In the Room Where it Happens
A major theme of the smash Broadway musical, Hamilton, is the power of being “in the room where it happens.” It’s not enough to just read the news or hear the story, you’ve go to be in the room to experience the power. I doubt Alexander Hamilton would have been content to join the Continental Congress via Zoom.
But what about church? Isn’t attending online the same as going through the hassle of getting dressed, driving to church, finding a parking space, checking the kids in, and crowding into a pew? What does it matter if you’re finishing your Frosted Flakes or or shaking hands with Pastor Jake? Virtual or IRL, isn’t it the same as long as you’re there?
It’s not. If I’ve learned one thing over the past three years it's that on Zoom and in the Room are not equivalent.
I am not anti-online church. I helped start one of the first online church experiences over 15 years ago. I have helped dozens of leaders figure how to get their services online. I attended church online this past weekend, and loved the experience. Online church makes participation possible for many people who could not otherwise attend. Online church is a great front door for people checking out church for the first time. Online church keeps people connected to their home church no matter where they are in the world. I am pro-online church.
Online church is valuable, it’s just not equivalent to being in the room where it happens.
When I am in the room I can join my voice, as bad as it is, with a chorus of others as we sing worship together. It's not the same sitting in my pajamas, sipping coffee on the couch, and watching a band on a screen. When I am in the room I can experience the joy and the pain I see on the faces of the people around me.
I can meet the stranger who is alone and attending for the first time.
I can pray with the young lady quietly weeping at the end of the service.
I can take my kids to a service designed specifically for them, where they can play, worship and learn together with their friends.
I can talk with a pastor or church leader in the lobby after service about some challenges my family is facing.
I can meet my friends and chat about our kids.
When I am in the room I am not limited to text and emojis, I can share the full range of human emotion as I connect with God and others. As often as possible, I need to be in the room where it happens.
Online church is a powerful tool that I think every church should lean into. There are things that can happen online that can’t happen in the room; online church can go everywhere, the room stays where is sits. There will always be a nedd and a place for online church, it simply isn’t a replacement for being in the room where it happens.
