{"id":69428,"date":"2023-03-10T10:31:06","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T17:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=69428"},"modified":"2023-03-10T10:31:06","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T17:31:06","slug":"church-livestreams-remain-accessible-for-worshippers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2023\/03\/10\/church-livestreams-remain-accessible-for-worshippers\/","title":{"rendered":"Church livestreams remain accessible for worshippers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Livestreaming God’s word<\/strong>: Cory Harasym, online campus pastor of First Alliance Church, smiles for the camera in Calgary on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. Harasym’s role focuses on people who cannot attend services in person.<\/span> (Photo by Abby Panes\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

S<\/span>ome Calgary churches are choosing to keep online worship accessible to their congregations, even as restrictions for in-person gatherings have long been lifted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to help maintain what we are doing online and not lose track of how far we have come,\u201d said Cory Harasym, online campus pastor of First Alliance Church (FAC) in Calgary.<\/p>\n

Like many religious groups, FAC adopted livestreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cLivestreaming allowed people to keep their rhythms,\u201d Harasym said.<\/p>\n

FAC\u2019s livestreams occur through Zoom, so they can engage and reach out to people watching online.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to still attend church and still get fed spiritually\u2014we really value engagement for our church online,\u201d said Harasym. \u201cWe want people to message. We want people to engage with us because rather than feeling like you\u2019re watching church alone, you\u2019re actually now connecting with community and myself, and then get to do life together.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the initial goal of online church was to protect congregations\u2014especially seniors who may have pre-existing illnesses\u2014during the pandemic, it has evolved to meet a variety of needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing the online livestream now that we can meet in person is not forgetting about those people who are sick, who have social anxiety, or are immunocompromised and cannot leave their house,\u201d Harasym said.<\/p>\n

According to Trevor Berry, associate pastor of McKenzie Towne Church, people stream and watch church online while on vacation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will be driving out to B.C., and somebody in the car might be streaming, or they are at a campsite, and they are able to join in,\u201d Berry said. \u201cPeople are not restricted by needing to be close to the church, so it\u2019s really removed some barriers that way, and people can still gather with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although FAC offers in-person services for seniors, some older churchgoers have adapted very well to online church.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have more senior people that do join us online regularly, as they have become more accustomed to church online,\u201d Harasym said. \u201cThey have been forced to kind of adapt and figure out how to use technology, especially if some of them were sick and in hospital, or they cannot leave [their] senior\u2019s home or do not have transportation.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Harasym, his role as an online campus pastor focuses on people who cannot connect in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal for church online is to offer the service in its fullest form as best as we can, and everyone will engage differently as far as they like and what they want to experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have four cameras and some that are on sliders to offer alternative shots,\u201d said Berry. \u201cThis is because we want to make it as much of a great experience, so people feel they can be a part of our church family.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Berry, community plays a big part. \u201cOur ideal is for people to join us in person\u2014we always want to create space and opportunities for that. But if you cannot [join us] on Sundays, we do have other options.\u201d<\/p>\n

The McKenzie church has observed an increase in attendance since they started livestreaming services.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur online community has grown quite a bit. We are reaching people online, and [some] have signed up for mid-week ministries, but they have never stepped into our church before,\u201d Berry said.<\/p>\n

Thanks to these churches\u2019 initiative and passion for connecting and engaging their communities, worshippers can get the full experience of God\u2019s presence, even through technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we run a service, we match the in-person service so that whether you attend in person or online, you still have the FAC experience,\u201d said Harasym. \u201cIt feels familiar. It feels like you\u2019re at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Worship at your convenience<\/strong>: Cory Harasym sets up his camera to livestream a service in Calgary on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023.\u00a0First Alliance Church (FAC) offers both in-person and online services for its congregation<\/span>. (Photo by Abby Panes\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some Calgary churches are choosing to keep online worship accessible to their congregations, even as restrictions for in-person gatherings have long been lifted. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":718,"featured_media":69430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S2 Church Livestreams","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-69428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-city","8":"category-life"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/718"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69428"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69719,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69428\/revisions\/69719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}