Recommended Streamed Religious Services?

Hexmage-PA

So I'm an agnostic, but every now and then I get curious about religion. However, I've spent most of my life in the rural part of Georgia and thus have only gotten to experience a very particular brand of religion (White Conservative Fundamentalist Christian, to put an honest name to it). My father and stepmother attend one that records their services and makes them available online, which has gotten me curious if forumers here know of other religious institutions that provide similar content I might could watch. I know this isn't generally the type of thing people ask for on here, but I get the feeling that if I did get any recommendations they would be a lot different than anything I've been exposed to previously.

I'm honestly most curious about seeing services from Christian churches that are different than what I've been exposed to (I know LGBT+ friendly churches exist, for example, but I've never been to one), but I wouldn't be opposed to any recommendations related to other faiths.

EDIT: I'm also open to recommendations such as podcasts. There's one I've listened to a handful of episodes for that is hosted by two people who identify as part of the Christian "Deconstruction" movement.

Athenor

I was raised Methodist, and I know my former/ "home" churches broadcast online, especially in these post-covid days. Would you be interested in those? I have only attended fairly progressive/liberal churches.

Hexmage-PA

Athenor wrote: »

I was raised Methodist, and I know my former/ "home" churches broadcast online, especially in these post-covid days. Would you be interested in those? I have only attended fairly progressive/liberal churches.

Okay, sure. If you'd feel more comfortable sending a PM with a link that's fine. Thanks!

DevoutlyApathetic

Methodist is a good example of a mainline but relatively progressive/liberal version of Christianity. You're going to get a bunch of variation depending on the local parish doing the streaming. As a rough guideline I'd look towards the north eastern section of the US.

spool32

I feel like what you might be looking for, as a real departure from evangelical fundamentalist denominations, is the Episcopal Church. We’re the oldest Protestant denomination in the US, and the denomination most of the Founders attended. “All Are Welcome” is the catchphrase and they mean it. They ordain LGBT priests, perform marriage services for gay couples, welcome trans members… all really are welcome.

Here is my priest giving a few sermons, audio only.
https://stjuliansaustin.org/resources/sermons

Here’s the link to the decidedly low-tech but deeply inclusive St Martins of Charlotte, NC where we attended remote church throughout the pandemic.

https://youtube.com/c/StMartinsEpiscopalChurchCharlotteNC

The national cathedral in D.C. is an Episcopal church, so if you’ve ever seen a service there, it’s us. Also worth noting, the rector there was tear gassed by the Trump admin while protesting with BLM, so that the President could have a photo op outside the cathedral. The bishop denounced the President.

If you’re interested in a bigger, more formal service with high production values and all the pomp and circumstance of an Anglican service, please let me know and I’ll dig up one on the youtubes for you!

soitis

I attend a pretty liberal and inclusive Mennonite church that has a about a years worth of backlog. It's a small church with low production values but might be in line with what you are looking for. You can find both links to both the videos and podcast at https://www.houstonmennonite.org/where-to-find-us.

Lord Palington

So it's not strictly Christian, but you might see if there's any Unitarian Universalist churches to watch. Happy to send a few local links if you'd like them. UU churches have long been LGBTQ+ friendly (there were at least a few "ceremonies of union" performed in Canada back in the 50s), and they are very accepting of a wide variety of beliefs. Agnostic, theist, atheist, member of a religion where the question of God isn't really that important - they're all there.

Ringo

Quaker meetings can also be very liberal, but I don't attend any more so I don't have a link

Finrod Felagund

spool32 wrote: »

I feel like what you might be looking for, as a real departure from evangelical fundamentalist denominations, is the Episcopal Church. We’re the oldest Protestant denomination in the US, and the denomination most of the Founders attended. “All Are Welcome” is the catchphrase and they mean it. They ordain LGBT priests, perform marriage services for gay couples, welcome trans members… all really are welcome.

Here is my priest giving a few sermons, audio only.
https://stjuliansaustin.org/resources/sermons

Here’s the link to the decidedly low-tech but deeply inclusive St Martins of Charlotte, NC where we attended remote church throughout the pandemic.

https://youtube.com/c/StMartinsEpiscopalChurchCharlotteNC

The national cathedral in D.C. is an Episcopal church, so if you’ve ever seen a service there, it’s us. Also worth noting, the rector there was tear gassed by the Trump admin while protesting with BLM, so that the President could have a photo op outside the cathedral. The bishop denounced the stunt.

If you’re interested in a bigger, more formal service with high production values and all the pomp and circumstance of an Anglican service, please let me know and I’ll dig up one on the youtubes for you!

Can confirm about the Episcopal church; the new bishop in my diocese is a gay woman. Episcopal church are also often solid on the interfaith front. My church, for instance, shares a building and grounds with a Jewish congregation, and partners with them and a local Muslim group to run a food bank. You'll often hear Episcopal priests go out of their way during a sermon to make sure that any readings that might be read as anti-Semitic are fully explained and contextualized.

Two churches from my neck of the woods might interest you. Blue Ocean Faith is a non-denominational church that goes out of its way to welcome LGBT people. A bit more rollicking than a pomp and circumstance Episcopal service, and the two pastors both have a lot of good stuff to say: https://www.a2blue.org/

The Green Room is also non-denominational, and is directed at the arts community; they meet on Mondays because so many theater people are swamped over the weekend. Their services will often have an artistic flair: https://www.thegreenroomchurch.com/

firewaterword

spool32 wrote: »

The national cathedral in D.C. is an Episcopal church, so if you’ve ever seen a service there, it’s us. Also worth noting, the rector there was tear gassed by the Trump admin while protesting with BLM, so that the President could have a photo op outside the cathedral. The bishop denounced the President.

Yes! Came in here to post about the National Cathedral services and Mariann Budde, the diocesan bishop, in particular.

She's a wonderful speaker and an excellent person. I had the pleasure of attending Easter service at the Cathedral a few years ago (2017 or so) and it was a wonderful experience.

Would certainly recommend her sermons.

MichaelLC

Here's a local United Methodist Church that streams their services:
https://www.fumcah.com/servicearchive

Some "religion" but more about being kind, love, etc. Very pro-LGBTQ+.

Tofystedeth

soitis wrote: »

I attend a pretty liberal and inclusive Mennonite church that has a about a years worth of backlog. It's a small church with low production values but might be in line with what you are looking for. You can find both links to both the videos and podcast at https://www.houstonmennonite.org/where-to-find-us.

Houston Menno fam! I haven't been there in almost 20 years now but I grew up in Peace Mennonite Church in Dallas so we'd go down there every year for the MCC sale.
Which, relevant to the OP, also streams their services and posts their most recent sermons as well.
https://peacemennonitedallas.org/sermons/
Their pastor was my college roommate so it's really weird that we basically swapped the cities we live in and he pastors my parents' church now.