The congregation of the 177-year-old CSI St. Thomas English Church in San Thome has been regularly meeting and interacting online, ever since Chennai city came under lockdown.
The first online worship service was held live on Zoom, on Sunday, March 29, 2020, with around 100 people in attendance. The numbers have grown since then, as various activities such as Bible Study and Prayer Groups are also being held online, through the Zoom platform.
Sunday sermons by the Presbyter Rev. J Paul Sudhakar are shared through the Church’s social media channels, to reach those who might have missed the live worship.
Following the week-long ‘Virtual Vacation Bible School’ for kids, that was conducted in June, in association with Scripture Union, the Church has now started ‘Online Sunday School’ too every Sunday after morning worship service.
The Church plans to continue its services online till the lockdown ends and the congregation is able to gather in the holy sanctuary once again. All members of the parish are invited to join in the online worship through a link that is sent prior to the service.
The Church is planning to make this more accessible to the general public, with live streaming of the worship services, even after the lockdown ends.
- Photo used here is from MT files – of a service at the church.
- Report by Fabiola Jacob
Why so many using zoom?
Hasn’t the government warned against it?
People always get away flouting rules.
For those who faithfully follow and use other platforms, are labelled fools.
Simply why does media even encourage such disobedient acts?