By TheChurch.Digital:

Barna recently released data that suggests the opportunity to pray with someone at your church is a highly attractive offer not only to Christians, but also to people of other faiths and even of no faith. Asked if they would consider joining your church for online prayer, 68% of all Christians responded positively (including those who only attend church infrequently). 32% of people of another faith also responded positively, and a shocking 24% of people with no faith at all.

57% of all U.S. adults are at least somewhat open to online prayer during a church gathering

?This means that your church’s Sunday livestream may not be the essential draw for your unchurched friends and neighbors. Perhaps a signpost on your social media that announces that your prayer room is open for personal, private, face-to-face prayer is what will bring them.?

Does Facebook Prayer Count?

Now, what does that mean? When an unchurched person — or a faithful churchgoer, for that matter — is open to prayer while attending a service on Facebook, how does that happen? Are Facebook prayers real enough, deep enough?

Yes, I know the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, translates our inchoate words and thoughts and feelings, so that our groanings are communicated as prayers.

Facebook prayers? They must count as well. God gets the Internet.

I have to confess, though — sometimes typing prayers in a chat pane with a prayer partner sort of feels “less” somehow. Oh, sometimes it’s wonderful. But I get distracted by a few things that lessen the experience.

Typos.  I know! I shouldn’t care! But, when the other person types “churnch” instead of “church,” my eye and my brain just take me off track. And, even worse, when I misspell something, I get overly concerned that the other person’s eye and brain are likewise off track. I find I never behave this way during spoken prayer. Please tell me I am not alone in this weakness.
Tone of voice. “I just need to know that God loves me.” Which word in that typed sentence is the emphasis? Is this an affirmation? Is this a statement of doubt? Is this person loved by others, and just wonders if God loves her? Or, she knows that God loves others, but does he love me? Or, is it the know part — that she thinks God loves her, but she needs to know it. Oh, if only she had said this simple sentence out loud, her tone of voice would tell me.
Body language. When I am praying with someone in person, I can tell a lot from their posture and facial aspect. Are they deeply troubled? Worried? Inert? Stoic? Nervous? Lonely? Distracted? Physically run down? But, online, I either make an assumption as if I know, or I do my best to pretend it doesn’t matter. Sometimes, I ask, but almost invariably my chat partner on the other end says — “Dude, I just need to know God loves me. I don’t need a counseling session.  Let’s pray, not talk.”
“Caroline is typing.” In an everyday texting conversation, it is so useful to see a notification that my text partner is typing something. It helps make the conversation flow. With text-based praying, it’s a mixed blessing. I see “Caroline is typing” so I pause from typing my prayer. Then, she stops, but I don’t see any text from her.  Should I resume my typed prayer? After I have entered and sent my portion of prayer, how do I know if she’s received and read it? Did she see what I wrote? Did it help? Are we done?
Anonymity. On Facebook, it’s common to see a post from a church host: “If you’d like prayer, let me know.”  Ummm…. Does that mean I have to respond to you here in the chat, in front of everyone?  I really don’t want to raise my hand in front of everyone to say “Yes, I need prayer” or “I’d like to pray”. I can only imagine later on hearing from others — “oh, I saw you asked for prayer. What was that about?” I’d just like it to be a bit more private than that.
Delays. Sometimes, there’s a link in the Facebook chat — “Want prayer? Click here.” Invariably, it brings me to a form on the church’s website, which I fill in, and then wait for an email response back. That’s a little too 20th century for me. It’s still prayer. It’s just a little slow.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s prayer! And, text-based prayer is a huge blessing, especially compared to the alternative, which is no prayer at all. It’s just that all my visual and aural faculties are absent from the environment. So, in a meaningful way, yes, it is a “less than” experience. Greater than zero, less than normal.

Facebook Church Livestream + Altar Face-to-Face Prayer

Let’s take another look at that link on Facebook that points to a prayer page. What if clicking that link didn’t bring the prayer-seeker to a form, but instead brought them to a virtual prayer chapel? This is how some churches have begun to use Altar Live.

They set up an Altar Live event as a Lobby, complete with tables and chairs.

Each table has a person already sitting there, and has “Prayer with Veronica” as a label. When a visitor arrives there directly from Facebook, they simply look around and see who they would like to pray with, choosing someone who feels like a good match based on gender, age or other demographic characteristics.

