My friend Rob Hoskins, president of OneHope sent me a note early one Sunday morning: “One of our OneHope partners, Pastor Yuri Kulakevych of Peace Pentecostal Church in Ukraine is meeting in a bomb shelter this morning and zooming their worship from a bomb shelter online before their men go out to fight and serve.”
Worship From a Bomb Shelter
Pastor Yuri said:
“Let those who will be blessed with a stable online connection and electricity to see faces of our beloved, pray together and be fed from above. After a short message every one will get back to his ministry. Deacons are already in the field.
What is my Bible text for the sermon, you ask? 2 Cor. 9-10: Known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, poor, yet making many rich, having nothing, and yet possessing everything… ‘
Then they had this young woman play the violin from the bomb shelter in Kharkiv:
I’m reminded of how many pastors and leaders in America have told me over the last two years, “Phil, I don’t mind putting our worship services online, but that’s not real ministry.”
From a remote bomb shelter in a war zone, I think pastor Yuri would beg to differ about worship from a bomb shelter and the value of live streaming.
This article on bomb shelter worship originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
Phil Cooke works at the intersection of faith, media, and culture, and he’s pretty rare – a working producer in Hollywood with a Ph.D. in Theology. His client list includes studios and networks like Walt Disney, Dreamworks, and USA Network, as well as major Christian organizations from Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, The Museum of the Bible, The Salvation Army, The YouVersion Bible app, and many more.
