Presbyterian Church of the Master celebrates six years of online outreach
The Omaha congregation created a video to mark its anniversary, which it aired during worship on July 5
LOUISVILLE — As the pandemic shut down in-person worship in the spring of 2020, Bill Norton, a former television producer and director, had an expansive vision for bringing worship to members and friends of Presbyterian Church of the Master in Omaha, Nebraska.
“When the world stopped in March 2020 and we were deciding what we were going to do, we had no equipment at all,” Norton recalled. The church’s then-pastor, the Rev. Robert Keefer, “held us together during Covid,” and a team recorded the components of worship every Saturday, with Norton splicing it all together in time for a Sunday morning broadcast.
“As a congregation, we are technically oriented,” Norton said. About three months into the pandemic, “we decided to go live, and I did the research to figure out the minimum we needed to do a credible job with multiple cameras.” The goal was “to make it a multiple camera broadcast, like your favorite TV show,” Norton said. “We aren’t perfect, but I had directed live sports coverage, and so I was used to a fast-paced environment.”
“My challenge was to teach non-TV people how to be TV people,” he said.
Six years later, the online crowd nearly matches the number of people worshiping in person.
“We have opened up the number of places where we can meet people’s needs,” said the Rev. Aaron White, who’s led Presbyterian Church of the Master for the last two years. “It’s helped broaden the availability of worship.”
“It’s a robust ministry, and it’s ever-expanding,” White said. “We have dedicated folks on the team.” On Saturday, part of that team will be leading a conversation around technology for the churches of the Presbytery of Missouri River Valley.
The video features a scene with Keefer seated at the control center during PCM’s first livestream worship, on July 5, 2020.
“We had talked for years about expanding our online presence as a church,” he says. What started as “a response to a necessity became an opportunity for creativity and an expansion of ministry.”
In 2023, a “significant grant” from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) “provided an important boost,” according to the church, “helping to expand and strengthen the ministry for years to come.”
The ministry “has benefits beyond what a lot of us realize,” White says on the video. “It helps those who are unable to attend worship in person to be able to share in the experience of gathering with the community. It also helps those who are traveling, and those who have moved from the community to continue to feel they are part of the PCM family.”
PCM member Deborah Burg says on the video she’s out of town for more than half the year. “Just to see the people, hear the sound, see the church and listen to the sermon — the whole of it all just connects us,” she says. “We still feel part of the community when we’re not here.”
“I’m not always physically and mentally available at a set time on Sunday,” says Amanda Wise, “yet I am able to access that full worship experience when I am available.”
“It is our front door, the place we are able to welcome them in,” White says, especially those who are seeking a church home. When church members and friends participate in worship from home while they’re sick, “they’re keeping their friends here at the church safe,” he says.
“It is the outreach arm of our community, sharing worship with people who otherwise wouldn’t experience worship with us during the week.”
Since that first broadcast six years ago, more than 400 hours of worship have been shared online. “But the true impact isn’t measured in hours,” the church says. “It’s measured in lives.”
White says he hopes to see “an expansion of our livestreaming and webcasting ministries to reach out and offer not only worship but other experiences with folks,” including educational opportunities. “Web ministry is vital to spreading the gospel. It will allow us to minister not only to our folks here in the community of Omaha, but allow people who are far away to feel connected with us.”
“They’re united with us not because they’re living in proximity, but because their spirits share in common with PCM goals for what it means to be the people of God.”
Or, as the video states, “through changing technology, changing circumstances and changing times, one thing remains the same: We are called to share the love of Christ wherever people are. Sometimes that means across a screen, and sometimes it means reaching someone who needs to know they are not alone.”
Norton noted that during the first six months of 2026, an estimated 73 people on average took in online services each week, while about 87 worshiped in person each week.
“We have an online friendship registry. Not everyone signs in, but we put the graphic up [for the online crowd] and it starts popping into my email,” Norton said. One woman signs the registry every Tuesday. “I always know it’s her,” he said.
You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.