Prayer tables in Altar Live for private, face-to-face prayer time

My son (in Maine) and me (in Boston) in Altar Live at a prayer table

Church Metrics: People in Prayer, not People in Pews

The churches who have pursued this model talk about deepening a culture of prayer within their community.

As pastoral staff develop new metrics beyond attendance, the prayer life of the congregation is a natural target for measurement. In a recent podcast on Rich Birch’s unSeminary, Pastor Darell Roland of Rock Bridge Church is quite direct on this matter:

Rock Bridge no longer focuses on Sunday, but rather on the Monday through Thursday that lead into the Sunday. Instead of the executive team dashboard focusing on numbers like attendance, they focus on hours spent in prayer, number of people in prayer groups, and new people recruited and engaged in ministry and outreach. Look at engagement and participation in those areas. Attendance will be a by-product of those things.

Is your church looking to deepen a culture of prayer?  What mechanisms are you finding for corporate prayer and intercessory prayer?

Source: Does Facebook Prayer Count?

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Source: PODCAST 129: Church Plantology – A Convo with Peyton Jones

The post PODCAST 129: Church Plantology – A Convo with Peyton Jones appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Source: PODCAST 127: Dave Ferguson & The Ecclesiology of a Phygital, Digital-Only and/or Multimodal Church

The post PODCAST 127: Dave Ferguson & The Ecclesiology of a Phygital, Digital-Only and/or Multimodal Church appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By TheChurch.Digital: We talk often here at THECHURCH.DIGITAL about digital-only churches, interviewing these innovative pastors that run churches that exist in digital-only space. Stories like DJ Soto and Angela Craig certainly are inspiring. But, how do you get started in planting a Digital-Only church?

Enter Stadia. We are passionate about planting multimodal (multiple models of) churches, even to the place of helping church planters start digital-only churches. Which brings us to this podcast where we talk with the first graduating class of digital-only church plants.

What is it like to start a digital-only expression of church? What are the obstacles, celebrations, stories of these churches? Let’s find out as we interview Mark Lutz, Chestly Lunday, and Christopher Monroe talking planting digital only churches through Stadia.

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

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ON THE SHOW

Source: PODCAST 125: Planting a Digital Church through Stadia

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Source: PODCAST 124: Disciples Making Disciples in a Multimodal Church

The post PODCAST 124: Disciples Making Disciples in a Multimodal Church appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By TheChurch.Digital: Let’s come to clarity. The Western church has done some things right over the years. That being said, there’s still a lot to learn. The mass accelerator of COVID changed all the rules, and as a result the church has more questions than answers, especially in the long-term usefulness of digital church.

While some of the Western Church struggles with the long-term longevity of Phygital/Digital, the global church has had huge success with the digital church. Digital discipleship? Digital evangelism? Digital only expressions of church?

Recently, I was told “Jeff, you know who’s really good at digital church? Every pastor in the Middle East. Because of persecution, it’s one of the few opportunities the Middle East has to grow the Church.” Dig into this episode of The Church Digital Podcast and discover what we can learn from the Global 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 123: Justin Murff & Digital Lessons to Learn from the Global Church

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Source: Digital Church and Technology Helps

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By Carey Nieuwhof: Finally, it seems like the post-COVID world is finally coming into view.

While different countries, regions, provinces and states will emerge out of COVID at different times, 2021 appears to be the year we will be able to move into a post-pandemic world.

So, as you get ready to embrace the new reality, what should you be focused on?

It’s obviously a tough question to answer because neither in-person church or online church is a panacea. Each has its unique challenges, promises and limits. In-person church attendance has been declining for decades before the pandemic, and online church hasn’t solved all the issues the church is facing either.

That said, there are some guidelines that can help moving forward.

Here are 5 critical mistakes it would be so easy to make right now as a church leader.

1. Taking Your Foot Off the Digital Gas Pedal

There will be a real temptation to once the world moves past COVID to think of digital ministry as an afterthought or something that’s no longer necessary.

You’re certainly free to make that decision, but in many ways that would be a mistake.

Barna research shows that 7 in 10 churched adults agree that, post-pandemic, churches should use digital resources to reach and engage their neighborhoods. In addition, 21% of US unchurched adults are open to watching an online service alone. For those unchurched adults with a high digital openness though, that percentage climbs to 87%.

While in-person church is here to stay, to back off on digital now is to back off on the future and to back off on outreach. If you care about reaching people, that’s a mistake.

While in-person church is here to stay, to back off on digital now is to back off on the future and to back off on outreach. If you care about reaching people, that’s a mistake.

