Satellite Church
by Bill Blair on 19/08/07 at 9:39 pm
So, you found a great church. It has it all. It has the right music, ministries, message, and mission. The only problem is that it is 30 – 45 minutes away, although the drive is not too bad on a Sunday morning. What about the midweek service? You run up against rush hour traffic during the week so that 30 minute drive turns into an hour, but you can replace that service by getting into a small group that meets closer to home. What about inviting neighbors to your church? That is where it gets harder.
One solution, as has been done at my church, is to create a satellite campus for Sunday services. Here is what that looks like. The service is held in a school auditorium with childcare and children’s activities available. There is live music for worship and then the sermon given at the main campus is fed live on a screen to the people at the satellite campus. What you end up with are people at two different locations being a part of a common mission learning from a common message. The people that attend the satellite campus no longer have a long drive and can more easily invite their neighbors to come to church. But, you can’t do these everywhere.
I was talking with a friend last week about some of the issues with a long commute to church and I began to wonder how far we could take this satellite idea. What would happen if we tried to create satellite locations in homes on a Sunday mornings? What would that look like? Worship would be awkward, but the connection would be incredible. It would take care of the distance problem. You would be inviting people to come to church in the neighborhood. It would certainly bring the mission and message of your church to your neighborhood. It would take special people to pull it off, but it could be a way for growing churches to plant satellite campuses in new areas.
Could this work? Is it too far-fetched? Is there something that could be done to achieve this on a smaller scale such as maybe a virtual midweek podcast service?
Nation
Aug 20th, 2007
It could work, some people already watch IPTV, or internet provided TV. The Tivo has an Auto Download system, then I believe the AppleTV has a system too. Then there is streaming with a custom media center PCs, or MCPC. Each has some advantages and disadvantages, but all of them can put a video on a TV and through the sound system.
::: Tivo
They have the DRM stuff involved where you might could do the whole service. This would need to be done post and could be watched at the convenience.
::: Streaming & MCPC
The key with this option is the streaming resolution must be big enough to produce the sound & look good on a TV. Then on the end user side the owner needs a higher level of tech knowledge then with a Tivo, or even AppleTV.
I don’t know enough about the AppleTV, but basically on the Chuch’s side they need to produce high enough level of video/audio where people would be willing to view it on a TV. If they do that then you can have “home satellite” in most first world households, coffee shops, etc. The one downside it that you would probably want to have them “tape delayed” in both cases, so not live.
Andy Stanley’s church ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Stanley ) tape delays the sermon two weeks for their satellite, or at least use to, just to make sure the timing and video was the best it could be.
That’s enough time on this subject. The point is the church has to have the vision and funding to do their part. Then market it to people, but it can be done today.