Does Online Preaching Actually Work?

During the COVID lockdowns Churches everywhere (including Good Shepherd) moved their services online. But can a sermon on a screen stir the heart the same way preaching in a Church building full of people can?

That question sent Ben down a five-year rabbit hole that ended with video cameras set up in the Good Shepherd building, an AI neural network analysing the faces of forty-three of our church members, and a Doctor of Ministry thesis submitted to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the United States.

In this one off (non-sermon) podcast, Ben introduces his research and then (fittingly!) hands over to an AI-generated deep dive discussion that unpacks what he found, and why it matters for how we think about online preaching.

The answer, it turns out, is more surprising — and more encouraging — than Ben expected.