If you listened to our worship on the radio Sunday, it probably sounded like, as Yogi Berra once famously said, “Deja vu all over again.”
Here’s the explanation… computer issues. Yes, if all else fails, blame the computer! Except, in this case, it really was computer problems, and we weren’t able to get the service to the radio station in time. So, ESPN 680 AM and 92.9 FM replayed our worship from the previous Sunday.
I am aware that many of you who listen to our services on the radio do not have access to a computer. But if you do, and you missed Sunday’s service, you can find our worship service on our Facebook page, on YouTube, and our website (audio). If you have a computer (hopefully, one that works!) and you aren’t conversant about FaceBook, YouTube, or websites, contact one of us on staff and we will do our best to walk you through it. Hint, hint: Bridget would be your best choice!
Ah, technology. It’s great when it works and it’s terrible when it doesn’t. But we are dependent on it, especially these days, and even when we do get back together for in-person worship we will continue to post our services on these outlets. Why? The answer is really quite simple. There is evidence that people who are not in our church have been tuning in, so providing these cyber services is a valid form of outreach.
I’ll use my own FaceBook experience as an example. I was off Facebook for several months after my account was hacked in November. Those who did so then posted, in my name, things that did not meet Facebook’s “community standards.” So, after changing my password, I decided to take a break from it, thinking it wasn’t worth the hassle. But when we were confronted with the Covid19 pandemic, and I realized we would need to use every cyber outlet at our disposal to communicate our church’s message as we sheltered in place, I returned to Facebook to promote our remote worship services.
Since that time, I’ve been inundated by “friend requests” from people I don’t know. Before I accept these requests, I research these people in an effort to make sure their request is legitimate and meets my “community standards.” I think many of these people have made these requests due to our church’s Facebook presence. They have watched and heard and want to know what is going on at First Baptist of Memphis. That may not be an accurate assumption, but until convinced otherwise, I’m sticking to it!
A church – any church – that uses technology will experience glitches along the way. So we ask for your patience, with the understanding that it enables us to reach a segment of folks who might not otherwise know who we are… or care. And if we can reach out to and influence just one, to my way of thinking it is worth it.
Randy