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Hybrid church (churches offering great in-person experiences and digital experiences) will be the future because everyone has lived a hybrid life for years. Once moment you’re on social media, the next you’re having coffee with a friend in real life. .

If you want more on the interplay of physical and digital church in the future, including how your online presence serves as both a front door and side door, I wrote more here.

Treating digital as something interesting or nice to have may have been an acceptable strategy in 2011. But this is 2021.

Treating digital as something interesting or nice to have may have been an acceptable strategy in 2011. But this is 2021.

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2. Allocating Most of Your Staff and Volunteers to Ministry In the Church Building

Not much has changed since I wrote this post last year aruing that too many church leaders will step into the past as they step back into their buildings. The same dynamics are very much in play right now.

While it’s true that most churches feel short-staffed and under-resourced, the pre-COVID habit of assigning your online ministry as one line in a job description to your tech person or creative person is history. Or at least if you want a future it’s history.

As distributed gatherings, micro-gatherings and online ministry continues to grow, dedicating a meaningful percentage of your staff, budget, and volunteers to ministry that happens outside the church building is critical.

The pre-COVID habit of assigning your online ministry as one line in a job description to your tech person or creative person is history. Or at least if you want a future it’s history.

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How much of your resources should be allocated to online and distributed gatherings?

I talked to one leader who said that post-pandemic, 40% of his team, time and energy will go into online.

I think that’s a healthy percentage.

While that might seem like a complete stretch for most churches, gradually increasing the resources you devote to online and off-building ministry is possible for everyone.

Don’t have staff or feel understaffed?

Look for 15-25 year old volunteers to help you with your online presence. They see the future because they are the future. And the present.

Don’t have staff? Look for 15-25 year old volunteers to help you with your online presence. They see the future because they are the future. And the present.

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3. Resuming In-Person Services Exactly As They Were Pre-COVID

The jury is still very much out on what’s going to happen to services once the world is re-opened.

But many church leaders are considering running two kinds of services: in-person and then a separate one devoted to online.

In other words, online will become something other than just a live-stream of whatever is happening in the auditorium or sanctuary on Sunday.

While this presents challenges from both a time and resource standpoint, this approach makes sense for a few reasons.

First, almost every church leader has come to realize that online services are best when they’re shorter.

Second, nobody has really figured out what to do with worship music online. The four or five song set that works in church just doesn’t translate online.

Third, preaching to a crowd is great, but it feels less personal when you’re watching on a device. Direct-to-camera preaching (including different camera positions and even the use of DSLRs) can make the online experience much better.

More than a few pastors I talk to are shooting an online version of their message and service mid-week for broadcast on Sunday and for access on-demand, but then doing a different experience in the room live on Sunday that doesn’t get streamed. By different, it could be the same message, just delivered live (or via video), but more music and other elements that may not translate as well online.

This IS a lot of work. I get it.

If you don’t have the resources for it, and least consider doing something different online that’s direct to camera…something like a 5 minute devotion, talk or something other than just the stream of your Sunday morning in-person gatherings.

I have a full training session and application guide on how to create great online content inside The Leader’s Circle. You can get instant access to a free trial of The Leader’s Circle on-demand training for you and your team here.

Finally, when it comes to your in-person gatherings, make the experience more…personal.

Many re-opened churches that are seeing some traction are making the in-person experience different than online by offering food, coffee, parking lot or side room gatherings for people to connect. And they’re providing kids experiences that provide something other than a carbon copy of what you can get online.

The principle here is clear: if everything your church does in the future feels downloadable, probably all you’ll get is a lot of downloads, not a lot of gathered people. (For more on that, read this.)

If everything your church does in the future feels downloadable, probably all you’ll get is a lot of downloads, not a lot of gathered people.

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4. Posting Every Thought You Have On Every Issue Online

Let’s switch gears for a minute and talk less about how and more about what.

This deserves a post of its own, but it’s becoming clear that one of the reasons people who don’t go to church don’t want to go to church is simple: your social media posts.

According to a recent Barna survey, only 30% of non-Christians have a positive reaction when they see people post things about their Christian faith on social media. (45% don’t have a positive reaction, and 25% indicated they don’t know.)

Only 30% of non-Christians have a positive reaction when they see people post things about their Christian faith on social media.

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I am increasingly concerned about the number of church leaders who feel the compulsion to post their opinion online about everything. From negative rants or arguments on vaccines to politics, to legislation, to climate change, to some grievance against a neighbor or celebrity, whatever else they happen to have an opinion on in the moment, the daily tirade I see on my social feed is exhausting.

