by Carey Nieuwhof: Nicky Gumbel is pastor of Holy Trinity Brompton, London, one of the largest churches in the UK and pioneer of Alpha, a ministry that’s reached over 20 million people with the Gospel and a former barrister (attorney).

In this interview, Nicky explains how and why he changed his mind about church online, why, despite his misgivings, it’s a better evangelism tool than in-person ministry, and how he repositioned his church and Alpha for explosive growth during the pandemic.

Welcome to Episode 343 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey gives his latest thoughts on why some churches are seeing online numbers drop, and what to do about it.

Guest Links

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Alpha | HTB

Episode Links

Pro Media Fire

Are you or your team tired from information overload on how to do social this and digital that? We live in the information age, and you have probably learned more in the last 2 months than the previous 6 months with all the change happening.

If you are like most leaders, you don’t need more information, you need help with doing it. That is exactly where Pro Media Fire can help you with their Church Growth Program.

The Church Growth Program provides your church with a digital coach, creative team, web team and social team for less than the cost of a staff hire. Your church can have an entire team of professionals providing digital strategy and a creative framework to help your church grow online.

Book a free digital strategy session with Pro Media Fire today at
ProMediaFire.com/ChurchGrowth

Craft & Character

If you are looking for an event to really change your communication style, including how to speak online effectively, how to speak to an empty room, but probably more importantly, how to grow your character along with your platform, Steve Carter, Hosanna Wong, Dharius Daniels, Sean Morgan, and I are hosting an online event called Craft & Character.

Craft & Character, on June 4th, is an interactive dialog where we’ll be answering questions live and taking you behind the scenes.

Register for Craft & Character today at
CraftAndCharacter.org

CONVERSATION LINKS

Text willithrive to 33777 to get access to Carey’s Will I Thrive quiz

Bible In One Year

FREE report of Alpha and Barna’s study called Reviving Evangelism

CNLP 333: Ken Costa on Leading Through the Coronavirus Economic Fall Out, How to Make Decisions in the Midst of Uncertainty, Approaching Wealthy Donors in Bad Economic Times, and What’s Ahead for the Church

CNLP 124: Ken Costa on How to Discover Your Calling, Hope in the Workplace, and Connecting with Millennials

Why Are Your Online Attendance Numbers Suddenly Dropping? 5 Reasons by Carey Nieuwhof

3 INSIGHTS FROM NICKY

1. Online might be opening a door to your friends who would never come to church otherwise

For years, Nicky was opposed to doing online church in their ministries. He didn’t disapprove of other churches doing it, but he was worried that if they did it at his church, Holy Trinity Brompton, it might stop people from going to their local church wherever they were watching from around the world.

When the Coronavirus pandemic hit, they were forced online. As a result, Nicky learned that he had been wrong for years. He has seen so many positive things come from online ministry. He is seeing non-Christian friends actually watch services for the first time in years, because online is easier to show up to than in-person. Alpha, his ministry that has led millions of people to faith in Jesus, is seeing even better results.

2. People will open up faster in a virtual group than even in-person meeting

Usually, when Nicky starts a 10-week Alpha class, it takes people a while to become comfortable enough to open up about their really big questions about faith. However, in the Zoom format, people are opening up about some of their deepest questions and troubles in week one. Nicky attributes this to the ability for everyone to feel comfortable in their own home while having these conversations.

As a result of this trend, maybe everything that we do as a church doesn’t need to be in-person. Maybe we can keep online small groups moving forward. What if our next-steps classes stayed online? If people will open up on a deeper level from their home, maybe we should give them that option!

3. The crisis is a gateway into something better and into a stronger church

According to a YouGov survey in the UK, only 9% of people said they wanted things to go back to how they were before the Coronavirus pandemic. Nicky thinks it’s because we’ve tasted something better. Our society has learned what it means to collectively sacrifice for the sake of a few, and we love it.

Moving forward, just know that some of our people love this new normal. What will you keep? How will you choose to move forward? Maybe after this crisis calms down, you can direct people’s attention towards a different tragedy happening around the world. Your people might be ready to sacrifice again for the sake of a few others.

