Easter Services Streamed Online

The Feast of the Resurrection Service will be streamed live from two diocese of the Assyrian Church of the East, thanks to The Assyrian Church of the East-TV which is now accessible on social media website Facebook.

Showing first will be the Easter Midnight Mass service of St Hurmizd Cathedral in Sydney, Australia with Holy Eucharist being offered by His Beatitude Mar Meelis Zaia, Metropolitan of the Diocese of Australia, New Zealand and Lebanon. Night vigil begins at 8pm and Holy Offering commences at 10pm (Eastern Standard Time).

Easter Midnight Mass service, led by Cor-Bishop Reverend Dr Gewargis Toma, will be streamed live from St Andrew’s Church, Chicago, USA. The live program will commence at 9pm (Central Daylight Time).

ACOE-TV on Facebook, based in Chicago, USA, officially launched on 14 December, 2010 and has proudly surpassed 125,000 page views.

A spokesperson for ACOE-TV said the website was created in response to a need for church parishioners to obtain church news, events, Bible study and church programming both globally and at an affordable price.

“As most of us were already members of Facebook, we came to the conclusion that this medium would suffice all of our criteria. First, we could obtain news and events, not only by way of pictures but also video from many of our Diocese. Secondly, these events could be filmed live. Third, we could have administrators from each Diocese develop their own televised programs, thereby creating multiple hours of church programming from all over the globe. Fourth, our parishioners could obtain news on a daily basis and not have to rely on the church radio program that is only aired on Saturday here in Chicago, we assume that this also occurs in many other Diocese. Lastly, it basically is cost efficient, as there is no cost to run the site. However, the only costs each Diocese or parish may have are the purchase of a computer (laptop preferable, internet connection and a camcorder),” said the spokesperson.

last four months have seen staff working hard to expand programming for viewers, along with creating satellite stations around the globe.

With many Diocese already equipped with these items and excited to join ACOE-TV’s staff of administrators, the website took off and currently has on staff: Deacon Sami Shamuel and Deacon Albert Isaac, from Sydney, Australia, Father Michael Pahumalil from India, Ninos Youkhanis from Sydney, Australia and Shabeeba Mar Youkhana from Arbil, Iraq, with more administrators to be added globally.

“Quite simply, this Facebook destination may become the easiest, least expensive and most efficient way to offer programming to our parishioners on a global scale and be the beacon for public relations to the rest of the world. We currently have members on the site that do not belong to the church nor speak Assyrian. These persons originate from different parts of the world such as Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, UAE, Lebanon, Syria, Finland and Egypt.

“To be sure, the world as we know is large. However, it is this technology that allows us to be a click away from any Diocese in the world. It allows friends, relatives, neighbors and family members that live in different cities and countries to see one another at Sunday mass or church event,” said the spokesperson.

Currently, staff are working with all the administrators to develop 24 hour programming and an online book store.

“Being global offers many advantages, one of which is having different time zones. As one Diocese ends its programming, another may begin their’s. We believe that his is an unprecedented opportunity to maintain our strong faith in our Lord, maintain our strong sense of oneness as a community and uphold our Assyrian Culture.

“This Facebook destination may also be the beginning of our Holy Church’s efforts to connect with the younger generation. We know that Generation Y enjoys their information quickly and in a timely fashion. Today, we are able to have our parishioners young and old, view a message from our beloved Patriarch, learn the Assyrian language, read about an upcoming church event, or view a live Bible study lecture from any Diocese of our Holy Church from their Android or iPhone. We feel that this immediate connectivity to our parishioners is very important.”

To view ACOE-TV, simply go to facebook.com/ACOEWTV. Feel free to send us your thoughts and comments as they are appreciated by our staff.