It’s not the chance to create or utilize virtual church. Jackson, TN 38301. In my last post in this series I offered an existential response to the question: Is virtual church enough? The only speaking part will be your narrator, and you can have one narrator or a bunch of them. Beware of any ceiling fans which can look odd perched on people’s heads! You yourself might be wondering: “How, in heaven’s name, could virtual church be real church? When one goes down under the water and then comes up, there is an experience of something like dying and rising, and this experience simply cannot be duplicated emotionally through something one watches online. Perhaps it would be better to say that both were real in a way. Our Free Christmas programs for Children's Ministry have been downloaded over 195,000 times. Scroll down to see all 15 of our Christmas programs. Now I’d like to muster some theological support. Because your virtual holiday party takes place via video call, you … This is the blood of Christ, shed for you.”. Estes uses the topic of his book not only to talk about virtual church and its advantanges/disadvantages, but also to think creatively and critically about what it means to be church in the world of today and the future. Kremer Resources writes scripturally sound Christmas programs for elementary school children, preschool and kindergarten Christmas worship programs, and Christmas church outreach programs. Which experience of church was closer to the biblical ideal? This would be like an argument against going to strip clubs to reach people who frequent them. But my point, simply, is that there are degrees and qualities of reality. Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series. Estes makes strong arguments in support of the notion that water is not really necessary for baptism, or real bread and liquid for communion. It is real in many ways that matter. Good luck with your Zoom performances! In my last post in this series I made what I consider to be the strongest case for virtual church. Follow us on Facebook But I do want to make a couple of related observations. Brown Photo with Border … Does love exist in space? This is why, in the end, God doesn’t incinerate the universe and take believing souls to heaven with him. But for these folk to fully experience what church is meant to be, at some point they’ll need to gather with other believers. Thank you. ), Then, in the afternoon, a virtual church preacher (representing some in-the-flesh human being who is providing the words via the Internet) offers a theologically solid sermon, proclaiming, among other things: “Jesus is risen!”. New Words for Traditional Christmas Carols. Physicality is not an inessential vehicle for spirituality, but is part and parcel of what matters to God and to us. 1601 North Royal Street. On page 36 of his book, for example, he offers a brief definition of the church from a biblical perspective. . Surprising Confirmation from the Pew Research Center, Part 8 of series: The Challenge and Opportunity of Virtual Church (p. 18), To grasp the magnitude of what is happening, it is vital that we see the internet not as a technological tool but as a paradigm shift in the way the world interacts on a fundamental level. I’m not an expert in the sociology of technology, so I can’t demonstrate that what Estes has written is true. They never hug their friends. Just make sure there is a break to another participant for them to quickly switch between characters. Section 2, Part 3 of series: The Challenge and Opportunity of Virtual Church The cast can wear shorts and flip flops with their costumes and nobody will know. For nearly all companies across the world 2020 will be the first year they have ever organised a virtual Christmas event or activity. See more ideas about womens ministry, ministry, christian women's ministry. They’ve released a nice collection of Free Christmas programs and scripts for churches to use. But they don’t seem to see how the value of the material universe, combined with the fact of the Incarnation, suggest that non-physical, non-incarnational church could never be quite enough. In this group, which is not itself physical, real people communicate about real needs in their life. However, we find some evidence that use of social networking services (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn) substitutes for some neighborhood involvement. But I do not believe that a person can experience everything church is supposed to be without being physically present with other Christians. ... only in programs and pixels. Virtual church will never be real in the same way that St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Boerne, Texas (my home church) is real. (p. 18), E-commerce has also kept up with the internet population boom; more than two trillion dollars changed hands over the internet in 2007. Therefore it’s not crazy to consider the possibility that virtual church is something worth doing, at least by some folks who might be called to it. And the sobering statistic: while no one knows exactly how much time residents spend in virtual worlds, a large percentage spend twenty or more hours per week, and many spend much, much more. Apr 12, 2021 - Resources for helping women's ministry leaders transition from in-person to virtual women's ministry. You should also instruct the cast so they know not to speak until they see themselves appear on the screen as the spotlighted speaker. 