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GUIDELINES REGARDING THE ONLINE MEETINGS OF THE CHURCH THE CHURCH IN SYDNEY

Using Video Conferencing Apps for Church Meetings

For video conferencing, the brothers have decided to use Zoom for church meetings, such as Lord's Table Meetings and Prayer Meetings, etc. Zoom is an industry standard platform for video conferencing with a user friendly interface. Zoom is available on android, iPhone, Windows and Mac.

If your small group has already been using another platform like Skype or Webex and most of the saints in your group are more familiar with that, you can continue using that – please ensure that all the saints in your small group and other saints who would like to join in know about this.

We also suggest having Skype as a backup. Due to increased demands, Zoom is experiencing more outages. When that happens, use Skype – the brother hosting the call will need to make the change and inform the others in the call. The maximum number on a Skype call is 50.

Using Zoom

Once you have downloaded Zoom, sign up for a free basic account. The free account will allow for group meetings of up to 100 participants for a duration of 40 minutes – once the 40 minutes is up, you will be required to rehost the meeting.

Alternatively, a pro account (A$20.99/month) will extend meeting duration to 24 hours.

It does not cost anything for any users joining a Zoom Meeting.

You can schedule a meeting and invite others (through SMS, WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat or email) to join the meeting.

Do start contacting the saints in your small group, prayer group, district to start downloading Zoom & Skype today and practice using them.

For tutorials on joining Zoom Meetings: Please click on the button below.

If you have any question regarding the use of Zoom, do contact the serving ones in Video Conference Support service group

Benjamin Phua, Benjamin Cheng, Jonathan Mok, David Hooper, Gunawan, Jake He, Luis Huang, Vincent Zhang and Boaz Villarosa.

Suggested useful practices when using Zoom for our meetings

1. The Host:

The host of the Zoom meeting is recommended to use the Zoom software (not Zoom on a web browser) on a PC or a Mac as available functions on mobile devices are limited. Also be reminded a host must pay for the upgraded pro account in order to have the time limit of 40 minutes removed.

For the brother hosting the call, schedule a call and then copy the invitation and send it out by SMS, WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat or email to those in the group. If possible, do this a day before the call.

2. Audio & Video:

All the saints are encouraged to turn on both the mic & the camera so we can see & hear each other ‘face to face’.

We should try our best to dress properly for the Lord’s table even when we are at home. This is to honour the Lord and the saints.

3. Hymn Singing:

It is recommended that one saint plays music (guitar, hymnal.net) while all the other saints are suggested to sing along to the music with their mic OFF. The reason for doing so is that if all the mics are on, there will be overlapping voices that causes interference.

Once the singing is over, everyone should turn the mic back on, exercise to declare the verses of the hymn and saying “Amen” to one another as they are led by the Spirit.

4. Praying:

For praying, please have your mics OFF and only the saint praying and 1 or 2 other saints that say “Amen” have your mics ON. Try to keep praying and “Amens” in sync so as to not cause interference. Dragging out your Amen will cause interference. Even with your mics OFF, remain exercised to say “Amen”

5. Prophesying:

The saint who is prophesying needs to have both their mic & camera turned on while others can choose to turn the mic on or off. It is recommended that you turn the mic off if you have young children at home in order not to distract the other saints with the noises they make.

Suggestions for the various meetings of the church:

1. Prayer meetings

The host should have a Zoom Pro Account and invite other saints in the prayer group to join the meeting. Invite other saints who have not been to the prayer meeting to join as well.

2. Small group meeting

We encourage you to use Zoom as the platform for your small group. The small group may fellowship together and decide which platform they are comfortable with. Have a brother in your group to host the meeting and invite other saints to join as well – particularly saints who have not been coming for a while.

3. Having the Lord’s Table

Please refer to the the Lord’s Table Meeting section in the church announcement here.

May we not forsake our assembling together under the restrictive environment of the pandemic by using modern technology. May we be more connected in 2s and 3s during the week, and reach out to other saints who are isolated. May the church life grow and flourish even more! Fish need water, birds need air, believers need the meetings!