Tuesday, April 13th, 2021, is a day that will go down in the history of the church. Many may be wondering why that day is so special. This was the day Grace’s council voted to install video equipment in the sanctuary. The next few months were spent waiting for equipment to arrive as supply chain issues slowed everything down. It wasn’t until August that everything was installed, and training could begin. Between mid-August and mid-September, when we went live for the first time, I spent many hours wondering how streaming church would go, and how we could make the at home audience feel like they were with us in the sanctuary. Much of this time was spent learning everything I could about the cameras and sound board and building slide decks to use during the service. The one constant in all of that was there always seemed to be an organist there practicing for the upcoming Sunday. Listening to the hymns and other pieces of music being played on the organ helped me realize in this time of separation how many people hadn’t heard or even seen the organ being played in real time in a very long time.
Fast forward to September 19th, 2021, and we were ready to go live for the first time. We had put so much faith in the technology that the service would be pushed out to our website, Facebook and YouTube, I can still distinctly remember briskly walking up to the front of the church right before the service was set to begin to alert Pastor Hetrick that everything worked, and we were officially live! Streaming has been such a huge success that people from around the country tune in each week just to watch our service. I can only imagine the smiles on their faces when the music starts, and they can hear the organ being played and feel as if they are sitting in a pew in the sanctuary. As Matthew 18:20 states, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Regardless of where or how you worship, I hope you always find the service meaningful in your own special way. Remember that God is always with you and that he loves you unconditionally. Dear God, please hold everyone in your tender embrace wherever we gather for worship each week. Amen. Alyson Hoegg
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Authors:The people of Grace share their favorite bible stories for the 2023 Lenten Devotional: I Love to Tell the Story. Each day's devotional will be automatically posted so come back daily after 7 am for a new reflection. |