731-423-2228. • How can you visit those who are in prison? Is there any way in which my afternoon experience could be at least as real, if not more real, than my morning experience? It could be real in some ways, but not in others. It turns out that those who use the internet and mobile phones have notable social advantages. Further Thoughts, Colorful Arguments for the Existence of God, The Seven Last Words of Christ: Reflections for Holy Week (2006), How Lent Can Make a Difference in Your Relationship with God, Ruminating on the National Prayer Breakfast, Oprah, James Frey, and the Question of Truth, The Bible, the Qur'an, Bart Ehrman, and the Words of God, Pope Watch: Reflections on the Papacy of Benedict XVI, Seeking the Peace of Christ: Christianity and Peacemaking, Evangelical Christians and Social Activism, What To Do When Someone Sins Against You: Guidance from the Master, God's Guidance for Christians in Conflict, Is the TNIV Good News? After the events of 2020, church shopping is on the rise. From my perspective, by far the most powerful case for virtual church points to its evangelistic potential. It will probably remind them to speak slower, louder and more clearly. But these people are clearly exceptions to the rule, representing far less than 1% of all possible churchgoers. Virtual Church, SimChurch, Internet Church. Cultural Impact or Cultural Irrelevance: A Christian Dilemma, Was Jesus Married? Need some ideas for virtual activities for youth and children? We Christians need to be with the people who spend so much of their lives there. But, frankly, I think it’s easy for us to underestimate how the Internet is changing and will change our world, especially if you’re not heavily involved in social networking or virtual reality gaming. Here’s a mission file that will help you set up a free Christmas project that is loads … No real water used in baptism or real bread in communion. Merry Christmas Eve! So mute them all and have them dressed up in front of a nice background at their homes, and play some nice music from the Host’s computer while you spotlight all the little ones dressed up as angels, sheep or whatever. First, if you define reality in terms of physical presence in space, then, of course, virtual church isn’t real. This preacher turns out to be theologically bizarre and says things that simply aren’t true, such as: “Jesus didn’t rise from the dead.” (I have heard preachers say things like this, but not in my own church, thanks be to God. Thus, I cannot imagine saying to someone who is fully able to participate in physical church, “Don’t worry about it. Moreover, if you’re a Christian, then you surely acknowledge the reality of the Holy Spirit, a non-physical person of the Trinity. From short skits, one acts, to full-length plays. Plus each guest will create his or her very own Keepsake nativity scene to cherish for years to come. By pointing to the necessary inadequacy of virtual church, I’m not thereby saying Christians shouldn’t mess with it. More real than virtual church? We don’t have to miss out on any drunk, spirited singing this year. This means the virtual world is by far the largest unreached people group on planet earth. Browse our 100% free printable Christmas plays and download the one that’s right for your church. I will not use your e-mail for any other purpose. For a Christian, reality is clearly more than physical. If they are using a tablet or smartphone, remind them to orient them horizontally (landscape not portrait) so their videos will fill better for the finished product, but then also remind them the camera and microphone are likely to be on the sides of the screen. I’ll leave ontology for another time. And this, I suggest, is theologically suspect and subjectively inadequate. Plus everyone should have a printed script ready for the rehearsals or it will be painful for them to flip screens during the performance. They never actually receive the elements of the Lord’s Supper from another human being, and have that person say to them directly, “This is body of Christ, broken for you. But these results are encouraging. • How can you bring a meal to a person who is house-bound? . I suggested that when you take away the physical aspect of church, something essential is missing. But something profound is missing, something which, I believe, is not just optional, but essential to a full experience of church. And I acknowledge that certain aspects of Christian fellowship may even be stronger online than in the flesh, because some folks feel more freedom to share openly when they are not physically present with people. Costumes only have to be from the waist up! In fact all of the plays on this site can be easily “Zoomified” to be converted into either a live or recorded presentation that a congregation can enjoy online or in small groups indoor or outdoors (in the evenings projected on a large tarp/sheet for a screen while the crowd sits socially distanced for example). Yet I think he underestimates the extent to which the power of the sacraments lies, in part, in their materiality. And if one baptizes oneself in real water which participating in some virtual ceremony, though the water is real, that person will never know what it’s like to receive baptism. Sometimes Christmas is a time of expecting great presents and being disappointed. Use this list to quickly identify a script or two that may work for your churches Christmas production. Rather, God renews and restores his creation. If you take away materiality and physical community from the sacraments, you may have something that approximates them. If someone in your congregation is good with a video editor they can download the recorded Zoom MP4 file and edit it to perfection if they desire. Just change the background and a few props and you are done. Live performances are often more fun, but recorded ones can look more professional. Mail them or deliver them a paper script to their front door if you have to do it! But how could you embrace orphans or build homes for the homeless if you’re not physically present? I want simply to acknowledge that it is. They’ll hear from Mary, Joseph, and an angel how the amazing events unfolded on that first Christmas. Enjoy this reposting of our Sunday Morning Children's Ministry families telling us the Christmas Story. Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series, The Pew Internet and American Life Project, a project of the Pew Research Center, has just released the results of a fascinating and timely study on the Internet and its effects on American social life. They might be in a place where they are physically removed from other Christians, for example. I’m not quite sure if Douglas Estes, who makes a strong, persuasive case for virtual church in SimCity, agrees or disagrees with me here. Just show them each for several seconds as the music plays and they sit there and look adorable. Sometimes, after engaging in tender sharing through email with some man, I would run into him on Sunday after church. The most important role in this new environment is the “Director”, the Zoom host who calls all the shots remotely and uses the “Spotlight” feature to highlight the person who is about to speak. Get in the Picture. . Become motivated! SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World by Douglas Estes examines the relationship between church and the Internet. NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Drew Porterfield spent last Christmas sick in bed—unable to attend his church’s traditional service. (Zoom Meeting ID: 856 1327 1089, Password: 358904) Dial-in-Church on 01707 927887 allows you to hear the service without an internet connection. They preferred to email me. Speaking for myself, I’m much more drawn to physical church than virtual church. Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series. During both the rehearsals and the actual performance the Director must be familiar with using Zoom and how to mute everyone (Alt-M) and spotlight the participant about to speak. But the first Christmas gift was an ordinary-looking Baby who offered the best present ever. Yet one thing all Christians have had in common, at least until very recently, is the conviction that the sacraments necessarily include material elements and happen (almost always) in the context of physical Christian community. 103-134). If Christians want to reach these people with the love and truth of Christ, then we need to be substantially present in these worlds. Of course the Pew study is just one research project. 3. Note: If you get an error message when you try to subscribe, let me know. I have noticed, for example, how teenagers who in a former day would have relatively few relationships because they are shy now have an opportunity to make friends and stay connected with these friends through social media. I don’t want to do this. There is fictional reality, such as Narnia, which can produce emotionally real feelings and intellectually real thoughts in readers and moviegoers who experience it. A Careful Look at the Real Evidence. This will also give people time to create costumes and be ready for the one or more virtual rehearsals you have before the final performance. In virtual church, there is no in-the-flesh preacher, choir, band, or congregation. (p. 20), Of the one billion people online, an estimated seventy million are already regular participants in virtual worlds, and that number continues to grow dramatically. They think real thoughts. Christmas According to Dickens (2006) Advent and the Christian Year (2006) ... N.T. Dark Blue & Gold Bordered Church Program. A shy person can build friendships through Internet social media, and then gain the confidence to be with these friends in person. [MDR note: Mobile phones connected to the Internet are now stretching its reach and, for many, becoming the principal way they connect online. In my last two posts I explained that virtual church, in my opinion, is “real” in many ways that count. Similarly instruct them not to stand in front of anything too distracting. There is much in this study that is fascinating and relevant to my recent consideration of virtual church. It is pretty cool. It was not enough for God simply to shout from Heaven: “I love you. You can read or download the entire study from this webpage. This might sound odd, so let me provide a several thought experiments to illustrate my point. A simple, free, open source video editor to use is, To be really fancy you can add videos of a “virtual choir” which requires each choir member to record a video of themselves singing to the same recorded track, and then they send it to the “video editor” who stitches them all together into one video. If you’ve read philosophical or psychological discussions of reality, you know that what I’m saying here is very simplistic (if not confused). And not just apparently human, as the Gnostics believed, but really and fully human. Any size cast and set can be used. Thus these are not fully virtual experiences. Here’s where I agree most strongly with some of the conclusions of Douglas Estes in SimCity: It seems to me that real-world churches will accomplish