to invite, remind and engage congregants. SMS messages can be used in tons of innovative ways in churches; they can be used to invite friends to church, notify parents if there child needs their care, or even engage the congregation in a quick poll during the sermon.
Another useful tool for churches are social networks.
- YouTube, Facebook & even CraigsList can be used to promote events, highlight outreaches & worship services & develop a community outside of the church walls.
Lastly, churches can use multimedia.
- Sites such as worshiphousemedia.com make it easy for churches to affordably add videos to their worship service in order to enhance the overall sermon and emphasize key points.
More from Peter tomorrow plus his iPhone Video.
As we continue the dialog on technology in church we find a broad sweep of perspectives, attitudes and beliefs. Sometimes these are polarizing.
Your thougths?
I’ve been encouraging churches to consider using a service like ustream to broadcast. I have an app for it on the iphone. It’s simple, free and can be embedded on the site. Great blog. I’ll be coming back.