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VR, Church, and Baptism

This is very much something I stumbled over, basically here is conversation with a pastor who baptised someone in a VR Church.

The conversation covers disability and church, engaging with atheists in a “Church” setting, and the baptism itself.

Give it a watch, I wonder if there are other ways that VR could become adapted as it becomes more mainstream.

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The Big 2020 Church Sofa List of Favourite Things

Well. 2020.

That was a… laugh… or something. A bit like having root canal, whilst having my toes tickled by a deranged clown.

Over the last couple of years I’ve attempted to share some of my favourite bits and pieces that I’ve enjoyed seeing / reading / listening to over the last 12 months. They’ve all particularly inspired, or held my attention in some way.

There will also be Church Sofa highlights thrown in there as well.

There may well be affiliate links thrown in to the mix, but if you dont know any of the below I’d encourage you to check it all out.

Some of my favourite books from this year:

My Favourite Christian Meme

Church Sofa Guide.

Was it born from tripping up the stairs? Was it because of congestion at the coffee machine? Could it have been the queue at the toilet?

10 Excuses for being late for a Church Zoom meeting was the outcome.

My Favourite Movies of 2020

Well, were there many new movies out there this year?

I saw Birds of Pray… that was… “alright”.

For a random suggestion, we came across “Katy” on the CBBC part of iPlayer here in the UK. We went in there blind so it probably hit us emotionally more as a result, but if you’re in the UK and looking for something with “talking points” to watch with the kids – that would be my suggestion.

My Favourite Songs of 2020

Well… I dont care if its over played…

Church Notice Board of The Year

Well… this was the most viewed of the year…

But.

Lets close this little yearly roundup with this instead..

And its possibly a note to go into 2021 on…

What are your highpoints from 2020? Are there any?

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How Christians Spend The Extra Hour

Surprise! We have another hour of 2020 to live through. With the clocks going back we all have the gift of time, so, what are we going to do with that gift?

What are you going to do with that extra hour? Here are a few Christian responses to the clock change.

  1. Think about praying and reading the Bible.
  2. Make that bacon sandwich you’ve been meaning to make before church actually starts.
  3. Work on that outside chapel you’ve been planning.
  4. Go for a run. (Just kidding.)
  5. Scroll through Facebook. Plan to pray for the people you see.
  6. Read a book about how to manage your time well.
  7. Realise that the Bible talks about rest in a positive way, and stay in bed. (To those parents out there, I’m sorry).
  8. Drink coffee, stare into space whilst contemplating life. For an hour. Rock back and forth a little.
  9. Rock up early to in person church, when quizzed, reassure people that you are just more Holy then them. (Don’t do this if you’re joining on line. Just. Don’t)
  10. Eat a mince pie for Breakfast. Tweet about it.
  11. Hide in bed. Write a silly blog post. (That, with an ounce of planning, would have meant said blog post would have been released on Friday).

What would you add?

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Autocorrected Hymns

Autocorrected Church Hymns. When Church Hymns meet Autocorrect

Imagine, somewhere out there, someone is typing up some hymns to be sung at Church. The Sofa family once used Microsoft Publisher for this, and occasionally… mistakes were made. (Don’t worry, someone in the church family lovingly pointed it out)

What if, someone typed up church songs and hymns, while depending on autocorrect?What would autocorrected church hymns look like? (Or at least the chorus anyway…)

Amazing Grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wrench like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see

O lord my god
When I in awesome wonderful
Consider all the people they’re hands have made
I see the attached
I hear the rolling thunder
They’re power throughout the universal displayed

Holler holler holler
lord god almighty
Early in the morning our song shall raise to thee
Holler holler holler
Mercifully and mighty
God in three persons,
Blessings trinity

Blessings for the lord
Oh my days oh my gosh
Worship his holy Bible
Sing like never beforehand, o my soul
I’ll worship your holy name

Yesterday, today’s, and foreign?
You are the same, you never change,
Yesterday, today’s, and foreign?
You are faithful, cor well trusting you.

Be thought my vision
O lord of my hearts
Naughty be all else to me, save that thou artist
Thought my best though by day or by nights
Waking it sleeping
Thy presences my Lightyear

With thanks to unlocking the bible for hosting plenty of lyrics.

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Should I go to that Church Thing? (The September update)

Back when this Covid thing first started, Sofa tried to be helpful, and created a flowchart for people to follow to help decide if they should go to a church thing or not. (This was back when Church things were a… thing*).

So… I figured I would try an “updated version”.

It may have ran out of my control a little bit…

*For whats its worth, a lot of others things were also a “thing” back then! (EG. Pints inside, eating out… and warm…, questionable hand hygiene etc)

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What Has The Church Been Up To?

If you’re somewhere on Christian Twitter, you may well have seen this…

To say that Sofa disagree’s with the spirit of the above, is putting it mildly, so, in the spirit of The Sofa, here is The Church Sofa list of what the Church has been up to during Lockdown?

  1. Working with new partners to give out food parcels.
  2. Giving out food parcels to retirement homes in the community.
  3. Foodbanks.
  4. Online worship.
  5. Online prayer meetings.
  6. Setting up sermons via phones.
  7. Dropping sermon DVDs to people.
  8. Supporting the bereaved.
  9. Running services on local BBC radio.

Thats at the top of my head.

Please feel free to add something either you’ve been involved with / heard about / your church has been doing below!

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Zoom Church this week?

One of the great things I’ve found of 2020 is the different approaches people are taking to Church online, be it broadcasting on Youtube, Facebook Live shows, or Zoom meetings…

Those who do Church services on Zoom. Do they look anything like this?