ministry objectives that virtual-world churches and internet campuses will struggle to accomplish, just as virtual-world churches and internet campuses will accomplish ministry objectives that real-world churches will struggle to accomplish. Additionally, most virtual worshippers have watched congregations other than their own. Maybe. So I’m going to spend a few days reflecting on virtual church in light of Estes’s book. New St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church. Download 7 easy print Christmas program for children, then browse this listing of church Christmas pageants and plays - includes short programs for small churches, kids, youth, and Sunday School groups. During this engaging, one-hour, interactive program, families will hear a dramatic retelling of the Christmas story from cast members onstage. I was especially impressed by several aspects of this book and its author: 1. Having a Christmas program is a great way to invite the community to your church to celebrate Christmas, and also a great way to include all the kids in your ministry, and engage volunteers. I supported this contention more intuitively and emotionally than theologically. I will have to admit our church has become quite proficient at performing our Sunday morning services over Zoom. They don’t sing songs together in the same room. Surely this counts as real, yes? Part of what makes church real is the non-physical presence of the Holy Spirit. (It wouldn’t be quite the same to order take-out and have it delivered to their home, would it?) “A Christmas to Believe In” This play is free. Let’s say that on a given Sunday I go to an in-the-flesh worship service at St. Mark Presbyterian in Boerne, Texas (my home church, in photo to right) in the morning, and then log in to a virtual church in the afternoon. Tablet and smartphone users can place their devices on a music stand and have the script located right next to it for easy reading and good placement. How Can We Know Anything About the Real Jesus? ], The future of the internet lies not in its being a tool for emailing others but in its being an immersive world where many people will spend as much time as they do in the real world. And Douglas Estes is no mean theologian, by the way. I think he disagrees, but I’m not positive. Recruit children for the speaking and non-speaking parts. I fully expect that, in time, thousands of people will become genuine Christians through virtual church experiences, thanks be to God! Question: Which sermon was more real, the in-the-flesh but theologically false sermon, or the virtual but theologically solid one? Often just a plain sheet, curtain or blanket with some props in front of it or some homemade signs or artwork taped to it is fine. Perhaps the most obvious answer to these questions is that the church, broadly defined, needs to be present in the virtual worlds. This is evident, for example, in Estes’ chapter on “WikiWorship” (pp. Narrated Christmas programs can be easily adapted to go virtual. Maybe not. Recruit children to read, sing, & dress up in costumes or hold props. In virtual church, people don’t gather in the same physical space. Cut the Christmas program into bite-sized pieces. (p. 19). And this presents the church with a major challenge and opportunity: How are we going to reach the seventy million virtual earth-dwellers with the Gospel? … For instance, internet users are as likely as anyone else to visit with their neighbors in person. If you want my answer to that question, you’ll just have to visit the series. (p. 20) [MDR note: At the moment, I don’t want to get bogged down in whether this is good or bad. 10 stunning Sunday School Christmas Program Ideas inorder to anyone probably will not ought to seek any further . (You can check out my brief review of this book and a Q&A with Douglas Estes here.) Creative church members can produce decorative backgrounds that the performers can stand or sit in front of. No, at least not the feelings of love. My wife, Linda, is a Marriage and Family Counselor, a Spiritual Director, and a Retreat Speaker, Some of My Books: Click on book for more info, Click here for website of my former church, Rick Warren, the Obama Inauguration, and Praying in Jesus’ Name, A Christian Response to the 2008 Presidential Election, The Growing Church: A Bible Study in Ephesians, Ivy League Congress: Discerning God's Call, You Know You're in a Small Town When . Create a blank Church Program. Is Virtual Church Enough? Can it satisfy the biblical and theological requirements for what a church ought to be? The Early Christian Perspective. The Incarnation underscores the fundamental value of the material world and physical human existence. Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series. I would never say that our face-to-face interaction on Sunday wasn’t real, even though it was superficial. No sanctuary or worship center or house church with a physical world address. We need, in a nutshell, virtual church. Playing old video clips from previous church plays or performances is a fun way to remember how things were back in the “good old days” in the sanctuary. