New Hope Church Evolves Digitally During Pandemic

Holy Nativity Lutheran Church in New Hope has been navigating worship service digitally for nearly three months since COVID-19.

The church started recording sermons using just a phone.

Holy Nativity Lutheran Church service online

“It was kind of funny because the person with the phone dropped it during service so one of the people worshiping with us online said ‘ouch my head'” Lisa Baker chuckled.

Baker is the communication coordinator and organist for Holy Nativity.

She said through all the technological glitches, week after week the church constantly fixed things.

“We had some volunteers step up to put together at a much more professional level,” said Baker.

Improving Online Experience

The online experience evolved quickly. Members of the congregation figured out how to improve the quality within the church budget.

“We did research online and looked at online communities and what they were saying and kind of cobbled together what we could,” said Mark Chamberlain, the head of the property committee.

Chamberlain said going forward, they plan to make additional investments for high-quality live streaming cameras because the church sees it as a permanent part of its ministry. 

For those without online access, they’ll receive a CD with the service. They can also call a 1-800 number to listen in on the audio. Baker said about a dozen people use the phone line every week.

Holy Nativity Staying Digital 

Although the governor allows churches to reopen at a 25 percent capacity, Holy Nativity will continue to do live broadcast over Facebook for the time being.

“We’ve heard back from people from our church and they just don’t feel comfortable,” said Baker.

At the same time, the church building is having renovations done in the sanctuary.

“After at least another month, we’re going to try outdoor worship starting in July and see how that goes while also offering the online option,” Baker added.

While families are excited to be back in-person Chamberlain said the church switching digitally has allowed those far away to be together. 

“We’re connecting with people in a way we didn’t expect,” he said.

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