Not everyone can join us in person, which is why we broadcast our Sabbath services, weekly prayer, and special services. Our intention is to reach those who are in “church deserts” and don’t have an organized fellowship near them.

You may be unable to join us at our location and have family or friends who are interested in organizing a Sabbath service in your area. We have made it easy to incorporate the teaching of Torah Observant Apostolics into your gathering. Here are some tips to help you get started hosting a virtual Sabbath service.

Create an atmosphere of peace and rest. Clean your meeting space, discourage disruptions, and minimize distractions. You may choose to ask participants to put their phones away or turn them off.

Set up your television or computer monitor. Whatever you are using for viewing the broadcast, you want to ensure that the people in your gathering can see and hear. You may need a stand if using a monitor, and speakers might also be helpful.

Select a viewing space that is comfortable and conducive to discussion and viewing. You typically don’t have to run out and buy all new furniture, but it doesn’t hurt to have some folding chairs on hand because, as your group grows, you will need them. Make sure that all the seating is arranged in a way that makes it easy for everyone to see the screen and hear the broadcast.

Consider the Children. Some gatherings choose to include the children, while others send them into another area for child-friendly teaching. Find what works best for your group.

Plan the menu. Sharing a meal or snacks after service helps your group bond. You can serve a full meal, do a potluck, rotate food prep between several people, or stick to a few snacks.

Determine your meeting times. Our regular service times are set. If you want to fellowship before service, have your guests arrive early. If you prefer to fellowship after service, you can have them arrive a half hour or so before service begins and plan for fellowship time after.

Organize clean-up. All the clean-up duties should not fall on one person. Set up a schedule for different people to help with clean-up before everyone leaves.

Open and close with prayer. We open and close our services with prayer, but we encourage you to pray within your own group as well. You can join hands, take turns praying, and use the opportunity to lay hands on each other in prayer.

Add music. You may want to incorporate some praise and worship time into your gathering. We have a playlist of great praise music on our YouTube channel, or you can use your own.

Invite people. If you want to extend your invitation beyond those you already fellowship with, you can create a group or put notices on community bulletin boards but make safety a priority. Proceed prayerfully and carefully. We advise, at the very least, meeting the people in a public area and getting to know them before bringing them into the group.