By: The Church.digital

Church, why do we do this? Why do we do ‘church’? I don’t mean physical church, or digital church. I don’t mean weekend services, or small groups. I simply mean, why is it that we do what we do?

Our buildings, our online… Pastor, there are times that pride gets to us and we think that our physical or digital footprint are the endgame. I’ve been guilty of this, I admit it. Chances are, if you’re honest, you have been to.

That being said, the digital/physical representations of our church are actually the means to the end… meaning they’re important, but not the focus. Our focus, our endgame? Well, Matthew 28 lays that out pretty clear.

Church, we may have lost our way here, and a clear and honest refocusing of your church may be necessary. Let’s better understand the idea of the “one”… not only for your organization, but the importance of helping your attenders find their “one”.

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ON THE SHOW

Source: PODCAST 077: Tim Celek & Defining Matthew 28 by Focusing on the One

The post PODCAST 077: Tim Celek & Defining Matthew 28 by Focusing on the One appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by The Church.Digital: So, who are these people who are watching our Churches Online and what are we supposed to do with them? COVID-19 has brought us tons of traffic, and maybe for the first time we, as a church, are understanding the potential of the reach of Church Online. But here’s a hard truth: people are not going to stay at your church because of content.

Why do people stay? Because of community, vision, being on mission… The COVID-19 lesson for Church Online, if nothing else, is integral to your vision into Church Online. Cause if people are only watching online for content, well… Netflix cost $9. They don’t sell vision, but they do a great job at making a consumer. Don’t even get me started at Disney+.

So, what’s the process to get people engaged, activated online? While we’re talking, what’s that even look like in the physical building? Can Physical + Digital work together, for the benefit of our people? These are the conversations we’re having here on The Church Digital Podcast.

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ON THE SHOW

Source: PODCAST 076: Lee Coate & Digital Engagement Pathway for Your Church

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by The Church.Digital: Ministry is weird.

It essentially boils down to being all things to all people “for the sake of the gospel” so that we can win them to eternal life in Jesus Christ.

That’s not a normal thing. Usually we’re told to be who we were created to be, never wavering, never changing. Be all we can be. Live our own truth.

And, as ministry leaders and ministers of the gospel, we’re to be flexible in our approaches. We’re guided by Scripture, yes, but we’re to flex and change as needed in order to reach the world for the Name of our Savior.

We’ve had to learn and adapt to each situation so that we can continue to grow.

For thousands of years, (side note – think about that: thousands; you are joining in on something that has been happening since the beginning of humankind), ministry has always been about people. Flesh and blood. Connecting people to the Lord. One to one.

And, in churches, the model we’ve been using for 2000 years has been one based on physical presence. Connecting with people face-to-face, shaking a hand, giving a hug. Small groups IN a house. Gatherings of many people to sing and learn together. All of those things.

Looking at a person face-to-face automatically allows you to read body language and subtle changes in communication. It allows you to truly talk.

Think about some of the language preachers and worship leaders use during worship gatherings:

“I can feel God in this place.”

“Holy Spirit, be here.”

“Look around you. That is a person Jesus loves.”

That sort of thing. A physical place, with a “physical” presence.

And now, we don’t have physical places. At least, seemingly still not for a little bit.

Transition plans are in place to work our way back into physical church spaces, but it’s looking more and more likely that we’re still in an extended time of social distancing.

That scares a LOT of pastors and church leaders. They’re afraid that the last 9 weeks of online church has made people complacent, unable to truly connect with their faith. They’re afraid that our online transition has made it so that people don’t know what to do in church anymore.

—–

But this is a chance for Church Online to shine.

To leave an indelible, eternal mark on ministry practices.

We can teach our physical churches ONE BIG THING.

Here’s how:

You can teach your church that the person on that screen that you’ve been watching or typing to or having meetings over Zoom with is an actual, physical, real-life, flesh-and-blood person.

