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Tunkhannock UMC tries Facebook Live and expands their reach exponentially

March 20, 2020 / By Shannon Hodson / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Imagine if your average church service attendance jumped from 50 or 60 members to over 2,400 people. This is what happened at Tunkhannock UMC in the Susquehanna Conference during the emergence of the COVID-19 epidemic. How did this happen? Facebook Live.

Tunkhannock UMC is what Sean Hadley, a millennial member and co-leader of the church’s youth group, refers to as a “small town church.” The church has 150-160 members and an 8:30 a.m. Sunday service as well as an 11 a.m. Sunday service with 50-60 individuals in each service.

Last Tuesday, March 10, when the pastor, the Rev. John Buxton learned of the enforcement to avoid gatherings of more than 50 people, he had to think quickly as to how the church’s planned ham dinner for Saturday March 14 and their Sunday March 15 service were going to shift.

Thankfully, Rev. Buxton had a great team of active church members to help plan a way for the two events to still take place. The ham dinner became a drive-through experience and Rev. Buxton livestreamed an abbreviated Sunday service at 8:30 a.m. This allowed the members who usually attended the 8:30 a.m. service to keep their same routine, maybe even in the comfort of their PJs and allowed the 11 a.m. attendees to watch the automatically recorded service on Facebook after the fact.

If you are worried about licensing and are intimidated by technology, Sean has three words of advice, “Keep it simple.” Don’t worry about licensing right now. The approach that Sean, Pastor Buxton, and others took in planning for their Facebook livestream was very simple; they went through their bulletin already printed for Sunday’s service and highlighted what they could do legally with the infrastructure they already had in place.

They didn’t have licenses so they couldn’t have the songs, but they could still do announcements, Bible passages, prayers, and Pastor Buxton’s message.

Sean had the technology to record the service using a digital camera on a tripod plugged into his computer via a USB cable. Though this equipment is helpful, you don’t need it to use Facebook Live. Sean said, “You don’t need to overcomplicate it…any modern phone can do the same thing. You can get a mini-tripod for the phone or have someone hold the phone and record the service that way.”

In the sprit of keeping it simple, Sean said, “We chose to just have three of us involved in the Facebook Live recording. I handled the camera; Allen Wehler, the Director of our Children’s Ministry and co-leader of the youth group, made the announcements (mostly related to the canceling of church programming and events due to COVID-19); and Rev. Buxton gave the message.”

Tunkhannock UMC’s Facebook Live 28-minute service on Sunday March 15 included announcements, prayers, the Samaritan woman at the well Bible passage (John 4: 5-26, 39-42) and a brief, inspiring sermon by Pastor Buxton. Pastor Buxton reminded viewers that Jesus breaks down divisions and that we need to care for one another just as God cares for us. He discussed all the fears people are facing now (the fear of not having enough supplies, fears for the health of loved ones, and the fear that we may not be able to control the spreading of this virus).

Ultimately, Pastor Buxton affirmed in his closing message that “God in Jesus is still reaching out his hand of comfort, assurance, and grace to you. Jesus wants you to know that you are not forgotten; you are not alone; you are loved…that there is nothing on this earth that can separate you from his love if you put your trust in him.”

By Wednesday March 19, over 2,400 people had viewed Tunkhannock UMC’s Facebook Live service. The team members are discussing ways to record the service on a platform like YouTube so that members who do not have Facebook can “attend” the service and will perhaps investigate licensing for down the road.

Click here to watch this inspiring service.

Click here to visit Upper New York’s COVID-19 resource page, which has a lot of tips on how to use technology to serve your church during the COVID-19 epidemic. Here you will find resources about crating a webpage or Facebook page, setting up video conferences for Bible studies and meetings, livestreaming your service, and online giving.

Has your church taken a unique approach to remain connected with your community? Share your story with us by sending it to news@unyumc.org.