Technology for worship

In response to the recent CDC recommendations limiting public gatherings to no more than 50 people, many WELS congregations are now utilizing the blessings of technology to offer a livestream of their worship services.

If your congregation does not offer worship services via livestream, there are multiple ways you can still connect to online worship resources:

• Check with your congregation to see if it is planning to offer services via livestream. There might already be a plan in place to begin doing so.
• If your congregation would like to begin streaming its worship services but is unsure of how to get started, here is a helpful blog post from the WELS Technology Office with guidelines and resources.
• Visit the WELS Yearbook for a list of congregations that offer their worship services via livestream. The righthand column provides links directly to each congregation’s website in addition to service time information.
• Numerous WELS congregations also post recorded sermons or worship services on their websites for viewing at any time.
• For individual members who don’t have the capability to watch worship via livestream, congregations may be willing to provide DVDs of recorded worship services or sermons.
• In addition to online worship, wels.net offers a wide variety of devotional materials, daily e-mail devotions, a Bible reading plan, and comforting topical prayers for all situations.

“May God bless our efforts to share his gospel in all circumstances, regardless of any earthly barriers we encounter,” says Mr. Martin Spriggs, WELS chief technology officer. “Truly technology is a blessing God provides for our use to take his message of peace and comfort to our members and the world. The apostle Paul once shared, ‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:38-39).”