Television Ministry

Our Sunday worship service is currently broadcast on Fox 18 (Time Warner Cable 9, Home Heartland Cable 17) live from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The telecast of our worship services moves to UPN 35 (Time Warner Cable 7, Home Heartland Cable 8) during the football season. Our service is broadcst into 150,000 homes each week.

If the church is to use television as a stable and effective tool of ministry, the church needs a well-thought-out theology. Three basic theological assumptions underlie our rationale for televising our services.

Rev. John Dillard
Associate Minister

	The first basic theological assumption is that we are mandated by the gospels to reach out to people and challenge them to a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. If we are to attempt to fulfill the Great Commission in our day and age, television is one of the tools which reaches into almost every home in our community and the surrounding areas.
	The second basic theological assumption is that people have a need to be a part of the supportive fellowship of the church. There is no church immune from having people who, because of illness, age, infirmity, handicaps and other disabilities, are simply unable to attend church. People are always vulnerable to pain, suffering and loneliness. The development of the television ministry provides a unique pastoral care opportunity to meet the spiritual needs of homebound individuals.
	The third basic theological assumption is that people need to be involved in ministry. There is no denying the fact that we live in a culture which is profoundly influenced by television. From a faith perspective, television cannot ignore the public arena; it must confront the struggles of humanity with the power of our faith. In other words, the use of a television ministry must offer more than religious entertainment and piety, the church must express the concern of Jesus Christ for people. Consequently , we offer through our worship services an alternative style of worship to what is usually broadcast on television and we use volunteers from our church to operate the television studio.

A training session for television volunteers occurs two time a year. These volunteers learn to use a variety of electric equipment and then serve on one of our broadcast teams. For more information, call Rev. John Dillard at 766-4231, or send him e-mail at jdillard@fumcwf.org.

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