What is in Kelvin's Head?

The Beatitudes of Livestreaming

13/09/2024

Blessed are they who livestream their church services
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs to share with others and they know it.

Blessed are the sick and the dying in churches which livestream
for they shall be comforted by still being able to be part of their congregations
in addition to receiving the personal and pastoral care of their friends and clergy.

Blessed are those who are meek enough to know that audio matters more than video
for they will inherit the online audience.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for life-changing worship both online and in-person
for their love of God will be counted as righteousness.

Blessed are the joyful
for their joy online will light up the world.

Blessed are the purposeful
for they will make their livestreaming easy to find and they will ensure that
no-one needs to download a hymnsheet, a liturgy book and a pdf version of the notices.

Blessed are the livestream makers
for they are counted amongst the evangelists of today.

Blessed are the congregations who rejoice in the technical and digital skills of those who are often overlooked
for they shall reap a harvest of plenty.

Blessed are those who know that their worship would be better not livestreamed yet
for they know that they need to concentrate on renewing their in-person worship first.

Blessed are you when people make snarky comments about your livestream
for they are telling you they want it to be better for the honour and the glory of the Lord our God.

beatitudes, churches, livestream, online worship

7 responses to “The Antisemitism Notice”

Gordon

25/03/2026

Helpful, thank you

What is the concern with the reproaches? I’m not familiar with them

Reply
1. Kelvin
  
  25/03/2026
  
  They can be interpreted as being directed at us the listeners. But they can also be interpreted as speaking to Jewish people as all the imagery is from the Hebrew Scriptures and doesn’t reference the experience of those who actually were around Jesus during his life on earth.
  
  For example:
  “I led you out of Egypt, having drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea:
  and you have delivered me to the chief priests.”
  
  Who is being addressed here?
  
  Reply
  1. Nick Drew
    
    09/04/2026
    
    That’s interesting, because whenever I have sung the Reproaches I have always felt them as being expressions of personal repentance rather than accusations thrown at the listener.
    
    Reply
Rosemary Hannah

25/03/2026

I must admit I had always read the Reproaches as directed to the listener. That the Egypt from which we are delivered is the Egypt of the modern world, the slavery of ghastly jobs (I’ve had a few, in fact a lot) and the oppression of terrible political systems. But I come from a totally different thought world to that of most people today, and I absolutely see they wouldn’t commonly be read that way.
But I think it would benefit everyone to find a way of expressing BOTH what faith can offer in terms of freedom AND the mess we do make of the world, and sitting with that tension.
And I think the church as a whole urgently needs to find a compelling and deep reaching way of doing both.

Reply
1. Kelvin
  
  25/03/2026
  
  You might be interested that we’re looking at Isaiah 59 as a helpful text for this year, given the current ways of the world.
  
  Reply
2. Christine McIntosh
  
  25/03/2026
  
  I’m of much the same mind. (A mind that is still blown away when I hear them sung)
  
  Reply
Dan Floyd

25/03/2026

Thank you

Reply