Home—The power of media in a Church

The power of media in a Church

Since the first live streaming session for our Watchnight Service 2017, the video team at Faith MC has grown steadily.

In the last quarter of 2019, in order to improve the skills of the team, we planned more multi-cam setups and began training the crew more purposefully by recording monthly sermons by our Pastor-in-Charge, the Rev Raymond Fong, and posting them on social media.

By the time MOH declared DORSCON Orange on 7 Feb 2020, this year, the media operations aspect was in place and our video crew were ready. The leadership decided to live stream one service per week for members of our congregation who might have been quarantined, were unwell or preferred not to come to church for service.

When COVID-19 struck, Faith was one of the few churches who had the infrastructure in place by then. Our team decided to invite the staff from other Methodist churches to a sharing session on how to live stream church services. We knew that a few churches were struggling to support their Sunday Service live streaming needs due to a lack of manpower and expertise.

We initially expected around 20 people, but on 20 Feb 2020, nearly 80 people from 51 denominational and independent churches showed up! Many were planning to live stream their church services for the very first time. God, in His sovereign way, had prepared the Faith media crew for this purpose. Over the last two years, our volunteer recruitment, training sessions and acquisition of equipment had led us to where we could now share our experience with other churches and support them.

Through this outbreak, I see communities forming, and people connecting across churches. I am truly humbled by how God is moving in our country. I am equally touched to know of some new friends who have expressed interest in maintaining fellowship even after this virus blows over, just to grow together and build a media community across denominations.

This is exactly what the Body of Christ should look like— helping one another in times of need and fellowshipping with others from different denominations—because we worship the same God. We are indeed blessed to be a blessing!

Main topics shared during the 20 Feb session: • licensing matters with regard to live streaming

• camera and other equipment

• backend to live streaming; the ins and outs; technical requirements

• broadcast messaging tips for the church using WhatsApp and Telegram

Live stream training on 20 Feb 2020