AGAWAM – Agawam Media is trying everything they can to help out local churches, as capacity limits still hover at 40 percent for indoor gatherings.

The broadcast organization has partnered with Bethany Assembly of God in Agawam to televise their worship services on Sundays from 9 to 10:30 a.m.

Prior to this partnership, Bethany had already been known for their service videos and service podcasts that feature guest speakers and speeches from Reverend Stephen Thee. All of these programs can be found on their website.

“I knew that Bethany Assembly of God was way ahead of the game from a technology standpoint, so I reached out to their technical team and worked with them to get their Sunday Service broadcast as well,” said Les Tingley, the manager of Agawam Media. “The team at Bethany is well-seasoned in online streaming and their production is very polished.”

Although they have been livestreaming on Facebook and YouTube for years, Thee said that the pandemic forced the church to present their services in a television format.

“They reached out to us, and said that they were looking to put a couple of local churches in time slots on Sunday mornings,” said Thee, with regard to how the partnership with Agawam Media began.

While Thee hopes to spearhead a full in-person service in the near future, he believes that online streaming and broadcasting will continue to be part of Bethany’s future. “There is an element of being together that’s missing when you’re online,” said Thee. “And certainly the services are a lot different in person then they are online.”

Agawam Media is also planning to broadcast Sunday services at St David’s Episcopal Church. Tingley said that this partnership began when he initially met the church’s reverend, Harvey Hill, at the Building Bridges Veterans Initiative, which provided free lunches to local veterans in the area. Hill has also taken part in many of the town’s veteran and 911 ceremonies.

“With the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that the church needed alternative means to continue to provide weekly religious services,” said Tingley. “I offered my assistance to Rev. Hill, and very soon he will have the equipment in place to provide me a livestream that I can broadcast.”

Tingley added that he would be “happy” to add other church services in Agawam and Feeding Hills to Channel 15 if scheduling permits.

“We have a very large population of seniors in town, and many are either home-bound or lack the means to get out very often,” said Tingley. “I believe television broadcasts of church services will continue to accommodate these residents.”

For more information on streaming services at Bethany, follow their website at https://bethany-ag.org/. Livestreams for services from 9 to 11 a.m. on Sundays and 7 p.m. on Wednesdays are available on the site.