In an effort to make disciples of all nations, Solid Rock church members in Arlington, Va., have recently focused their attention on a different sort of “nation”—cyberspace. In two years, the church’s Facebook page has gone from 500 followers to more than 32,000. Church leaders report that after weeks of watching online, the number of viewers who are now physically joining the Sabbath worship service has grown.
“On any given week, we have between 3,000 and 5,000 viewers tuning into our live-streamed services,” says Vince MacIsaac, pastor. “We began streaming to reach the world. I remember one week, in my ‘mission moment,’ I was sharing about a family of five I had met who watch us online every week. They were actually watching at home at that moment and messaged me while I was talking about them and wanted me to know how included they felt.”
In addition to ensuring there’s a clear livestream available each Sabbath, the congregation works diligently to create fresh, new content each week, as well as designing their own online image and video advertisements. MacIsaac says the three biggest rewards are having new people visit the church, having past attendees return after watching online and knowing there are countless people positively impacted by the good news of a risen Savior he may never meet until heaven.
*photo caption: Arthur Admana teaches JD Hernandez how to lead a live production during a Sabbath service.