Quotes from Episode 343

Sometimes he calms the storm, and sometimes he calms us in the storm. @nickygumbelClick To Tweet

This is what we’ve discovered: A whole lot of people who would never go to church are watching online. @nickygumbelClick To Tweet

I would never go back to not having Sunday online. @nickygumbelClick To Tweet

Just because the novelty of online church is wearing off for people doesn’t mean there isn’t a great long-term potential. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

Online ministry scales in a way that in-person ministry doesn’t. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

What I really hope is that our world will wake up to the fact that things can be different. @nickygumbelClick To Tweet

If you want to grow an audience, grow your ability to help people. The key to sustained, meaningful online growth, I think with integrity, is help people. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

As a leader, what you focus on expands. And if you’re passionate about it, people tend to be passionate about it. @cnieuwhofClick To Tweet

Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 343

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

Watch Back Episodes of The Podcast on YouTube

Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our new YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen. We’ll add select episodes to YouTube as time goes on.

Last 24 Hours To Save on The 30 Day Pivot

The current disruption is showing you how crucial it is to stay flexible as things continue to change.

With ‘normal’ still being elusive, the future belongs to the pivoters.

So…how well positioned are you for future pivots?

My brand new online training, the 30 Day Pivot, will show you how to develop your agility as a leader and as an organization to position yourself for growth.

There is just one day left to get special, introductory pricing.

The 30 Day Pivot is a simple 3-step process you and your team can utilize every as often as every 30 days to respond to the change around you and capitalize on it.

In the 30 Day Pivot, you’ll learn:

A simple 3-step process your team can use to arrive at your next pivot in 90 minutes or less.
An approach that fosters team-generated innovation.
An implementation and evaluation framework that will help your team move quickly and accurately.

I’ve led teams through multiple pivots, and in the 30 Day Pivot, I show you the strategy and framework you need to make quick, accurate and responsive moves that can position your organization for growth, even in the midst of deep uncertainty and change.

Some organizations and churches will thrive in the new normal.

Others won’t.

While the future is uncertain, yours doesn’t have to be.

You can learn more and gain instant access to the 30 Day Pivot here.

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Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review

Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?

The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn as well.

Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.

Thank you for being so awesome.

Next Episode: charity: water’s Scott Harrison

How long will the economic slump and uncertainty last? Scott Harrison of charity: water thinks leaders should brace for a long disruption, and shares why that is. Scott also talks about multiple pivots charity: water has done, how to approach high and low net worth donors in a down economy, and how to find opportunities in the chaos.

Subscribe for free now so you won’t miss Episode 344.

The post CNLP 343: Nicky Gumbel on Why He Changed His Mind About Church Online, Why Online is a Better Outreach Tool Than In-Person Ministry, and How He Repositioned His Church and Alpha for Explosive Growth appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 343: Nicky Gumbel on Why He Changed His Mind About Church Online, Why Online is a Better Outreach Tool Than In-Person Ministry, and How He Repositioned His Church and Alpha for Explosive Growth

The post CNLP 343: Nicky Gumbel on Why He Changed His Mind About Church Online, Why Online is a Better Outreach Tool Than In-Person Ministry, and How He Repositioned His Church and Alpha for Explosive Growth appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Carey Nieuwhof: As churches slowly reopen their physical doors, church leaders are all asking the same question: who will still be around?

It’s a great question.

And not an easy one to answer. A lot of church leaders are nervous, uncertain and longing to get things back to something certain.

With several months of online-only church, it can be hard to know how many new people have come on board, who’s still engaged, who’s left, and who may be drifting.

And even as buildings re-open, it’s hard to get a gauge because of social distancing, limited capacity and, in almost all cases, no kids ministry (leaving families for the most part still at home).

In this post, I’ll take a quick look at the numbers, offer some observations and some strategies that I hope will help your church not just maintain, but advance in the midst of all this uncertainty.

Church Goers Are…A Little Uncertain

As a church leader texted me recently, opening is so much harder than closing.

The Barna Group is doing weekly polling that, leading up to Easter, showed 49% and even 59% reported surging online attendance compared to their former in-person attendance.

Since Easter, that’s dropped.

Now, only 25% of churches are reporting an attendance surge above previous levels, and in talking to leaders every week, more are seeing their online numbers drop.

So what about reopening? Who will be streaming back as doors open again?

A recent related poll of thousands of church leaders facilitated by Gloo showed people have little consensus around when they feel ‘safe’ to gather again in public.