It’s not a disconnected name or profile pic. It’s a person, with a family, wants, needs, desires. A person that needs to know and grow in their relationship with Jesus.

And that actual people are worthy of all of our ministry efforts. Online church included.

—–

See, we’ve been conditioned to think that people on screens don’t exist.

Think about TV for a second. Normally, you sit in a room, passively watching things, not really engaging or interacting. Comedies have those awful laugh tracks. Hospital dramas have lots of good-looking people throwing weird acronyms at each other.

We innately feel distance between us and the character.

It’s one of the reasons I believe that The Office was such a hit.

Outside of being my favorite series of all-time, it was a show that broke a lot of rules. The documentary-style shooting brought us into the story. We lived with those characters.

People truly thought that Jim and Pam were married in real life. To each other.

We were brought into that show in a way that we can actually borrow for our church.

—–

The biggest thing we can take away from all of this is the understanding that the person you’re seeing on that screen, or that avatar you’re chatting with, or that profile that you’re DM’ing back and forth with is an actual person.

We need to be brought into their story to be effective ministers. And we need to bring them into the story of salvation that is written in the Bible.

Online church can be a portal into lives in a way that physical church can’t. It can be a way to carry around community or groups literally in your pocket. It can be a way to transform the world for the sake of the gospel in the instant that it takes for Face ID to unlock your iPhone (yes, even with a mask on).

Online church is a way to bring others into this great salvation story, to break down the walls of digital connection a little bit more, to de-mystify the “screen,” and to truly transform what church looks like going forward.

Dream big during this time. Don’t stop at just status quo for your ministries. Truly connect with people, and let them know that a screen is not a barrier to the entry in the Kingdom.

Source: What ‘The Office’ is Teaching Us About Church Online

The post What 'The Office' is Teaching Us About Church Online appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by The Church.Digital: In the hectic-ness to build a Church Online, we often forget the biggest part… okay, Jesus is the biggest part. Didn’t mean to Jesus juke you there. So let’s call it the second biggest part, and no I’m not talking sermons. Church, we are in the people business. Oftentimes that gets forgotten among all the hectic-ness of COVID-19, or life in general. Church, we cannot automate away discipleship. These relationships, online, are the strength of Church Online, and should be valued above all, save Christ.

That’s the heart of this conversation… how to be relational thru Church Online. Don’t make it about the number of views or the nameless IP addresses that clicked through for a brief moment. Make it about the relationships you’re building and the opportunity you have to impact a life, online.

Tyler excels at this. Rey as well. So, what comes out of this is a solid conversation on how to approach Church Online from a relational vantage point… a lesson we all need to learn.

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ON THE SHOW

Source: PODCAST 067: Tyler Sansom & the Relational Approach to Church Online

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Source: Four Tips for Training Up Good Online Small Group Leaders

The post Four Tips for Training Up Good Online Small Group Leaders appeared first on Passion for Planting.

In part one of this article, we looked at four important criteria for creating digital community in your church, and gave some quick recommendations if you want to pursue a decentralized approach where you empower individual group leaders with one or more suggested platforms, provide coaching and training on those platforms, and then set them loose.

That’s not a bad strategy and it’s very quick to get this set up in your church. But that approach falls short if you want to make it easy for people not currently in your groups or classes to get easily connected. You can provide the same tools you always do — a link to a web form or an email address that gets you connected to the staff member or volunteer overseeing your groups ministry.

But this is not a normal season — the Wall Street Journal captured it well when it said that we’ve moved beyond “remote work” to “remote life.”

In a matter of days, the coronavirus pandemic has reshaped American society, unmooring people from the routines and activities that typically provide comfort in moments of crisis: work, worship, concerts, sports, gatherings with family and friends, the embrace of loved ones.

“It feels a little like we are in a snowstorm, an invisible-but-present blizzard, where it is not safe to go outside,” the Roman Catholic Bishop of Albany, Edward B. Scharfenberger, wrote to his diocese. “Home is the safest place to weather a storm.”

