Here are some tips for hosting Compline via Google Hangouts. If you try it, leave a comment with how it went for your group, along with any suggestions for me!
What you need
Google Hangouts: Although it’s not a perfect platform
for this use, Google Hangouts is free and easily accessible. It supports up to
10 participants per session. Participants must have a Google account (if you
have a Gmail address, you’re set!), and it helps to set up Google+. As the
host, I made a Compline “circle” in Google+ and added the people interested in
participating. When it’s time to start, I click “start video hangout” in the
lower right corner of the page, then invite my whole Compline circle. They’ll
all see the invitation within Google+, and click to join in. If they’re not
interested in participating, they can simply ignore the invitation.
A copy of the Compline liturgy: The Compline liturgy
can be found beginning on page 320 at the front of Evangelical LutheranWorship, on page 154 at the front of the Lutheran Book of Worship,
or in the Book of Common Prayer (available online, with text only, no
music - select "The Daily Office" then "An Order for Compline"). Each of these liturgies is a bit different, so it is certainly helpful
for all participants to have the same liturgy. I played around a bit with
downloading the ELW version from Sundays and Seasons (minus hymns and
psalm) and using the screenshare feature within Google Hangouts. It didn’t work
for me – the screen kept flashing intermittently (and I couldn’t figure out
why!) – but, it may be worth a try for you if your participants don’t have
access to a hymnal.
Earbuds/headphones: Needed for each participant,
using earbuds prevents the echo/feedback from the microphone picking up the
sound coming through the speakers.
What to do
Tell your friends: Pick a date and time (9pm worked
well for my group) for Compline, and invite folks to participate. I have done
this via Facebook status and email. Remind them to have a webcam, earbuds, and
a copy of the liturgy.
Plan your service: In the ELW version, select
two hymns (the hymns for “Evening” are from 560-573) and one psalm (the rubrics
within the liturgy recommend 4, 33, 34, 91, 130, 134, 136). Choose a brief
scripture reading (eight choices are included in the ELW liturgy).
Start the video chat: Invite your friends and wait
for everyone to pop up on the screen.
Select the primary screen: Google Hangouts has a
default feature where whoever is speaking in the video chat gets bounced to the
larger, primary screen. This may be good for conversation, but it’s not so good
for Compline, when we’re talking or singing at the same time. Each participant
can select which screen they would like to see as the primary screen – on a
laptop, click one of the small participant screen pictures; on an iPad or iPhone,
double-tap one of the small participant screen pictures – a blue border should
appear, indicating that you’ve “locked” that particular screen into the primary
position.
Begin the service: As the leader, it is helpful to
sing/say both the leader and the response portions. For participants, it is
helpful to mute your microphone during hymns and longer sung portions of the
liturgy. There’s some lag time between when the leader talks and when you
hear it, and the singing is not together (and it’s really distracting). So, if
all the participants mute their microphones, what they’ll hear is the leader’s
voice, and can follow it. The leader will hear nothing but her own voice at
these times.
Use the “Group Chat” feature: This feature does not
seem to work on iPad or iPhone, but on a laptop it pops up on the right side of
the screen if you click the blue “chat” symbol on the top left. It could be
used to share the hymn numbers, divide up verses of the psalm to be read by
different participants, or lay out shared leadership of the whole service.
End the service: Say goodnight, stick around and
chat, debrief and ask what worked well and what could be changed for next time!
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