Because of COVID-19, pastors are adapting to online services, and, for some, this represents uncharted territory and entirely new dimensions of worship.
Taylor Lindemann, 25, is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Brooklyn and one of the ministers braving this new-to-them frontier. His church, which has an average attendance of 70 for its Sunday morning worship service, has quickly and effectively transitioned to the online realm.
“While online worship cannot take the place of the fellowship and atmosphere of in-person worship, it is what is required during this unprecedented time,” said Lindemann, a native of Meridian and a 2017 graduate of William Carey University. “To adapt, our church has moved all services online.”
The move has not been without challenges, he said. Many in his church family lack high-speed internet, which makes delivering online messages a challenge.
“While some churches in the area have utilized Zoom for Sunday school, that just wasn’t practical for our congregation given our demographics and the poor internet quality in our area,” said Lindemann. “Only a handful of people in our community have access to low-speed cable internet, and most people only have satellite internet, use a hot spot or cellular data.”
Instead of holding virtual Sunday school and evening services, Lindemann records a daily devotional and posts it on the church’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. For Sunday morning worship, he encourages members to listen to their favorite worship songs and then watch his sermon, which is posted at 11 a.m. each Sunday.
“These online videos require less bandwidth and make viewing easier for our congregation,” he explained.
Lindemann said his church’s audiovisual team had been in the process of developing online messages when the pandemic started, and the church was already videoing sermons and delivering them on closed-circuit TV for volunteers in the nursery.
“We had most of the technology in place and were ready to transition when it was necessary because of the shelter-in-place order,” said Lindemann. “However, there were some learning curves associated with going online.”
The church was assisted in their efforts by the Pine Belt Baptist Association, which offered training at Venture Church in Hattiesburg.
“We took advantage of the opportunity to learn from other churches who had been doing online ministry for years,” he said. “While there are many things that a large, urban church can do that we simply cannot, we listened and adapted to fit our context and needs.”
Lindemann’s church members have easily transitioned to the shift in services, he said.
“The response to online services has been amazing. Many of our members who are tech-savvy are sending us pictures of them watching the sermon on their TV. People are sharing the sermon on Facebook, and even those who aren’t comfortable navigating Facebook and YouTube are creating accounts for the first time and asking how to view worship online,” said Lindemann.
He added that the online sermons are reaching more people than the traditional in-person messages.
“While we average 70 in in-person worship, our online sermons are getting far more views. When you think about how people view worship online, one view could be equivalent to an entire family watching at once,” noted Lindemann. “Using those metrics, we may be reaching double or triple our normal Sunday morning congregation.”
Lindemann said he has faced some difficulty in adjusting to preaching to a camera instead of his regular audience.
“It was very difficult to adjust to preaching in front of nothing but a camera,” he said. “There was no eye contact, no body language to interpret from viewers ... and there were no ‘amens.’”
The pastor is also still adjusting to the nuances of being virtual.
“While different locations and camera angles help to engage the viewer, it is more time consuming,” said Lindemann. “Whereas before I would preach a 30-minute sermon all the way through, now a 30-minute sermon is filmed in 2-4 hours, and we start and stop recording throughout. This was incredibly difficult to get used to, but I think it helps us better engage our congregation remotely.”
The technology used in Lindemann’s church is relatively simple. For devotionals, he uses his iPhone and iPhone stand, and for sermons, a camera is used for the filming. The sermons are then edited together using Adobe Premiere Pro, a professional video editing software.
“I do not consider myself tech-savvy,” he said.
However, it all seems to be coming together nicely for the church, which is located on Main Avenue in the small Brooklyn community.
“God has used this pandemic to push our small, rural church deep into online ministry,” said Lindemann. “I stay encouraged because I can see God continuing to work during this time.”
Lindemann and his church are staying connected with the community during these trying times, he said, by delivering 280 meals to the needy through a partnership with the Give & Take Kitchen in Hattiesburg.
“We make sure to practice social distancing and wear gloves and masks during our deliveries,” he said. “Our members have also rallied together to stock our food pantry and make sure worry over food is eliminated in our community.”
Lindemann rings the church’s bells each night at 6 p.m. and leads the community in a prayer through Facebook Live. He noted that the church is also using this rare “downtime” to complete much-needed renovations, including a total remodel of the audiovisual room.
Lindemann is married to the former Adrienne Madden of Purvis, who is also a graduate of William Carey. In addition to his pastoral duties, he is also a full-time teacher of fourth and fifth grade math at Stone Elementary School in Wiggins.
To connect with the church on Facebook, search “First Baptist Church Brooklyn.”