Who better than the church to provide spiritual community for such a time as this? And one of the best ways to do that — particularly for people not currently involved in your church — is to pursue a hub and spoke model of digital community.

In the early days of the Sunday School movement in America, people gathered for “opening exercises” for worship and encouragement before breaking into their classes for community and discipleship. In this chaotic and confusing time, with people looking to their church leaders for wisdom and guidance, opening exercises could strengthen, encourage, and comfort those seeking spiritual community. Gathering in a large group to hear from senior leadership and then breaking into small groups for community, discipleship, and prayer brings the best of both worlds.

More recently, many recovery ministries start with a large group time for teaching and testimonies before dispersing into smaller groups. This is particularly effective in creating a single point of entry for those new to recovery or attending for the first time.

So, while it’s possible to have individual leaders hosting their online group meetings or classes separately and independently, it could be beneficial to have a church’s small groups meeting collectively and then separately — a hub and spoke model.

Using Zoom to Build Digital Community

One tool that works extremely well for this hub and spoke approach is Zoom. Zoom is a video conferencing tool built for large enterprises which has significant non-profit discounts available through TechSoup.

Here are a few reasons why Zoom is great tool for bringing your small groups and classes online in a hub and spoke model:

The Zoom client is available for all major platforms – iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, Chromebooks, Linux and through a web browser. While the Zoom experience works best if you download and install the app, users can simply click on a link to join a meeting. Users can also dial-in using a phone number, although they won’t be able to view the video.
Zoom passes the “grandma test” (see part one). Members can join a small group or class meeting via a simple URL, with no need to be added to a group in advance. The link can be distributed through a church’s normal media channels — web, email, and social networking, as well as text messaging. (Your link can also be customized to include your church name.)
Zoom has a killer feature called breakout rooms which allows hosts to split people into as many as 50 different subgroups (with a current limit of 200 people spread out over those rooms). This allows the large group gathering and small group gatherings to take place at the same meeting URL.

If the meeting is scheduled ahead of time, breakout room members can be pre-assigned in advance — a great way to connect people with the group members they normally meet with face-to-face.
But membership in these breakout rooms can also be done on the fly without needing to assign people in advance. This is a great way to include visitors and guests who may not currently be a part of a particular group.

How to Use Zoom for Hub and Spoke Digital Community

Sign Up and Set Up Zoom

Determine the number of simultaneous Zoom accounts you will need.

You can use a single Zoom account to include up to 200 people per meeting.
If you have more than 200 people meeting in small groups during any particular time slot, you will need to purchase more than one Zoom account.

Remember that meeting participants do not need a Zoom account to participate — just meeting hosts.
You can use the same Zoom meeting link multiple times throughout the week.
For greatest impact, brand your Zoom account and create a friendly personalized meeting link.

Schedule Your Hub and Spoke Gatherings

In Zoom, create a single recurring meeting for each hub and spoke time slot. This works great for recovery ministries, Sunday School programs, and student ministries.
What about decentralized small groups? Many churches could simply set up one or more daily meetings, for example, Zoom meetings each day Monday-Friday at 11 AM to cover the morning small groups and again at 7 PM to cover the evening small groups.
Schedule those meetings in Zoom and on your church calendar.

Invite Your Group Leaders to Scheduled Meetings

While it’s not strictly necessary, it’s a good idea to invite your leaders to the appropriate Zoom meeting and time slot. This allows you to pre-assign those leaders to breakout rooms.
If you invite group members, they can also be pre-assigned to specific breakout groups.

Promote Your Digital Community Online

Here’s the beauty of a hub and spoke model — as long as you won’t exceed 200 simultaneous participants you can publish a single URL on your website or on social media and anyone — whether they are currently in your groups system or not — can easily join from a browser or mobile device.

Host Hub and Spoke Meetings

Preparing to Host

Each meeting needs a host, and one or more co-hosts can be assigned to each meeting.
Hosts and co-hosts have multiple roles. See the Zoom help here.
The host or co-host will need to start the meeting from any device using the church’s Zoom account.

