Can One Attend Services Online?

The intersection between new technology and biblical mandate has always been one that must be navigated carefully. Technology often brings new capabilities which we are eager to leverage toward the Lord’s work, yet they often introduce new questions that must be answered. There was likely not much argument about which translation was “best” when entire congregations may have shared a single hand-written copy of the scriptures (if at all), but when printing became relatively inexpensive and Christians could possess their own Bible, such questions increasingly arose. Communicative technologies enable us to transmit the gospel call around the planet, but these also generated certain questions: Could congregations engage in this or individuals? Could congregations cooperate in this effort? Sorting through the questions raised through the implementation of new technology is necessary, even if it is rarely straightforward, and even more rarely, peaceful.

One such question must be answered today in the context of recorded worship services. Many congregations (including our own) livestream worship services and post videos of our sermons and Bible studies to various online platforms, such as YouTube, Zoom, Facebook Live, etc. While some groups were doing this pre-COVID, it seems fair to say that the events of 2020 provoked most groups now participating in this to do so. This capability was unknown until at least 20 years ago (Example: YouTube didn’t exist until 2005). Just as with recording sermons on audio tape, there are obvious benefits. Video has long been recognized as a more effective teaching medium than audio alone, and streaming sermons (or even entire worship services) can both teach the scriptures and demonstrate what the scriptures teach. This sort of video can be greatly encouraging to the homebound, the infirm, or others who are separated from their brethren by circumstance. Done well, these technologies can even give us the feeling of “being there”, and it is here that we come to the intersection in question.

This technology has raised the question on the meaning of “presence” and “assembly”. Increasingly I have noticed the following descriptions/statements being made during livestreamed worship services among our brethren:

• “Those of you joining us online…”
• “Thank you for joining us…”
• Livestream Title: “Come worship with us!”
• “He/She is joining us tonight on Zoom…”
• “Those of you who are online with us this morning…
• “…we hope you found this worship just as beneficial as those of us that were able to worship here inside the building.”

Brethren have even gone so far as to say, “We didn’t go to services, but we watched the services at (name of congregation).”

The above examples give the impression that individuals who are not physically present are joined, assembled, and derive the same amount of benefit from worship as those assembled in-person. In short, they are “there” without being there and they are engaged in corporate worship with those physically assembled.

I challenge this directly. Are those who watch livestreamed worship services “present”, “with us”, or “gathered” with their brethren in corporate worship? Let us make sure we look both ways before crossing this intersection!

Before we consider the scriptures, let us look left at a simpler example. Most of our church buildings have windows. Provided they are sufficiently transparent (and ground level), these would provide anyone passing by the ability to look inside and see what is going on during our assemblies. If the window were open, they would also be able to hear what is being said or done inside. Kris Kristofferson in a song lyric described walking outside a church building on a Sunday and hearing the worship within[1], but even if he looked inside to see the worshippers no one would assume or suppose that the singer had “joined” their worship! If a person stopped by an open window of our church building and watched/listened to what was going on within, have they assembled with us and worshipped with us?

Hopefully the parallel is obvious. Video presentations of assemblies, whether live or recorded, are technologically opened “windows” into places of worship. One can open a “window” on the web browser of choice and peer into the worship services of tens of thousands of congregations across the religious spectrum. Even if the focus is narrowed to groups considered faithful to God’s word, hundreds of options are available. Many produce live webcasts of their assemblies, enabling us to sit by the “open window” of their congregation and see/hear what is going on there delayed by only a few seconds. But even if we sing the songs, listen to the prayers, & follow along during the sermon (all of which can certainly benefit), a simple fact remains: We are not there. We are not present. We have not joined their worship or study. We have not assembled with those saints.

Now we must look right and consider the scriptures. Physical assembly with the saints for the purpose of worship is commanded (Heb. 10.25), shown by example (Acts 20.7; 1 Cor. 11), and necessarily implied (1 Cor. 16.1-2). Even the first newborn Christians recognized the necessity of physical assembly. One can go no earlier in the church’s history than Acts 2, and what do we find there? We see baptized believers (i.e. Christians) devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, the breaking of bread, and prayers! (vv.42) A few verses later, we find these most immature of Christians “attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes.” (vv.46) A closer examination of the New Testament’s descriptions of Christian corporate worship demonstrates the essentiality of physical presence:

