onechurch.to online

Christen Wong

Dec. 8, 2020

OneChurch.to is reaching screens across the world through its live online service every weekend.

COVID-19 forced churches in East Ontario to close their doors and re-evaluate which activities they could participate in.
The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) Eastern Ontario and Nunavut District (EOND) has online COVID-19 resources available to inform and support its churches, like OneChurch.to.
Jessica Scarr, assistant to the specialized ministries director for the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) Eastern Ontario and Nunavut District (EOND)
Photo of Jessica Scarr taken from the PAOC EOND website. (2020)
Jessica Scarr, the assistant to the specialized ministries director for the PAOC EOND, said the PAOC recommends churches to follow restrictions and work with local public health to safely host services.
Due to Toronto's COVID-19 restrictions and safety measures, churchgoers continue to attend church at OneChurch.to/Live.
Instead of sitting among the pews with church family in Scarborough, the church meets online on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings for service.
South entrance doors of OneChurch.to
Pastor Keith Smith preaching on stage with a TV at OneChurch.to
Computer and TV screens of behind-the-scenes-production at OneChurch.to
A large production and many volunteers help the staff at OneChurch.to to create three weekend worship and sermon gatherings for the community every week.
Francesco Carbone, the production coordinator for OneChurch.to, dives into what production is like for an online service during COVID-19.
Vinnie Roxas volunteers in various roles on the production team at OneChurch.to.
OneChurch.to/Live is important because "we want Christians to feel happy and be in a community where everything is safe, they won’t be judged and won’t be in a bad situation," Roxas said.
Vinnie Roxas video directing the OneChurch.to service
"We want to make sure we welcome people who are not only non-Christians, but also new to faith to experience what we do as Christians," Roxas said.
Gord Poon, the former online campus pastor for OneChurch.to, helped shape OneChurch.to/Live and how the church supports the community online.
There has been a surge of online attendance at OneChurch.to/Live, with 1000 individual IP's logged on prior to COVID-19 and 2000 to 3000 IP's during the pandemic, according to Poon.
Pie chart of attendance rates prior to COVID-19; of the OneChurch.to congregation, 10 per cent attended online and 90 per cent attended in-person
Pie chart of attendance rates during to COVID-19; of the OneChurch.to congregation, 10 per cent attended in-person and 90 per cent attended online and a notable amount of people attended from outside of the church
In-person connections between people is irreplaceable, but Scarr said the advantage of online platforms is the increase in opportunities to reach people with the message of the Gospel.
Josh Maharaj has been attending OneChurch.to for his whole life and is a part of the worship team and the young adults community group.
Josh Maharaj playing the drums at OneChurch.to
Maharaj thinks the online service is great, but "in-person gatherings are where fellowship happens the way we know it. The way we were designed to have it. Physically."
Maharaj hopes "this time that we went through, would have paved the way for new opportunities for the church to evangelize and more people come to know Christ."
Josh Maharaj playing the drums at OneChurch.to
"During these times the church is meant to step up and shine that light that people are looking for," Maharaj said. "People will see what the church is for."
Ryan Moffat, the director of church engagement for Alpha Canada, explained how an in-person evangelism experience has moved to Alpha Online.
"Food, talk and discussion – how do you do that digitally?" Moffat said.
Moffat encourages those who want to reach their neighbours to run an Alpha session; to help them and show them they are loved and cared for.
Matthew Smith, the gatherings directional team lead, and Richard Taninderung, the digital team lead for OneChurch.to, collaborated digitally to create their third worship song during COVID-19.
"WOW - Unbelievable and Impossible" has been performed at OneChurch.to but is yet to be recorded in studio due to COVID.
[audiotrack title= "WOW - Unbelievable & Impossible" songwriter="OneChurch.to" mp3="https://www.gh360.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/OneChurch.to-WOW-Unbelievable-Impossible.mp3"]
Matthew Smith playing the electric guitar on the OneChurch.to stage
Smith thinks the benefit of not recording yet, is that the song evolved. Even up until the first performance, "we were still throwing back different ideas," Smith said.
“COVID allowed us to work it out in a different way,” Taninderung said. "I wasn’t in the room with him to figure out some lyrics and some of the musicality."
Richard Taninderung sitting on the OneChurch.to host chair
Worship at OneChurch.to now is not the same as it was prior to COVID-19.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the instrumentalists and vocalists were all in different rooms for worship.
But now, everyone performs physically distanced on stage together.
Band and singers on stage for Worship at OneChurch.to
"As a musician, when you’re playing with other people that’s when it’s the most fulfilling," Smith said.
"We didn't know how many people were watching online," Taninderung said. "There was immediate feedback about our song through the online chat."
Visit these resources:
OneChurch.to
OneChurch.to/Live
OneChurch.to YouTube channel
@onechurch.to on Instagram
Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada Eastern Ontario Online COVID-19 Resources
Alpha Online
OneChurch.to Spotify Music
OneChurch.to Spotify Playlists