During the Large Group Time, Assign People to Breakout Rooms

If you pre-assigned breakout room leaders and members, you do not need to assign them again.
As guests come in, assign them to breakout rooms that are the best fit.
You can also re-arrange participants in breakout rooms, add new rooms, and delete unneeded rooms.

Start the Small Group Time by Launching Breakout Rooms

When it’s time for small groups or classes, simply open up the breakout rooms. Participants will receive a message sending them to that room.

Bring the Small Groups Back Together (or not!)

You can broadcast a message to all of the small groups at any time — this is a great way to send a reminder before you call all groups back together.
To bring the small groups back together, simply Close All Rooms. This gives people a sixty-second warning before returning them to the main large group session.
Note that this last step is not necessary — you can leave people in breakout rooms as long as needed — when a particular group is done meeting, those people can simply leave the meeting. Note that it’s best practice for one of the hosts to stay online and officially end the meeting. This clears the room and resets it for the next scheduled meeting time.

Beyond the Current Crisis

None of us knows how long the current crisis will continue. People need God — and the church — more than ever. Digital community might be the only way to gather for a season, but what starts in crisis often foreshadows a new normal. Think about how digital community might work in more normal times — consider the needs of people who travel for work or are shut in and can’t meet physically. Don’t settle for online worship only — build digital communities for the kingdom.

Source: Part Two: A Hub and Spoke Model to Create Digital Community for Small Groups and Sunday School

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by Jeff Reed: With church buildings closing and thousands of churches frantically broadcasting their Sunday services online for the first time in hopes of giving people an option, I have to wonder.

Why?

I mean, if we’re going to do a big production in the building on Sunday, I get it, let’s not waste all that effort and resources. Let’s magnify our reach and broadcast that message online. Technology can be a wonderful force multiplier. It can also be a wonderful disrupter and sometimes, disruption is a good thing.

Now we’re being disrupted by COVID-19 too and it’s forcing us all to get creative, and this presents a wonderfully disruptive opportunity for Jesus’ Kingdom.

Here’s a few opportunities I see during this disruptive time:

1. We can decentralize

The prevailing model of church is so accustomed to doing ministry en-masse, but Jesus did much of His ministry with small groups of people. In fact, the smaller the group, the deeper the ministry. This is our time to trade crowds for connection. Even Jesus handled the feeding of the crowds by sub-grouping into smaller groups. We need to flip our ministry models to empowermore people to minister to others one-on-one. Jesus said where 2 or 3 are gathered He will be with us. If we can’t minister to crowds, that means we can’t centralize our leadership, our ministry, nor our care.

What if we de-centralized our leadership, ministry, and care and empowered fathers to pastor their families?
What if we created content for the kids and their parents to have creative times of learning the Bible together?
What if we wrote a home church manual that anyone could do?

We HAVE to let the people be the church, or it doesn’t get done. That’s a healthy disruption. Churches that are equipping the saints for the work of the ministry are winning big time right now.

2. We can digitize

I’m an early adopter of technology. I always enjoyed using Amazon Prime, Uber-eats, Netflix, and Microsoft Teams. This week it feels like I need them to survive. Each of these technologies have overnight taken over entire industries and created new ones.

Enter Church Online.

The online audience is not just the primary audience right now, it’s the only audience. Now people can interact in their homes with a church service instead of just consuming content.

What if we gave space during the message for people to pray in their homes by carving out 5 minutes in the livestream with some prayer prompts?
What if we asked people to take church selfies of their watch parties and included it in the livestream?
What if we took what we spend on powering the lights, HVAC, and subwoofers in our buildings to deliver pizza to those home watch parties?

3. We can go daily

Sunday is a big deal because, for some, that’s all we get. That puts a lot of weight on Sunday, it can be a lot of pressure. It’s like some families make a big deal about Thanksgiving dinner because it’s the only meal the family eats together the whole year (maybe that’s why it can be awkward). For other families, Sunday dinner is important because it’s the only time during the week the whole family is together.