Asked which other type of activity BEST signals to you that it is time to open in-person worship at the church, the most common answer was a low community level of COVID cases (21.5%)

Other responses included when

Social distancing and stay home guidelines are lifted: 17%
Local businesses are open: 14%
Local restaurant seating areas are open 8%
Testing is widely available and utilized 6%
Schools are open 4%
Vaccine available 3%

But the following results also speak volumes:

15% said they would only return when all the conditions are met (low cases, business open, restrictions lifted, vaccine available).
10% admitted they just weren’t sure.

Essentially, 25% either aren’t sure or aren’t coming back for a long time.

An additional 30% of respondents said they’d rather worship at home and only return when they can be mask-free at church.

25% of church attenders aren’t sure when they’re coming back or aren’t coming back for a long time. An additional 30% of respondents said they’d rather worship at home and only return when they can be mask-free at church. Click To Tweet

I know, that’s not encouraging, but it’s both real and understandable.

If you’d like to poll your congregations on these questions (for free) and even add a few questions of your own, you can do that here.

So how do you put this all into perspective?

Here are four thoughts that I hope can help guide you as you make some very pivotal decisions.

After all, re-opening your church is so much more complex than closing it ever was.

Re-opening your church is so much more complex than closing it ever was.Click To Tweet

1. Become a Lot More Agile: Normal Isn’t Coming Back Any Time Soon

Church leaders who are waiting for things to get back to normal will be waiting a long time.

It’s hard to go back to normal when normal disappeared.

So much has changed, not just in terms of what’s legally allowed (or morally responsible) but, as the poll results suggest,  in terms of how people think.

And to make it more personal, consider how you think.

For example, even if you could, do you really want to get into a crowded restaurant right now? Would you want general admission floor tickets to hear your favorite band so you could crush in with everyone else?

Probably not. At least I wouldn’t.

The psychology of human behavior has an entirely new dynamic that leaders will have to deal with.

Before you over-spiritualize it, it’s not a question of faith over fear. It’s a sign that this is a deeply confusing, changing time.

People need to be led and cared for, they just need to be led and cared for differently.

Church leaders who are waiting for things to get back to normal will be waiting a long time. It’s hard to go back to normal when normal disappeared.Click To Tweet

Instead, pivot into a new normal.

Don’t be so focused on getting back to “normal” that you step back into the past when you step back into your facility.

To do that, you’ll have to become far more agile in the future than you have been in the past.

In a culture of constant change and uncertainty, agility is ability, and flexibility is a superpower.

If you’re curious as to how well-positioned you are to thrive in the new normal, I have a new, short Agility Quiz that can help you assess whether you’re likely to survive, thrive or struggle in the new normal.

It’s just 14 question and results will be sent to you immediately. Here’s the link.

The bottom line is this: the more agile you are heading into the future, the better you’ll be able to realize (and even advance) your mission.

In a culture of constant change and uncertainty, agility is ability, and flexibility is a superpower. Click To Tweet

2. Remember That You’ve Already Reached New People

The last few months haven’t been all loss. In fact, for many churches, that’s hardly the case.

You’ve likely reached new people online, including many you haven’t yet met.

The challenge with ministry online is a little like the challenge with new people who attend your church. It can be hard to get to know them.

Even with physical attendance, countless churches have new people who attend, sit in the back row and don’t connect with anyone.

Online just amplifies that, which is good and bad. You’re reaching new people…you just don’t know who.

The key is to move toward engagement, encouraging online attenders to:

Fill out an online welcome card or text their info in
Like, comment or follow so you can connect more personally
Take a step into an orientation group, small group or some kind of movement beyond attending service
Join your email list

Engagement is a sign of openness and a desire to connect.

Just because you can’t see an online attender doesn’t mean they aren’t real. So don’t give up on the progress you’ve made.

Just because you can’t see an online attender doesn’t mean they aren’t real.Click To Tweet

3. Realize Some Online Attenders Will Stay Online for a Long Time (and that has nothing to do with COVID)

As we’ve already seen, even as your buildings reopen, not everyone will rush into church. Some of that is COVID related, but it’s actually much deeper than that.

For years now, the trend has been for new people to watch online for weeks, months or even a year before they venture into a church’s physical building.

That trend will not only continue, it will accelerate.

Digital is the new default for our culture, and the current crisis only accelerated that.

Digital is the new default for our culture, and the current crisis only accelerated that. Click To Tweet

Church leaders who take all the resources they have been spending and investing in online church and move them back into physical ministry locations risk losing any online traction they’ve picked up as well as the audience that’s still watching.

