Minister the Rev Catriona Gorton said, ‘We chose Zoom because it allowed us to connect in real-time. What we didn’t anticipate was that it would make us an even more inclusive church.’

 

‘Using Zoom allows live interaction: for example, the mum of a new-born can join Sunday worship, a frail elderly person can join our midweek Coffee Club, or a young Trustee working away from home can take part in a Deacon's meeting. It allowed family and friends who were locked down in other parts of the world to join us, and worshipping together sustained families through some of the darkest days of lockdown. It also saves all of us from venturing out on dark, winter nights for prayer meetings or planning meetings.’

 

Now, after two years of Zoom church, they are following God's call to become a hybrid community, with some folk onsite, in a hotel, and others online, via Zoom. 

 

Each week, they set up their kit in a borrowed room, joining others across the nation and around the world to worship God - then de-rig, pack, and take it away until next week!

 

‘The one downside of holding services in a hotel is that our bulky equipment has to be set up and taken down each week,’ said the Rev Gorton. ‘The prize money will go towards new, more portable kit. We have always valued the support of Baptist Insurance, but winning this regional prize will really help us move forward.’

 

As a church seeking to be accessible and inclusive to as many people as possible, we have valued the flexibility of Zoom that allows audio dial-in from a landline, auto-generated subtitles on screen, simple polls for voting and of course the all-important breakout rooms for post-service chat!

 

Feedback from life-long members and those who discovered us during lockdown has been hugely positive. Much about our future is unknown but it will certainly involve a hybrid presence, embracing technology, for ministry and mission’.