Both/And

Before the global pandemic, the majority of congregations who were streaming worship online were (more or less) creating an experience for the people gathered in‐person in their buildings. Leaders would often (at some point) look into the camera and say, "and if you're worshiping with us online, we're glad you've joined us." They'd then look back at the people gathered in‐person and continue on with a worship experience designed as a physical gathering.

This meant that the home audience were observers of what was happening in real time on‐site. They could watch, but not truly participate. This model (arguably) worked because ‐ at the time ‐ we knew nothing different.

In March 2020, when congregations ended in‐person worship and went online (many for the first time) the methodology for streaming worship completely shifted paradigms. Everything was about the home audience. There was no one in the room, and the people at home could feel that shift. They knew they were being talked to directly.

Now we face one of the most critical moves in the next iteration of the online worship experience. As we move back into our buildings, we mustn't return to making people at home observers after talking directly to them for so long. They'll feel that too.

We also can't take an approach where we treat the in‐person crowd as the studio audience, providing the laugh or clap track, for the people watching at home. Neither of these audiences should feel secondary.

If we fail to think about how to create a BOTH/AND scenario as we go back to in‐person worship, we will lose so much of what we've gained in these last seven plus months.

This 2.5 hour workshop will delve into strategies for how to create powerful transformative worship where no one feels like they’re an afterthought.

It will explore:

• Re‐imagining worship for both/and
• How to create interactive both/and experiences
• Bringing at home and in‐person audiences together in real time
• Alternative opportunities for online audiences watching in‐person livestreams
• Repurposing in‐person worship for online audiences
• Strategies for adapting practices for both/and
• Avoiding letting your groove becoming a rut & more

If you have any questions, please contact Courtney Gould via email: cgould@eocumc.com with Both/And in the subject field.