Naomi's Notes - 01/17/10
During the holidays, my sister-in-law told me of her recent Sunday morning visit to North Point Community Church with several of her relatives. Actually, they attended the Cumming, GA "campus" of the Atlanta area church - one of three sites within a 40-mile range that together comprise NPCC. Each campus apparently has separate on-site staff and ministry programs, but the senior pastor for the entire church is Rev. Andy Stanley (son of Dr. Charles Stanley, Sr., Pastor of Atlanta FBC).
What my sister-in-law found interesting was how the church handled worship. The early part of service was what she expected: intense "praise and worship" style; very loud praise band; innovative, dramatic multi-media presentations; and lots of excitement and energy.
Then there was the unexpected: During the offering segment, the lights were lowered to near-total darkness. The image of Rev. Stanley appeared on two large screens as he began his sermon. But he was not actually in the building that day; his sermon was being broadcast from one of the other sites (he rotates between sites on Sundays).
Other multi-site megachurches commonly use similar broadcast techniques, some with the stage backdrops set up exactly the same at each site so the images on the screens will appear to be "local." But NPCC takes things one step further: Anyone looking at the pulpit area rather than the screens will see Rev. Stanley "live" at only one site; at the other two sites he appears in the pulpit as a hologram!
(This story raises some questions about how technology impacts our theology, our worship, and other church ministries.....all of which I'll be discussing in upcoming articles.)