If church on Sunday is all you get, you better make it awesome.

But what if you were like the Church in Acts where they met daily? Then the pressure’s off for Sunday.

What if we re-designed our church services to be every day in the home for 15-20 minutes?
What if we did a livestream of Bible reading in the morning every day from a different person?
What if we prayed together decentralized, and digitized, and daily in homes for 5 minutes at a certain time?

4. We can delight

People don’t expect much right now, the virus is shutting everything down and all we hear is negative. Anyone doing anything, let alone creative, out of the box thinking making a positive difference sticks out like crazy. We can trade anger for action.

What if we combated isolation and took the church staff that now doesn’t have Sunday responsibilities and re-deploy them to call people of the church to ask how they can pray for them?
What if we did a drive through food drive for the vulnerable and livestreamed it?
What if we added all the toilet paper that is in storage to the food and donated care packages to foster homes?
What if we sent out easter egg hunt kits for resurrection Sunday and included photos/videos sent from families in the livestream?

Experiment! Shake it up! It’s better than nothing and if it doesn’t work, you can blame it on the virus. It seems like that’s what everyone else is doing!

Source: Opportunities During this Disruptive Time

The post Opportunities During this Disruptive Time appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Jeff Reed: How are your office walls feeling around you right now?

Like they’re closing in, Episode-4-trash-compactor style? (Congrats if you’re on the same page as me there)

We’re only about 14 days removed from the entire Western world starting to shut down, having to look to work-at-home methods for many people in an attempt to curb the effects of COVID-19. It’s caused fear, anguish, strife, panic, struggle, and any other negative emotion you can think of.

People are isolating themselves in droves. Here in the Tampa area, where I live, we’re looking at a mandatory “shelter in place” rule coming down in the coming days.

The recommended mandated isolation time went from, “This is going to be a 14 day thing,” to, “Well, looks like August to September of 2020” in just a matter of days.

Cue the Ron Burgandy well-that-escalated-quickly meme.

This is all happening incredibly quickly, and it’s opened up a variety of problems.

For many churches, the move to online-only gatherings has been a scramble to get online streams off the ground. **SIDENOTE: if this was your first or second time broadcasting a service, CONGRATULATIONS! Seriously. It’s incredible.**

But isolation has left a community-sized hole in the heart of the body of Christ. Churches live and breathe community (at least, they SHOULD). And yet, they’re being told not to gather in physical groups.

This move may have left you in a sort of triage mode, as you assess, look at what you’ve got, and where you need to go QUICKLY.  Almost like a combat medic.

I want to put forth a recommendation: your next move should be toward online small groups.

—–

In a previous post, I talked about the need for online small groups to be part of your mission, and that still holds true, even more so now.

And if you listen to the Church Digital podcast, you’d have heard Mark Brandt, Rey DeArmas, and I talk about the absolute NECESSITY of taking your church past just streaming services into its next step: groups.

A daunting step, but a VITAL one to the health of your people, especially in the face of such trouble.

You need to move QUICKLY.

But FEAR NOT.

It’s easier than you think.

A DISCLAIMER: If you’ve been doing online groups and already have a fully developed structure, then good on you. You’re dismissed. Go walk the halls.

However, if this is your first shot at online church, or if you’re just beginning to see the value of online groups, read on!

—–

Remember how I used the term triage earlier? You’re in triage mode right now. Bringing the crash cart in. Prepping the paddles. All of that other Grey’s Anatomy stuff. Doing things at breakneck speed for the good of the whole

We as church leaders need to realize that our people need us to act swiftly and efficiently, ESPECIALLY when it comes to groups.  We need them FAST.

