Silicon Valley River of Life Spiritual Bread Hall enters new harvest field
【Western America】
Interview/Zheng Ruoyu
In mid-March 2020, the epidemic broke out across the United States, and churches suspended physical gatherings in accordance with government regulations. The "Silicon Valley River of Life Spiritual Food Church" (hereinafter referred to as River of Life, ROLCC) in Silicon Valley, Northern California, USA, has physical gatherings with nearly 3,000 people every week. In the face of sudden changes, how can we continue to feed the spiritual life of the congregation? Pastor Shang Zhongyue, who is responsible for planning online pastoral care at Life River, was interviewed by this magazine and shared Life River’s strategies and vision for changes.
▲The Social App developed by Silicon Valley Life River Bread of Life Church covers all church activities. Through this simple and clear window, congregants can participate in various church activities and receive church news.
Opportunities to establish online churches
River of Life is located in a technological center and has started to develop Internet and media ministries many years ago. In 2013, it established "Uv Video Channel" to conduct live broadcasts on Sundays, and integrates Sunday worship, sermons, "U Video Channel" programs, etc. Upload to the Internet and TV, run pages on social media platforms such as Facebook, and create church apps. However, church operations are still mainly based on physical gatherings.
After physical gatherings were suspended, the Life River pastoral team, through prayer and discussion, unanimously saw the urgency of establishing an online church. The direction was determined in April, and core staff started to be recruited in May. In June, four departments were established: "External Links", "Content Production", "Social Platform", and "Online Pastoral Care", and full operation began in July. .
What is the difference between online churches and the online ministry that Life River has been promoting for many years?
Shang Zhongyue said that in the past, online ministries were mainly based on churches unilaterally putting content online for the public to watch. The viewers did not have a deep connection with the river of life. Online churches have all the functions of physical churches. Congregants build relationships and connect with each other online. They can worship and attend Sunday school together; care for and pray for each other in online fellowship; participate in ministries and preach the gospel together. wait. "The online church is an extension of the actual church, a spiritual family, and there is a close relationship between families."
One of the biggest challenges of online churches is the lack of a sense of presence. People cannot actually communicate face-to-face, sit in the audience and listen to the pastor’s sermon, sing hymns together, shake hands and say hello, and share snacks. However, Shang Zhongyue said that once we open our minds and accept the new normal of online gatherings in the post-epidemic era, we will find that God’s work far exceeds our imagination.
In order to help brothers and sisters establish connections through the Internet, Life River uses various social platforms to establish interactive channels. In fact, before the epidemic, many of the Life River groups had online communities to exchange church activities and life information. After the home quarantine, these communities have become one of the important windows for two-way communication between the church and the congregation. Teaching, caring, and intercession can all be carried out through the communities.
▲During the epidemic, various groups of Life River gathered and worshiped online, caring for and praying for each other.
Taking into account the needs of all age groups
Simplifying the procedures so that congregants of all ages can participate in church activities through a single window is crucial to the promotion of online churches. In addition to the existing ROLCC Media App, which mainly provides sermon messages, River of Life has expanded and developed the ROLCC Social App. From this, you can enter the Chinese or English area of River of Life, participate in Sunday worship, register and Participate in activities and courses, spiritual practice, download group Bible study materials, attend prayer meetings, ask for prayers, participate in services, check church news, donate... etc.
In addition, Life River has also compiled simple and easy-to-understand Zoom operation manuals and videos for brothers and sisters. Despite their busy schedules, pastors and co-workers often help brothers and sisters in need one-on-one through the phone to participate in online church. After several months of hard work, many elderly people who were not familiar with the Internet were able to participate in gatherings as they wished through the pre-set App.
It is usually difficult for underage children to concentrate for a long time. Life River designs online party content for them and pays attention to diversity and interest. For example, integrate cartoons and lively and interesting activities into children's department gatherings; use tools developed online to design ice-breaking games for youth groups, etc. Shang Zhongyue said that teenagers like these games very much and often can't stop playing them for more than half an hour. During youth gatherings, pastors and leading staff will also ask children to turn on their cameras so that they can interact, discuss, and understand their participation at any time.
▲It has become the new normal for the church to gather and worship online. It is not restricted by region or time zone, and the anointing of the river of life flows to the place where God leads.
Expand the boundaries of service
The vision of the River of Life is to build a glorious church and let the River of Life flow to all nations. Since its establishment in 1995, it has established 266 branch churches and dispatched multiple short-term mission teams every year. After conducting online church, pastoral congregations have spread all over the world.
Currently, River of Life Online Church has three regions: America, Europe/Africa, and Asia/Oceania. After more than two months of online church gatherings, brothers and sisters from ten countries including France, Germany, England, and Belgium have participated in the Europe/Africa region; the Asia/Oceania region includes Singapore, Japan, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, etc.; there are also congregations attending meetings in many states in the United States, Central America, and South America. The highest number of people watching the Sunday worship service reached 22,000, and the highest number of clicks for listening to the sermon message exceeded 160,000. Shang Zhongyue once said to the brothers and sisters in Europe/Africa: "We didn't know each other a few months ago, but now we can transcend the limitations of time and space and become a family in the Lord."
In the post-epidemic era, the Internet has become a vast harvest field like the New World, requiring many workers to spend time praying, cultivating, and harvesting crops. The online church is a deeper continuation of the River of Life Church in Silicon Valley and a commission from God. At the time of writing this article, due to the easing of the epidemic, the county government where the Life River Ling Liang Church is located has announced the opening of indoor gatherings with a limit of 100 people. After seven months of sheltering from the epidemic at home, Life River held its first physical worship service on October 18. After the physical gatherings of the River of Life are resumed, the plan will be in parallel with the online church, so that the anointing of the River of Life will continue to flow to the place where God leads.
▲From April to August 2020, the pastors of Life River took turns making a cup of good tea from 3:00 to 4:00 pm every Monday to Friday, accompanying brothers and sisters online to study the Bible and drink tea, so as to make the congregation In the shadow of the epidemic, enjoy a warm and spiritually satisfying afternoon tea time.
Zheng Ruoyu, the editor of this magazine, is also a co-worker of the "Genesis Literary Training Bookstore".