Since we started publishing sermons online, our use of the internet has expanded.
Each Sunday morning, there's a live video broadcast ("webcast") going out on our SermonAudio page. The webcast is simultaneously being broadcasted to our Facebook page and our YouTube channel. Each of these will store a copy of the video broadcasts for catch-up viewing and listening.
For those hard of hearing, there's a full transcript of the sermon available after the event.
Another medium for listening after the broadcast has ended is through our podcast. For those unfamiliar with them, podcasts are like magazine subscriptions. You're notified when the next "edition's" out, and you listen online. If you listen to music on Spotify, you can find New Road's podcast on there.
The other development churches like ours has started using is video conferencing. Applications like Skype have seen severe competition from the likes of Zoom, and there's now an array of providers to choose from. New Road has its mid-week Bible studies through Zoom. An annual subscription means our meetings are not restricted to 40 minutes as is the case with the free version. Even the hardest technophobes have realised the huge benefit of seeing each other again—almost face to face.
If everything ever gets back to normal, there'll have to be a long think about how the ministry will be carried out. We've embraced technology, and resumed physical meetings will most certainly incorporate this.