CPU worship: ripples through time and space
For centuries, one of the major benchmarks for church success or relevance/reach could be measured by participation in public worship.
It wasn’t the only one, but it was a pretty good one: the assumption being that people in pews on Sunday had a direct impact on weekday discipleship, doing the work of care, soul-feeding, social justice, and so on.
So, if you find yourself wondering, or worrying, about, “Where are all the people?” when you arrive in the sanctuary (or when you participate via the livestream) and see so many empty chairs, you might be right to think, ”We’re in trouble.”
After all, in 2019, this congregation's average in-person attendance on Sunday was about 70–and now it looks more like 25-35.
But let us tell you this story, one that’s been shaped by the pandemic…
Sunday, October 22, 2023: 36 people were onsite in the sanctuary to participate in worship.
Meanwhile, on our YouTube channel livestream, long-time Cedar Parkers in Bromont, Outremont, seniors’ residences in Beaurepaire and Pointe-Claire, along with others in the UK and elsewhere, were worshipping with us at the same time .
And as of yesterday, October 29, the recording has been viewed 80 times on YouTube.
36+80 = 116
Sunday Soul Food went out later that day, and as of yesterday, had been opened by 54 subscribers, a total of 114 times.
Sunday Soul Food is a subscription email we began in June 2021, which brings together the text of the sermon and some other parts of our worship service along with links to specific moments in the livestream and extra content like articles and music.
However, old ways of counting don’t account for the exponential reach that elements of our Sunday worship now achieve through social media.
Using Facebook, last week’s Sunday Prayer (written by RevE,) reached 277 accounts (some of which are church accounts, which are then shared by others, and so on), and we know for a fact that at least one congregation in BC regularly uses that Sunday Prayer in their own public worship.
So, last Sunday, worship made some impact on at least 447 humans (that we can count, that is, because we know the number is greater, every week.)
So, since 2019, our worship has shifted from being a “once and done” experience for people in the pews, to something that is shared, meets people where they live, connects us to people who no longer drive, or who live far away, or who are home sick, or in the hospital or at work. And this experience can be accessed any time, and many times. Ripples of blessing across space and time. Every. Single. Week.