Image

Tech Giants Begin the Crackdown on Unapproved Sermons as Churches Are Forced Online

With coronavirus restrictions forcing the closure of church gatherings worldwide, and authorities threatening to punish those who continue to attend public worship, the Christian church has become more dependent on the internet than ever. Churches are now employing popular social media and video sharing platforms to conduct their services and broadcast their sermons. But how…


With coronavirus restrictions forcing the closure of church gatherings worldwide, and authorities threatening to punish those who continue to attend public worship, the Christian church has become more dependent on the internet than ever.

Churches are now employing popular social media and video sharing platforms to conduct their services and broadcast their sermons. But how will the tech giants and social media outlets respond, especially considering their tendency to censor unapproved messages?

Well, it would appear straight-up banning churches isn’t off the table for some platforms, as a church in Moscow, Idaho discovered last week.

On Friday, Google suspended Christ Church’s app from the Google Play store after accusing the pastors of a lack of sensitivity and/or capitalizing on the current coronavirus pandemic.

The church received a notice from the platform, stating: “We don’t allow apps that lack reasonable sensitivity towards or capitalize on a natural disaster, atrocity, conflict, death, or other tragic event.

“Your app has been suspended and removed due to this policy issue,” the notice added.

It’s believed Google was referring to Pastor Douglas Wilson’s short lessons on responding faithfully to the COVID-19 crisis, and Pastor Toby J. Sumpter’s sermon calling God’s people to humble repentance in the face of the pandemic.

Is this a glimpse at what’s now in store for the church online? Should we expect to see more censorship of church services? Will the platforms that we now depend on dictate what our pastors can and cannot preach on? Time will tell, but if the past is any indication of the future, I don’t think Christ Church will be the last church gagged.

The banned messages, which are well worth listening to while they’re still available on YouTube, can be heard below.

The Caldron Pool Show

The Caldron Pool Show: #14 – Dr Stephen Chavura
The Caldron Pool Show: #27 – God and Politics – with Joel Webbon
The Caldron Pool Show: #32 – Caesar and the Church (with Anthony Forsyth)
The Caldron Pool Show: #2 – Elijah Schaffer
Image

Support

If you value our work and would like to support us, you can do so by visiting our support page. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Visit our search page.

Copyright © 2023, Caldron Pool

Permissions

Everything published at Caldron Pool is protected by copyright and cannot be used and/or duplicated without prior written permission. Links and excerpts with full attribution are permitted. Published articles represent the opinions of the author and may not reflect the views of all contributors at Caldron Pool.