Warning to Churches Who LIVE Broadcast Services

[Rvaughn]

[Dave Roberts]

I have been in a church that did live television, and we had to be careful not to show the faces of two children whose non-custodial parent had threatened to kidnap them if he ever learned where they were. It took some careful work with children's sermons.

[Rvaughn]

We don't do live broadcast so I would have never thought of some of the issues. But, for now, mulling over it a bit makes me think the negatives of live broadcasts may outweigh any positives.

[Mrs Haruo]

There was a time in my life where if I knew a worship service was being televised at ALL I would be reluctant to attend. I have some definite privacy issues dating back a long time, and a couple of my female relatives have had some pretty nasty experiences with men who did not take a breaking off of a relationship well at all and there were threats of the "if I can't have you, nobody can have you" sort. It's hard to reach someone when they change their phone # several times a year and keep moving to keep away from someone who seems to predict their every move. It makes me uncomfortable when I see my photo up on our church's web page when I didn't even know anyone was taking pictures -- but in this day and age of social media I am reluctantly getting used to the idea. I had a few years when I moved several states away from a bad situation and used a mail drop because I really wanted someone OUT of my life and did not want to leave a hot trail. Nothing with the law, just someone who had a knack for saying the wrong thing and making a lot of trouble for me.
A lot of people are living difficult lives, whether it be persecution and political upheaval with families in their native land, or escaping violent alcohol or drug use and need to truly have a sanctuary where they feel safe to open up on their own time in their own way. Respect that, please.