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. I wonder if, in the future, the Church of Jesus Christ wouldn’t be best-served by intentional partnerships between virtual and physical churches. Why waste your time – and ours – focusing on such a crazy idea?” I hope by the end of this series you’ll know the answer to these questions. Now I’ll lay some of my cards on the table right now and say that I would prefer face-to-face conversation that is also open and honest. Second, it seems to me that talk of whether something is real or not is really too simple. Rather, virtual church purports to offer a full church experience that is not dependent on a physical church, but is meant to provide a stand-alone, genuine church experience in a virtual reality world of the Internet. So I’m disinclined to get caught up in the argument about whether virtual church is real or not, as if there’s a singular nature of reality. But these activities don’t have to be limited to just times like the current pandemic. Samuel UCC is blessed to have. And, given the fact that I believe the Holy Spirit can be present in a real though non-physical way, I’m open to the possibility of virtual church being real in ways that count, even though it can never be real in some ways that also count. Find fun, original Christmas plays for children and teens about the true meaning of Christmas...and a Narrated Nativity for Preschoolers to act out in class! Then, in the afternoon, I visit a virtual church where characters on the screen hug my character. Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series. Create blank. It helps to have tech savvy people at your church like our Minister of Music, Nic Valdez, and our Family Outreach Minister, Melissa Harlow. In a recorded Zoom video it is even more apparent if a cast member is only on the screen for 3 seconds. Estes explains virtual worlds and virtual churches with exceptional clarity. According to Pew Research Center, many Americans are experiencing virtual services for the first time. Download Christmas scripts to perform. We know this is no easy task. In this post I want to begin to make a case for virtual church. >> Don’t miss our free Christmas plays In total, they have 7 options. The basic facts of creation and new creation suggest that physical life is extraordinarily important. Christians believe that in order to save people and renew the cosmos, the very Word of God became human. I recognize, as Estes rightly points out in his book, that Christians believe many different things about the sacraments and experience them in widely different ways. It’s a wonderful combination of Scripture, Christmas carols, and interaction. 2. Thus the Pew findings are not altogether surprising to me, though they contradict much of the popular wisdom from the anti-Internet folk. You can still celebrate that fact that a believer dies to sin and is raised to Christ. These three examples indicate, I think, that there are different kinds of reality operating when we talk about church. There is physical reality and there is spiritual reality (which, by the way, I expect are not nearly as distinct as we might assume). These are high quality resources, downloaded by something like 20,000 people. Christian theology says stuff matters; Christian experience says stuff matters. Thus, to deny the reality of virtual church is too simplistic. To be sure, some of what the sacraments signify can be experienced through the Internet alone, but something will always be missing: physicality, materiality, full human contact. N.T. AUGSBURG (Minneapolis, MN) – Friday, December 4 at 7:00 pm Central Ideally they could memorize enough of their lines so you do not have to watch the tops of their heads when they speak! Oct 22, 2018 - Explore Carla Kinkade's board "Church kid's Christmas Program Ideas", followed by 497 people on Pinterest. And I believe that a person can experience much of what church is supposed to be in a physical church. For many people, the virtual world will be the world where they carry on more interactions and conduct more transactions than in the real world. This will make it easier to find the proper cast member to spotlight when it is time for them to deliver their lines. Nevertheless, his fine book shows, even in its effort to defend virtual church, some of the inherent inadequacies of virtual church. People use the technology to stay in touch and share information in ways that keep them socially active and connected to their communities.”. In my last post I began to respond to those who might think that this whole conversation about the reality of virtual church is just plain ridiculous. Quite to the contrary! Virtual Christmas Party Invitations. Teddy Bears’ Picnic Surely we need to reach the folks who spend a chunk of their lives in strip clubs, but, for the most part, we should do this in other venues. We acknowledge and, indeed, celebrate the genuineness of non-physical, spiritual reality. And then there's the physical reality of New Zealand, parts of which look a whole lot like Narnai (and Middleearth, too). See more ideas about christmas program, kids christmas, christmas play. Some physical churches do have a substantial online or virtual presence. In fact, according to the Pew press release: "People who use modern information and communication technologies have larger and more diverse social networks." Office Hours: M-F. 9:00am -5:00pm. This study, called "Social Isolation and New Technology," suggests that fears of the Internet taking away from face-to-face socializing are unfounded. In the next few decades, the virtual world will equal or surpass the real world in its reach into and positioning in many aspects of our lives. In my last post, I suggested that, though virtual church has many benefits, a personal cannot experience everything church is supposed to be without being physically present with other Christians.
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