You know the world is watching and listening right?

Even if you’re posting from your personal account, you’re leaving an impression on the unchurched who follow you.

Influence takes years to build and second to lose. Church, we’re losing a lot of influence right now.

Influence takes years to build and second to lose. Church, we’re losing a lot of influence right now.

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5. Resenting People Who Aren’t Doing What You Want Them To Do

One truth you’ve consistently faced as a leader is this: people rarely do exactly what you want them to do.

That’s going to get more intense in the post-pandemic era.

People won’t follow the patterns you want them to follow. Maybe people will come back in droves. Maybe they won’t. The early evidence hasn’t been encouraging.

The question is this:

How do you interact with infrequent church attenders who don’t seem to be embracing the mission of your church the way?

I think it’s simple.

You embrace them anyway.

I chose the word ’embrace’ on purpose. Because I know there’s something deep-seated in many of us that wants to reject people if we sense they’re rejecting us. And people who don’t come out to church much on Sunday can feel like rejection if you’re an insecure church leader.

Grow up. Be more secure.

Rather than judging them, why not love them? Judgment is a terrible evangelism study. You run from people who resent and judge you. Why should you expect any different from the people you lead?

Ultimately, people gravitate to where they are valued most. So value people.

Judgment is a terrible evangelism strategy.

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Simplify Staff Training and Save Time With Done-For-You Leadership Development

I’d guess that you know how important team training and development is… but doesn’t it always seem like a scramble to get everything lined up for staff meeting?

You know the drill… every time you have a staff or volunteer training time scheduled, you have to read a book, listen to a podcast, or even go to a conference.

That’s why I’m so excited to introduce The Leader’s Circle to you.

It eliminates the hassle of staff training with carefully curated content that builds essential leadership skills into your team. Every. Single. Month.

Learn more about The Leader’s Circle and the 15 months of development content ready to be accessed.

What Do You See?

Those are some potential mistakes I see on the horizon.

What do you see? Scroll down and leave a comment!

The post 5 Critical Mistakes Church Leaders Should Avoid In the Post-COVID World appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 5 Critical Mistakes Church Leaders Should Avoid In the Post-COVID World

The post 5 Critical Mistakes Church Leaders Should Avoid In the Post-COVID World appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By TheChurch.Digital:

I can remember a conversation I had with a Lead Pastor back in early 2019… “you know, there are probably only 20 people in the country who actually serve full-time as a digital pastor.” It has been fascinating to see how churches are pivoting to Digital as a result of COVID. Some churches are embracing the opportunity, even as far as moving people from other staff positions to lead, to champion the Digital opportunities within the church.

To that end, we brought in a panel of new Digital Pastors, and talked about the transition to Digital and what the future of Digital looks like? What has their perspective been? What are the challenges? Who has their go-to supporters been? Do they actually like shepherding people digitally?

Fascinating conversation focusing on today’s Digital transition and tomorrow’s Digital future.

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ON THE SHOW

Source: PODCAST 117: The New Digital Pastor

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By TheChurch.Digital:

Stadia has group of churches we call the “Futurists”. These churches are focused on experimenting phygitally. Understanding the heart of disciple-making, what does it look like to multiply our churches physically, as well as, digitally?

To most, the idea of a Virtual Reality Multisite Campus seems like a crazy idea. Do people really want to attend church in virtual reality? To answer this question, we’re bringing together a church currently doing physical and avatar (virtual reality) church every week. We’re also bringing in a church that is already successful in physical church, that is wanting to multiply their church into a virtual reality multisite campus.

We’re bringing back Jason Poling, no stranger here to THECHURCH.DIGITAL podcast. Jason is Lead Pastor at Cornerstone Church up in the PNW, and his church is currently doing church services regularly in physical & VR. For the conversation, we’re also bringing in Josh Amstutz, Lead Pastor at Lakeland Church in Wisconsin, and some of the other staff at Lakeland. Their church is interested in experimenting with a Virtual Reality Multisite Campus, and this conversation with Jason is the first step in discovering practical steps for the journey to set up a multisite campus.

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

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ON THE SHOW

Source: PODCAST 111: Futurist Churches & The Virtual Reality Multisite Campus

The post PODCAST 111: Futurist Churches & The Virtual Reality Multisite Campus appeared first on Passion for Planting.