Liberty University students stayed in their dorms during worship last week, skipping a trip to Campus Church to spend more time on Facebook. But the students weren't boycotting the service; they were tuning in online.

School officials organized the virtual service, streamed live on Facebook, as a way to bring campus residential life to the school's online student community, which topped 61,000 last year. Construction at the church where the service is normally held provided an opportunity to try something new.

An estimated 40,000 Facebook users watched the service on Nov. 2, making the virtual congregation almost twice the size of the student body in Lynchburg, Va. Viewers logged on from all over the United States and around the world, including a soldier in Afghanistan and missionaries in Uganda.

Many came from campus, but they were joined by parents of students, alumni and people who just heard about the service online.

School camera crews filmed the service at the Williams Stadium tower with a studio audience of 200 randomly selected students. The Campus Praise Band led worship, and campus pastor Clayton King delivered the message

"What made it unique is that we encouraged online and residential students to come to watch it with each other and their family, the vast majority of the people participating in small groups," campus Pastor Johnnie Moore said in a statement released by the university.

Broadcasting church services online is not new, but Liberty hoped to promote community and fellowship through social media after the event ended.

"What is Facebook, after all?" Moore asked. "It's a community. What is church, after all? It's a community. For us, doing church on Facebook isn't innovative. It's intuitive."

Samantha Mabry watched the service with her children from Georgia.

"They prayed the prayer and were very inspired to continue developing their relationship with Christ," she said in a post to the school's Facebook page.

Liberty student Adrienne Hudson, who also left a message on the Facebook wall, said she was surprised by how much the service affected her.

"I have been to Campus Church in person, and I didn't think I would like this as much, but God really spoke tonight and I pray that many will be blessed with what they have heard and seen!"

After watching the service, senior Alexsa MacDowall said she thought it was a good idea but would be a little odd as a regular occurrence.

"It is hard to worship while looking at a TV screen," she said, adding that she was looking forward to having the service back at its regular physical location.

Although several students had trouble viewing the video feed, many said they hoped the school would continue to use social media and other online tools to reach out to the student body and the larger community.

School officials say they have no immediate plans for another Facebook service, although campus ministers are looking at other platforms that offer chat rooms and discussion boards, Mitzi Bible, a university spokeswoman, said.

"We're looking at something that's more interactive for people who are participating," she said.