In the future, churches that have the largest impact will think of themselves as digital organizations with physical expressions rather than physical organizations with digital presences.

So don’t let your foot off the digital pedal.

In the future, churches that have the largest impact will think of themselves as digital organizations with physical expressions rather than physical organizations with digital presences. Click To Tweet

4. Resist the Urge to Make Online Attenders or Non-Attenders Second-class Citizens

The church has enough dividing lines and judgmentalism already. We don’t need any more, and we should actively eliminate what we have.

But it’s not that hard to imagine that both church leaders and church members would start to divide themselves into two categories

The truly faithful, risk-taking, trusting, in-person attenders who are loyal and deeply Christian

Everybody else

That’s not just sinful, it’s stupid (as well as unstrategic).

Church leaders, if you stand there with a scowl on your face every Sunday angry about empty seats, why would anyone want to sit in one?

When you devalue people—curious people, frightened people, anxious people, cautious people, new people, hurt people—you sabotage the very mission you’re trying to accomplish.

People can smell judgment a mile away. So, church leaders, stop judging.

People can smell judgment a mile away. So, church leaders, stop judging.Click To Tweet

This is a very critical moment for the church moving forward.

Church leaders who embrace infrequent attenders, online attenders and non-attenders will eventually have more attenders.

Those who don’t, won’t.

Church leaders who embrace infrequent attenders, online attenders and non-attenders will eventually have more attenders.Click To Tweet

5. Be Less Controlling: Being Controlling and Being Effective are Usually Mutually Exclusive

I know this sounds axiomatic, but the truth is God is still in control.

Every leader is struggling with a loss of control. I am.

The truth is you can’t control:

The economy
Whether people return to church
When people return to church
Your numbers
Human behaviour
The future

And that’s massively frightening for a lot of leaders.

You had a system that worked…and now, it’s gone.

But that’s okay. God is still in control. You aren’t. You never were.

So what do you do?

For starters, focus on what you can control, not on what you can’t.

You and I can’t manipulate events or people, but you can respond to what’s happening and try to help people in the midst of it.

Second, look for the opportunity instead of the obstacle. My favorite question to ask during the crisis is the simple question “What does this make possible?”

The church has always been at its best when it’s under pressure.

It’s one thing to preach that God is doing a new thing. It’s another thing to embrace it.

I imagine that God is reforming and reshaping the church for the future. You resist that, or you can embrace it.

Here’s a principle I’m reminding myself of these days: Being highly controlling and highly effective are mutually exclusive.

In your desire to control things and get back to ‘normal,’ are you squeezing out new things God may want to do in you and through you?

I don’t know the answer to that question, but I sense the question is important. I’m asking it personally.

Being highly controlling and highly effective are mutually exclusive.Click To Tweet

You Don’t Have to Guess How Your Church Feels. Poll Your Church For Free

For sure there are ways to track where your church is at.

The easiest way to get real-time information on your church reopening is to poll your congregation directly.

I’ve partnered with Gloo, a US-based platform and technology firm, to give leaders access to the Returning to Church Check-In, a way to directly survey your congregation on how they are feeling about a return to church.

There are about a dozen standard questions that will help you benchmark your congregation’s responses against national averages and the check-in allows you to ask your own questions as well, so you don’t have to guess.

You can access the Returning to Church Check-In for free here.

Data-informed decisions are simply better decisions.

Data-informed decisions are simply better decisions. Click To Tweet

The Future is Uncertain. How Agile Are You? Take The Agility Quiz.

Some organizations will thrive in the new normal. Others won’t.

Over 70% of the 700+ leaders who took a recent survey predict that the future for their organization is going to look very different than before the global crisis.

While the future is uncertain, there are clear indicators and characteristics of which organizations will fail which ones will thrive in the new normal.

So, let’s see how you and your organization are positioned.

Take the free, 14 question assessment and have results sent to you immediately.

Take the quiz now.

What Do You See?

What issues are you grappling with as your church reopens or considers reopening?

Scroll down and leave a comment.

The post When Your Church ReOpens, What Will Be Left and Who Will Still Come? Some Thoughts. appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: When Your Church ReOpens, What Will Be Left and Who Will Still Come? Some Thoughts.

The post When Your Church ReOpens, What Will Be Left and Who Will Still Come? Some Thoughts. appeared first on Passion for Planting.