Voicesheard
From radio to streaming video, Reading, Pa., church broadcasts good news
By Sharon Esterly D
uring the 18th century, passers-by could hear the voices singing in Trinity Lutheran Church, Reading, Pa. Now people around the world can hear them. This year, Trinity celebrates 35 years in broadcast- ing—from what began as a radio show for the local hos- pital to a video streaming website the last two years. Trin- ity has partnered locally and globally with individuals, churches, and peace and educational organizations with results such as these: • In Löbau, Saxony, a small town in east Germany, a man watches Trinity’s worship on his computer. Having vis- ited the congregation a few times since 2004, Tilo Tiegs sees his friends a continent away and listens to the same Gospel he heard hours earlier in his church, St. Nikolai Kirche Löbau, but this time in English. “I like particularly the sermons of Pastor [Fred] Opal-
inski,” Tiegs wrote via email. “He preaches in clear, strong and modern words—and very important, slowly enough to understand for a German.” • In Pakistan, a husband and wife have a clinic and a con- nection to a TV station called “Peace Channel in Lahore,”
Esterly is a freelance writer in Westchester, Pa. 14 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
‘round the world’
which features global scholars and religion and humanity orators. Opalinski, pastor of Trinity for eight years, said the couple asked for videos of Trinity’s service. “They thought Muslims especially would be interested in watch- ing in the safety of their homes to help them understand differences between Muslims and Christians,” he said. Hoping for bridge-building, Opalinski provided the
couple with several weeks of worship services and manu- scripts of services that they could dub into Urdu. He selected Bible passages about peace and reconciliation. “It was not for proselytizing but for understanding,” he said. • In cities and towns around the world, Trinity’s home- bound members, college students studying here and abroad, and vacationing or former members can watch the service. “Regular groups of people come back every week,” Opalinski said. “Even those who attended morn- ing service watch again from home, and since the early service doesn’t have a full choir, they watch in the eve- ning to hear it.” Eugene and Marie Sweigert, members since 1947,
have watched the Sunday evening broadcast from their retirement community for 12 years. “My wife is in a wheelchair, so it keeps us in contact with the church,” Eugene Sweigert said. “It is a convenient way to have church each Sunday.” The idea for the broadcast came from member Daryl
Jeffries. A $50,000 grant from the former Lutheran Church in America and an additional $50,000 raised by
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