The Ten Protocols of Electronic Worship and Study
The path to heaven is self-muting
By Edward Hamburg
Like so many religious communities around the world during the coronavirus pandemic, mine on the Southside of Chicago has maintained the disciplines and retained the gifts of regular worship services and study sessions.
The formats are, of course, quite different. Video-conferencing platforms designed for business meetings imperfectly replicate customary gatherings of the faithful. Interactions are rendered painful as software sound delays combine with variations in microphone and voice quality, mindful prayer and study are elusive as participants fiddle with their computer cameras, and rhythms are interrupted by barking dogs, crying children, and task-oriented spouses unloading dishwashers.
But the positives clearly outweigh the negatives. These electronic gatherings enabled sabbaths to be honored, holidays celebrated, rituals practiced, texts examined, stories shared, and communities to have a sense of normalcy and solidarity during a time of fear and isolation.
Electronic worship and study were thought to be stopgap measures to help us get through a few weeks of sequestering-in-place. But with each passing pandemic day, communities are confronting the possibility that electronic participation in prayer and study will not only continue for some time; it will also get integrated into the limited physical gatherings permitted in the coming months, foreshadowing a spiritual future in which both corporeal and digital presences are honored, encouraged, and facilitated.
This future, however, could be problematic without the introduction of some recommended behavioral courtesies designed to preserve the spirit of spiritual communities. We can start by learning to practice the following Ten Protocols of Electronic Worship and Study:
1)Mute thyself. Self-muting is the now-holy, voluntary, generous act of audio abnegation. Discover how to invoke this powerful facility in popular video-conferencing systems, and use it courageously.
2)Control your movements. Even subtle actions, like shuffling papers or slurping coffee, get picked up by your headset or computer’s microphone, as are the more egregious rapid-fire machine-gun-like keyboard tappings when you respond to emails and surf the net. Bring these movements to consciousness — and even consider delaying such activities until later. Of course, self-muting solves this problem completely.
3) Carefully engage with others. If you must interact with others in your life (children, spouses, pets, your inner demons) during worship or studying, remember to self-mute before the onset of such interactions.
4) Be mindful of your bodily noises. Headsets or computer microphones efficiently transmit heavy breathing, throat-clearing, post-nasal dripping, and the usual coughing and sneezing. These sounds are killers of mindful prayer and study. Of course, self-muting solves this problem completely.
5) Be a responsible electronic follower. If it’s your custom to either sing along or quietly speak the words of the liturgy with prayer leaders or think out loud in study groups, you are often interfering with (and hijacking) their transmissions. Please lower your voice, take a few steps back from the computer microphone, remove your headset, or any combination of these remedies. Of course, self-muting solves this problem completely.
6) Be a consistent electronic leader. When leading a worship service or study session, if you’re using the computer’s built-in camera and microphone, pick a position and stay with it so your video and audio transmissions are consistent. Changes between sitting and standing can cut you off visually and alter, sometimes significantly, how you’re heard. Also, discover Bluetooth: wired headsets were introduced in the twentieth century, and despite their improvement over the years, more capable wireless equivalents hit the market at the turn of the millennium and are even better today. Bluetooth makes for more effective and flexible electronic worship and study generally and leadership in particular.
7) Forget about singing anything in unison. It just doesn’t work for any electronic collective experience, and there are simply no current solutions to the problems involved. Prayer leaders should consider using alternative melodies at the parts of the liturgy typically involving congregational singing.
8) Think before using “Chat” functionality. Not only do these messages get entered with annoying keyboard taps (see #1 above), they also can be very disturbing to good worship and study — particularly when sent to “Everyone.” Moreover, be careful when private chatting with another electronic worshipper or study partner; exchanges inducing laughter or emotional outbursts get displayed and heard by all participants and can disturb the collective spiritual experience. Of course, self-muting solves half of this problem.
9} Discover Silent mode or the Do Not Disturb function on your cellphone. Just like you do at the movies. The alternative melodies introduced by unsilenced cellphones are more than annoying; they are a modern pestilence, killing off mindful prayer and study everywhere, but especially in electronic contexts.
10) Have a video presence. If washed and dressed, you should be on camera to demonstrate to others that you’re part of a shared worship or study experience: a screen with just your name or initials doesn’t convey the same message. If you don’t have a camera, a recent photo will do. Also, avoid alternative virtual backgrounds or showing off your pet.
As with the Ten Commandments, these Ten Protocols will undoubtedly be hard for stiff-necked people of all faiths to follow in the days, months, and years ahead. But we must try. For we’ll be fellow travelers on what could be a new and exciting journey, one where we may learn how to transcend limitations of space, expand definitions of community, and explore new ways of sharing our lives as spiritual communities.
May we continue, electronically and physically, to strengthen our spirit and faith.
