Meeting online is a little different than from meeting in person. We have therefore put together some simple and practical guidelines on how to meet online to help take care of one other.
Be Present
- It is better to join the meeting with audio and video rather than using the dial-in function, if possible. Although we cannot present our body, we can present our face by turning on the video. This brings our presence into the meeting.
- Do not be distracted by other tasks during the online meeting. Be fully engaged and actively participate.
Be Considerate
- Make sure there is nothing in view behind you or upon you that could grieve the Holy Spirit or the conscience of the saints.
- Be properly and fully clothed. Dress as how you normally would when coming to a meeting in person.
- Make sure anyone who could pass behind you knows they could be on camera. These small precautions are a protection to all of us.
- Try to find a quiet environment to be on the call to minimise background noise.
- Use of headphones or earbuds are a good idea to avoid feedback between the speakers and microphone.
- A good rule of thumb is to keep yourself muted unless you are actively functioning/ speaking and need to be heard. Bear in mind that the host of a meeting can mute or unmute the participants at any time to reduce background noise. So you may need to unmute yourself before speaking.
- Use of the chat function is an effective way to communicate with everyone if you are on mute.
- If you are experiencing bandwidth issues during the call, consider temporarily stopping the video transmission of yourself.
Be Exercised
- Come to the meetings prepared. Be exercised to share, pray and pray-read (1 Cor 14:26). Try to pause a bit after you pray or pray-read a line to hear the Amen before proceeding with your next line. Exercise your spirit also to listen to others while they are speaking.
- Some ideas for singing: For simultaneous singing, one or more groups that have a guitar or can sing, can take turns to take the lead in singing. The rest can enjoy and sing along while on mute. It can be helpful to send out a link of the hymn on hymnal.net via the chat function for easy access for the saints. After the singing is done, everyone can un-mute and spontaneously function, praying and praising. Alternatively, different groups could be called upon to declare portions of the hymn/praise.
Be Patient
- Remember we are learning how to use these new tools; be patient and flexible.