How Worship Facilities Have Adjusted Over the Past Few Months
How Worship Facilities Have Adjusted Over the Past Few Months
August 12, 2020
Worship facilities have been faced with reaching their congregations when houses of worship have been closed or reduced to very limited access. They have had to shift gears over the past few months to make sure their message is still being heard and to provide comfort to those that are in dire need of support. Around the country and throughout the world, the changes that have been made vary by location, the requirement of that area and the capabilities of the church to adapt to conduct services. There have been some creative solutions implemented and some are discussed in this post.
Streaming
A lot of facilities have begun to stream services online during this time. This is fairly common normally for larger churches and congregations, but since March, this has been used by churches of all sizes. Even if they have resumed meeting in-person in some capacity, they are continuing to have a stream online.
When streaming online, there are a few things you need to consider to ensure you create a positive experience for viewers. Check out this blog post for more.
Drive-In
Drive-in services were also happening in different areas. For this, the facility would host their service outdoors in the parking lot and everyone would just park and stay in their cars. To make this happen a portable sound system would be required to make sure everyone could hear. Some locations incorporated a small portable stage or outdoor stage and video support to provide better sightlines for everyone.
Outdoors
For facilities that have the space and live in areas where it was warm enough, they moved to having outdoor services where everyone in attendance practiced social distancing and brought their own lawn chairs. This type of service looked different for each facility. Some included their typical production while others had a scaled down version since they were limited in the equipment they had being outdoors vs. inside.
Multiple Services
Many moved to having multiple services during this time. This was done in a couple of different ways. Some facilities used smaller rooms throughout the building with each one having its own smaller service. These rooms may use portable staging or seating risers to optimize sightlines. This would help the facility follow any attendance guidelines.
Other facilities had multiple services in the main space. For example, if they usually had one service they may have expanded it to four, so they could make sure they were following any social distancing guidelines that were in place.
Conclusion
Different facilities have dealt with this unique challenge in different ways. Depending on where you are, you may still be having these alternative services. No matter how you’ve dealt with it, hopefully there are positives you’ve found that can continue even after things return to normal.
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