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Faithful, churches connect online

Webcasts are perhaps the biggest thing since televangelism for churches to reach people around the world. And they’re cheaper.

By SHERRI DAY
Published June 5, 2006

Before the start of worship services at Revealing Truth Ministries, four camera operators carefully train their lenses on the altar and the congregation. A small cadre of directors staff the control room to create what will soon become packaged broadcasts on local and national television stations.

 As the church’s worship leaders begin to sing, a little black box in a back room silently springs to life, sending live streaming video to Internet users around the world.

And just like that, the Tampa church goes global.

Ministries are taking faith to computer users, allowing them to attend cyberchurch anywhere, any time.

Analysts say it is the biggest revolution in Christian media since the rapid proliferation of televangelists in the late 20th century. It has the potential to bring thousands of ministries, particularly those that cannot afford expensive television broadcasts, to prime time, cyber style.

“We’ve had responses from people in Holland, London, out in Australia, in Asia, the Caribbean, South America and Canada,” said Gregory A. Powe, administrator of Greg Powe Ministries, the outreach arm of Revealing Truth, which his father pastors. “It’s a great feeling to know that we’re actually accomplishing our goal of reaching the entire body of Christ.”

Critics worry that increasing reliance on the Internet will create legions of isolated Christians and new generations of Bedside Baptists, the colloquial term for people who shun brick-and-mortar churches on Sundays for the comfort of their covers.

“There’s a certain kind of face-to-face interaction and accountability that’s probably lost when the only connection you have is electronic,” said Philip D. Kenneson, co-author of Selling Out the Church: The Dangers of Church Marketing.

But many Christian Webcasters don’t share the fear. So far, Webcasting churches, which are primarily evangelical, view the medium as a relatively inexpensive way to fulfill their mission.

Among Tampa Bay area churches to embrace the concept is Revival Ministries International in Tampa, which has a live Webcast. Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz also broadcasts its services on the Internet. In Brandon, Bell Shoals Baptist Church allows viewers to watch previously recorded sermons on demand.

In some cases, Webcasts are replacing pricey television broadcasts. About a year ago, church leaders at Countryside Christian Center in Clearwater traded in their local television broadcasts for Webcasts. The church’s Web site features a link to CCC TV Online, which shows Sunday services.

At Revival Ministries, Internet users can view five Webcast services a week. Church officials designed a special registration system to track Web visitors’ viewing habits.

“We can see where the people are concentrated, and if there’s a large area, maybe we’ll go there and hold meetings or send in evangelists,’’ said Philip Barrett, the ministry’s television producer. “It gives us the ability to kind of see around the globe where the hot spots are.”

Barrett says the church’s Webcasts have about 3,000 viewers a month. The church counts nearly half of those as Internet members who routinely tune in and pay their tithes while they watch.

Royce Jones and his wife, Christy, were among the church’s first Internet members. Every Sunday, the Jackson, Miss., couple spend at least six hours watching each of the church’s three Internet services.

Sometimes they show up in their pajamas. Sometimes they nibble on McDonald’s cheese and egg biscuits. They always bring their Bibles.

“It’s our church, so we’re really trying to be involved even though we’re just doing it over the Internet,” said Royce Jones, a furniture salesman. “Once somebody really gets touched and gets exposed to it, it’ll lure them on in.”

The widespread use of Webcasting in religious circles is a fairly new phenomenon as churches increasingly incorporate the Internet into their ministries.

In 2005, 57 percent of Protestant churches had their own Web site, an increase of 68 percent from 2000, according to the Barna Group, a California research and analysis firm. The growing popularity of broadband connections also has helped boost Webcasting.

Churches need little more than television cameras, a dedicated land line, a server and a hosting service to launch Webcasts.

Promoting what it calls “Millennium Ministry,” Streaming Faith says it is the world’s largest provider of Internet broadcast service to faith-based organizations. The company’s 300 clients stretch from the North Pole to the Bahamas and include mid-sized churches and megachurch ministers such as Bishop Eddie L. Long, pastor of Atlanta’s 25,000-member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, and the Rev. Joel Osteen, leader of Lakewood Church in Houston, where 35,000 people worship every weekend.

Visitors to streamingfaith.com  complete a registration form, which allows churches to glean demographic information. Armed with a login and a “Faith Pass,” visitors can browse thousands of Webcasts. They also can participate in faith chats, post testimonials, submit prayer requests, blog or read a virtual Bible.

“It’s essentially a MySpace for the faith-based community,” said Chance Mason, the company’s president. “We feel like we’ve just scratched the surface. There’s hundreds of thousands of ministries just solely in the U.S. who want to distribute their message around the world, and we want to be the conduit they use.”

The company touts the economy of its products. For about $125 a month, Streaming Faith can help ministries post audio content on the Internet. Posting video can run from $275 for a simple connection to $5,000 a month for a 24-hour Internet-based television channel.

For its Webcasts, Revealing Truth, a Streaming Faith customer, pays about $1,500 a month. The church’s television budget, which includes national air time on Black Entertainment Television, tops $60,000 a month, Powe said.

Religious leaders are turning to all manner of technological gadgetry to purvey faith to a harried public.

Now, iPods and MP3 players are conduits for Godcasts, or downloadable sermons. Even cell phones can provide a regular date with the spiritual.

For $5.99 a month, FaithMobile equips cell phone users with spiritual-themed screensavers, daily devotionals and Christian ring tones like Amazing Grace and Jesus Loves Me.

“At first blush it seemed awkward that you would meditate with your phone or try to connect with God on your cell phone, but you connect with Mom and Dad and your kids,” said Christopher Chisholm, co-founder and managing director of faithmobile.com , which is based in Sherman Oaks, Calif. “It’s a very intimate device, so why not God?”

First Baptist Church of St. Petersburg began uploading sermon audio on its Web site in April. The church’s children’s pastor, Rev. Ned Gable, who calls himself the “Macintosh Evangelist,” also plans to put the children’s ministry newsletter on a podcast.

“People are so busy now and have so many things going that it’s hard to come to church to another meeting every week,” Gable said. “It’s just a way to simplify the communication.”

A teen-oriented podcast and weekly sermon podcast are in the works too, Gable said.

Officials at LifePoint Community Church in New Tampa also upload sermon audio on the church’s Web site each week. At Grace Bible Church in Brandon, the Rev. Chris Pixley posts his sermons on the Internet and may soon venture into podcasting.

Church leaders say the opportunities for interaction with the online faithful provide the cyberchurch’s greatest feature and future. To help guide ministries into this largely uncharted territory, some of the country’s leading evangelical groups, including the Billy Graham Center and Promise Keepers, have formed the Internet Evangelism Coalition.

The possibilities for cyberevangelism, Christian leaders say, are endless.

“It’s certainly not clear where it will stop,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Washington-based Pew Internet and American Life Project. “But the potential is pretty big as more and more people turn to the Internet to do all the things in their life that really matters to them. It’s as big as the medium itself.”

[Last modified June 5, 2006, 22:42:49]