By: UnSeminary

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s episode of the unSeminary podcast. In June we helped cohost The Next Normal Conference with our friends at Leadership Network and Church Communications in order to inspire church leaders and spur collaboration between their teams about where we are all heading next. Today we’re bringing you a re-broadcast from that conference with Kenny Jahng interviewing Nona Jones, the Head of Global Faith-Based Partnerships for Facebook.

Develop a digital presence. // More than 80% of Americans have a Facebook account and are active on it, so it makes sense for churches to be there too. Even in spite of these facts, many pastors have been hesitant to have social media accounts. In a way, this season is forcing churches to play catch-up as they realize the importance of having a digital presence and developing these connections and relationships online. Understand that people have robust lives on social media. Be present whether it’s on Facebook, Instagram or another place your community is active.Create engaging content. // As a company Facebook is always asking: How do we make digital connections and relationships meaningful to people? Look for ways to use Facebook’s tools to capture more people’s attention as well as develop more online connections and communities. This will enable you to minister to more people more effectively. Practically speaking this looks like treating your online service differently than you would if people were in your building. For example, get rid of your countdown timer. The average attention span on Facebook is three seconds and if people scrolling by see a countdown clock, they will move on. It doesn’t serve the same function as it would if people were physically in your building. Make your content super-engaging and super hard-hitting so that people immediately feel as though it’s something relevant to them.Interact with your audience. // Whether you are doing a livestream on Facebook or posting content throughout the week, make sure you are engaging people. Respond to people’s comments and questions. Welcome them when a service is streamed. Tag them in comments. You want people to feel like they are actually a part of the experience. Rememeber that broadcast media has a passive message going out to a passive audience, but social media is an active message going out to an active community.Creatively use the tools available. // More and more people are gathering and participating online for bible studies and church services. It’s not uncommon for four or five times the number of people that would attend your church to watch your livestream. Facebook Groups can offer opportunities for engagement that are harder to do at a church building, for example 24-hour prayer. Use the tools that Facebook provides to get creative with how you can serve your people. Even Facebook Live provides an opportunity for people to access their pastors as authentic individuals, rather than just see who they are in a pulpit.Refocus your efforts online. // It takes effort to create social media content so work to repurpose the resources you already have. Where you were previously focused on in-person ministry, now think about how you can offer the same level of connection and engagement digitally. Literally think outside the “box” of your building. It’s not about replicating what others are doing. Rather take a step back, figure out what your goals are and what experience you want people to have, and then use the digital tools available to bring forth that vision.

You can visit www.facebook.com/community/faith to learn about the resources and tools available and you can connect with Nona at www.nonajones.com.

Thank you for tuning in!

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Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Plain Joe Studios

Ministry Grid makes it simple to train every volunteer and leader in your church. With a library of over 3,500 videos and 850 courses, you will find training for every ministry area and leadership level.

To get unlimited access to Ministry Grid for just $597, just go to? MinistryGrid.com/unSeminary?

Source: Navigating Social Media in the Next Normal with Advice from Facebook’s Nona Jones

The post Navigating Social Media in the Next Normal with Advice from Facebook’s Nona Jones 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.