• The Lord’s Supper requires “gathering”: “when you come together” (1 Cor. 14.17); “when you come together as a church” (vv.18); “When you come together” (vv.20); “when we were gathered together to break bread” (Acts 20.7)
• Singing requires a “gathering”: “…teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…” (Col. 3.16). One cannot teach and admonish their fellow brethren in song unless they can be heard!
• Prayer during worship is described as occurring in a “gathering” (Acts 4.24-31; 12.12-17; “While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting… Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” (13.2-3)
• Contribution is collected “on the first day of every week”, which not coincidentally coincides with the day of gathering for corporate worship, Sunday (1 Cor. 16.1-2)
  (Note: There was no “online portal” with which one could contribute in the 1st century.
  One had to physically give of their means. This is not an argument against online forms of payment today, it is merely a demonstration of the need for physical presence to give in 1 Corinthians)
• Preaching requires a “gathering”: “For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people.” (Acts 11.26); “…when we were gathered together…Paul talked with them… and he prolonged his speech until midnight.” (20.7); “When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.” (1 Cor. 14.26)

Assembling for worship means more than being close enough to see and hear what is going on. One must participate, and to participate, physical presence must be paired with appropriate activity. Come back to the “window” analogy: What WOULD a person have to do at the window to be considered to have assembled with us to worship God? Simple: If the person at the window sings with us, prays with us, listens with us, contributes with us, and partakes of the Lord’s Supper with us, only then can they be correctly said to have worshipped with us.

This is a different question than whether someone has benefitted in some sense from the audio/visual experience. One might retort: “Well, we just need to cut off all recordings of any kind: If they want to hear it, they have to be here.” This is most unwise. The educational opportunity of such recordings must not be so carelessly cast aside. Utilizing all available educational mediums is part of what we do as Christians. Think of it this way: Which medium available to Paul did he not use in preaching the gospel? One would hope that seeing/hearing our assemblies would provide ample opportunity to learn something, become convicted of sin, or be provoked to love and good deeds. It has long been recognized that audio presentations (such as sermon recordings or radio broadcasts) can accomplish these things, but it has also been a settled question for decades that listening to a recording IS NOT a substitute for gathering with the saints. The logic does not change if one adds a visually dynamic background to an audio recording.

This also does not discount the very real desire faithful brethren have to worship but their circumstances have prevented them from doing so. The reasons range from being homebound or living in a permanent care facility, being sick or treated in a hospital, inclement weather, or certain work situations. I recognize and admire the heart that truly desires to worship with the saints and is searching for a means to do so when they cannot be physically present. However, we cannot change the definitions of assembly, gathering, joining, and presence to assuage our aching hearts, as tempting as it might be. An inability to gather with the saints is not the same as “forsaking the assembly” (Heb. 10.25), but listening to a tape recording or watching the service online is not the same as “when you come together.” (1 Cor. 14.26)

Finally, a word of warning. The concession we make to the first becomes the option we give to the second, and the right we will grant the third. If the homebound elderly brother in Christ can be said to be worshipping with the saints via the use of technology, we must provide this same understanding to any who are prevented from assembling. How long will it be before this concession evolves into an available option for any who merely choose not to assemble? Indeed, in the minds of some, this is already the case. We need not look far for proof of concept. A 2025 Pew Research study found that 23% of U.S. adults participate in virtual religious services at least monthly, with the majority of those doing so weekly or more.[2] “Life.Church”, based in Norman, OK and considered the largest church in the United States, boasts over 90,000 people who claim they attend services weekly online. Clearly, they crossed this particular intersection years ago, and the unscriptural route they took must be avoided at all costs.

Brethren, let us take care how we utilize and speak of our online content. Brethren watching a livestream have not “joined us for worship” via the Internet. A family prevented from gathering with the saints may be able to worship among themselves, but they cannot worship corporately with their brethren via Zoom or YouTube. If a person can physically and safely attend worship services, a refusal to do so constitutes forsaking the assembly (Heb. 10.25), no matter whether they see or hear everything happening there nigh-instantaneously or not. Broadcasting an entire worship service with the understanding or implication that “If one watches and follows along at home, they have worshipped with their fellow saints” is unscriptural. The primary benefit rendered to those assembled is not shared by those watching online, which is the fact of having worshipped God together according to His word.

To those of you who stand at the online “window” watching, we invite you inside to worship God with us “in spirit and in truth.” (John 4.23)

[1] “Sunday Morning Coming Down”

[2] https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/religious-attendance-and-congregational-involvement/