Churches air services on TV

? In many Kansas towns, the faithful no longer have to rise from their couches to worship because an increasing number of local churches are now airing their services on television.

Sylvia Dewey Muse stopped attending prayer services when her physical limitations got in the way, but now the 95-year-old can watch her pastor from her retirement home in northeast Wichita.

“I feel that I’m still part of the church,” said Dewey Muse, a member of First United Methodist Church of Wichita. “And that means a lot to me.”

On Sunday mornings, Muse catches the service broadcast live on KAKE, Channel 10.

Numerous Wichita-area churches and hundreds of small congregations nationwide have begun broadcasting their services on television to reach new worshippers and keep those who can’t make it to church inside the faith community.

“Our objective is to have them feel they’re integrated into a worshipping body,” said Kirk Longhofer, communications and technology director at First United Methodist. “It’s an incredibly efficient way for us to deliver that necessary worship component to folks.”

Other Wichita churches cited similar reasons for broadcasting prayer services, and said they scheduled their air-times at different hours to reach diverse audiences.

Messiah Baptist Church airs its “Answers for Life” service twice a week.

“We don’t do it just to be on there,” said Dan Kubish, technical director at Messiah Baptist. “They can get a glimpse of what we do and how we do it without ever leaving their home.”

First United Methodist Church started airing its services on a tape-delay broadcast in 1975, but now it’s the only Wichita church to broadcast live. It recently spent about $1 million to upgrade its technical system for digital production and reaches about 20,000 to 30,000 people across Kansas on an annual budget of about $200,000, Longhofer said.