My friend and colleague, Jerry Webb, has been reading Patrick Nachtigall's new book and has commented that:"A read of Patrick Nachtigall's Mosaic will convince that you are right about # 1. I, too, think it should remain in Anderson. But, multisite can be used for more than across the street. We should experiment with regional sites where there are large COG populations"
I find that an intriguing possibility. We are already using streaming video across the internet and it was reported that there were 800 hits on that venue. A "hit" represents individual access once. So, it could be that there were several thousand viewings of services but only 800 individual computers that logged on to the site. As to Jerry/Patrick's suggestion that regional centers could be established, I think this is a great idea. I know we attempted to have our local congregation gather in the sanctuary at one point to view a service. On the West Coast, that means folks coming together around 4pm for the service. Maybe some delayed broadcast or if the streaming can be on demand would help facilitate a better starting time for those out West.
Regional centers would help multiple congregations to gather together, affecting connectivity in a positive way. Large regional centers might also connect larger areas than just say, all the Church of God congregations in Portland, Ore. or Oklahoma City. I know the District Unity Service idea is not used very much, but it could be revived for something like this. A Saturday picnic/pitch-in or a Sunday evening service time could be adopted for sharing together with Campmeeting. Another idea would be to broadcast the GA so that ministers could "attend" without traveling to Anderson. I don't think that would decrease GA attendance but it might increase Movemental awareness.
Anybody else want to join in? What are your ideas?
