In our local area The Chapel is spreading its wings and its message by offering off-site video sermons with on-site pastoral leadership. It hit home when a large (900 members) local church in Libertyville, Hawthorn Hills Community Church, joined The Chapel to become “The Chapel-Hawthorn Hills Campus.”
I posted last month on satelliting messages, and now it is local. My comment here is not intended to be a criticism so much as a wondering what this will mean for local leadership and local ministries, and what it will mean for smaller churches now struggling to keep afloat. It seems clear to me that it will give a clear signal that the church is not just local denominations (which has a good side).
Here’s what I fear: “We are the Borg. Lower your shields and power down your weapons. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.”