So, with an appreciative nod to all those that have gone before us (Jay Kranda, I’m looking at you), here’s a couple of pro-tips to starting online groups swiftly and efficiently:

Find a leader…or two…or seven. You’re a leader. You should know how to make the “ask” of people in your sphere of influence. Go do it! People are going to be willing in this time of trial. Trust me.
Start small. It’s okay to just have one or two groups. It’s okay to just meet 1-2 times a week. Start small, see what you’ve got, expand as necessary.
Find a meeting platform. Ideally a platform with video built in (not just text chatting). I’ve found that Zoom is easiest for us, but there’s a little bit of training on your part to get your leaders on board (and it has a cost associated). Free apps include Hangouts Meet, Skype, Marco Polo, and even Slack.
Let your people know what you’re doing. COMMUNICATE! It’s as easy as a blog post, a Facebook update, or a mass email to get them interested in groups. Make an easy graphic in Canva and post it!
My biggest tip: STOP WORRYING ABOUT CONTENT! This is the biggest thing for us right now in our online church space in triage mode. As a pastor who’s been doing church groups for over 10 years, I fall into the trap of, “Well, let’s do study of Luke, and then a group that does a parenting study, and one for singles,” and on and on. But people don’t need more content right now. They want CONTACT. I’ve actually just started opening a Zoom channel 3 times a week for an hour just to PRAY with whoever is there. It’s been crazy to see the response. HUMAN CONTACT, even virtually!

Remember: your people want to know that you’re there, that you care about them, and that you are in this with them. What better way than to have a group with them?

There’s a ton of different ways to do online groups, and these are just my recommended steps, but in the comments below, let us know: what are your tips?

Stay safe out there.

Source: Triage Mode for Small Groups

The post Triage Mode for Small Groups appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Jeff Reed: Can a digital-only expression of church hold up to the Biblical standard of a church? This is the question that we, here at The Church Digital and Stadia Church Planting, are wrestling with. Can you create community online? Sure! Can you worship? Of course! Can you pray digitally? We do all the time… can you operate as a church exclusively in digital space?

Therein lies the topic of the podcast, as we’re bringing in a panel of guests from around the country to ask the rather complicated question: Can a digital-only expression of church hold to the Biblical standard of church? What challenges would it face?

Jump on the podcast as Jeff Reed, Rey De Armas, Jason Morris, Ian Kirk and Joe Santos wrestle (practically) with the ecclesiology of a Digital Church.

If you’re enjoying this episode, subscribe for free using your favorite podcast app below:

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ON THE SHOW

Source: PODCAST 050: Biblical Function of a Digital-Only Church, Part 1

The post PODCAST 050: Biblical Function of a Digital-Only Church, Part 1 appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Rey DeArmas: In my time spent leading church online, I’ve encountered many who are a bit slow to consider leveraging digital platforms for discipleship. I understand, Church Online has its share of critics. However, online small groups should be an easy win for the Church and help many more people engage in spiritual community.

Here are 3 reasons you should consider starting an online small group at your church:

Your (physical) church is already online. This is a crucial point for you to understand. You are not introducing your church to a new concept. You are leveraging something they already do for discipleship. There are many digital platforms that your congregation uses. In other words, you do not even have to leverage a new platform. Use the social media methods that you already utilize to interact with your congregation and find a way to begin engaging a group of them in discipleship.
Those engaging you online need community. We engage on social media with the purpose of having a greater community. If someone is engaging with you on a digital platform, it is because they want to be more connected with the life of your church. Help them do so by providing discipleship where they are. Digital platforms can provide a convenient method for community and help engage those who have no other way of doing so.
The reward is greater than the risk. The only thing it will cost you is time. Many ways to engage people in community online are free. You can lead people through numerous online Bible reading plans or through conventional Bible studies. The point is, you can fulfill the mission of making disciples. This is just a new method for you to explore.

There are many more reasons, but these three should be compelling enough for you to consider how you can fulfill the mission Christ gave us by leveraging digital platforms.

Source: 3 Reasons To Start Online Small Groups

The post 3 Reasons To Start Online Small Groups appeared first on Passion for Planting.