By Carey Nieuwhof: What will drive future church growth in the post-pandemic era?

It’s an important question to ask, because for most church leaders the pandemic has been a question of adaptation and survival, both personal and organizational.

The pandemic has been both discouraging and frustration for many church leaders.

Not only are the return-to-church numbers remarkably low,  but there’s evidence as many as 1 in 5 people dropped out of church in 2020 (see this post on the new exodus for why so many suddenly left the church).

There’s no question that many habits and patterns are being reset right now, but with every obstacle comes opportunity.

So what’s going to accelerate the growth of the future church?

Time, of course, will tell, but here are five things that will in all likelihood help churches accelerate growth into the future.

1. A Focus on the Core Mission

Before the global crisis hit in 2020, most churches were struggling, but so was church. Liberal and conservative churches were transfixed on politics and ideas (more than the core message of Christianity) were often struggling to reach new people.

Even attractional churches, which made up the majority of growing churches in the last two decades, were finding growth much harder than it used to be. (I wrote more about why here.)

If there’s one trend to watch moving forward, it’s that America likely accelerated its journey into becoming a post-modern, post-Christian culture.

Which means the future church will have to stand as an alternative to the culture, not an echo of it.

The future church will have to stand as an alternative to the culture, not an echo of it.

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As a result, in the future church:

Cool won’t cut it

Hype won’t cut it

Fun won’t cut it.

Real will.

A focus on the core purpose of church: introducing people to a relationship with Christ, with each other and life-changing discipleship, will be the one thing that church can offer that the world doesn’t.

Churches that focus on this will grow. Churches that get lost in politics, ideology, hype or anything off mission won’t—at least not the long term.

In the future church, cool won’t cut it. Hype won’t cut it. Fun won’t cut it. Real will.

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2. An Actual Experience

So what kind of experience will help people move into an authentic faith?

For years, churches have grown through delivering great content. And trust me, excellent preaching still matters.

The problem is that great content is no longer scarce.

What used to drive church attendance—join us in the building at 10 a.m. for a brand new series—will no longer do so, because everyone now knows whatever message you’re preaching will be live-streamed or available later on demand.

And if your message isn’t, no worries. They can choose from a million others that are. For free. Here’s more on the new scarcity and why content alone won’t cut it in the future.

Our culture is drowning in a sea of information.

When people come to church, they’re not just looking for information—they’re looking for transformation.

Sure, people definitely need some information, but fewer are looking for information about God; they’re looking for an experience of God.

When people come to church, they’re not just looking for information—they’re looking for transformation. They’re not looking for information about God; they’re looking for an experience of God.

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Today, information is everywhere. Transformation is scarce.

What does this mean?

Churches that focus on something more than head knowledge in their services or a ‘fun’ experience will likely see greater traction than those that don’t. Even pre-pandemic, churches that had a more charismatic, emotional experience were growing when many other churches weren’t.

In addition, churches that have a clear path into discipleship…that get people engaging their faith or at least experiencing it, will see greater success than churches that invite you to merely attend.

Today, information is everywhere. Transformation is scarce.

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3. Community and Connection

Content used to be a competitive advantage. For the most part, it isn’t any more.

What is deeply scarce right now are community and connection.

A year into the pandemic, people are more isolated than ever. That’s playing out the crisis in mental health, rising addictions and the fractionalized tribes we’ve seen form in our culture.

Authentic, loving and genuine community are more scarce than they have ever been in our lifetime.

Every church should be running to fill that hole.

Community means connecting people to each other in groups, serving, friendship and relationships.

Nobody should be able to out-community the local church.

Connection means that even for those joining online or attending in person for the first time, the primary job becomes connecting with them and then helping them find connection with each other.

In the same way the purpose of a dating app isn’t to get people to connect with the app, but with each other, the goal of the church should be to get people to connect with one another, not just the senior leader. I realize that’s not a great analogy, but you get the point, right?

Moving forward, the competitive advantage of the local church isn’t content, it’s community and connection.

Moving forward, the competitive advantage of the local church isn’t content, it’s community and connection.

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4. Church Online

What happens to online church once we’re move into a post-pandemic world?

Simple…it becomes your front door and side door, and as a result, becomes the greatest opportunity for you to reach new people (front door) and keep people in your church connected (side door).

In the pre-digital era, it took a lot to get someone to come to your church for the first time.

They had to gather the family, dress up (at least out of their PJs), show up and set aside hours for a first time experience. In a Christian culture, that was far easier and less intimidating than it is in a post-Christian culture.

The good news about church online is that the cost of entry is almost nothing to a first-time guest. Just one click and they’re with you.

In the future, wise leaders will realize that this is the best way to reach people, and if you develop a great way to meet people, connect with them and move them into relationship and a discipleship path, you’ll see significant growth.

The other opportunity for church online is its ability to act as a side door for people who are away for the weekend (or a season).

Again, in the pre-digital era, if you were gone…you missed everything. Now you don’t have to miss a thing.

So a robust digital presence moving forward can result in both greater growth and deeper engagement.

Plus digital church scales in a way that physical church doesn’t.

The old thinking was (and still is in many cases) that you’re competing with your in-person services by having a great online experience. That’s scarcity thinking at its finest.

You’re not competing with yourself by investing in a digital future, you’re expanding your mission.

Digital church scales in a way that physical church doesn’t. You’re not competing with yourself by investing in a digital future, you’re expanding your mission.

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5. Agility

One of the biggest temptations for all of us when the post-pandemic era arrives will be to take our foot off the accelerator, find a method that works and lock it in.

That might be a fatal mistake.

The era of set-it-and-forget it strategy is over.

In all likelihood, culture will continue to morph and change quickly. The pace of change will continue unabated, and that will create the need to stay agile.

The gap between how quickly you change and how quickly the culture changes is called irrelevance.

Too many leaders sacrifice the mission in the name of finding predictable methods. Agile leaders are willing to continually sacrifice methods to advance the mission.

Too many leaders sacrifice the mission in the name of finding predictable methods. Agile leaders are willing to continually sacrifice methods to advance the mission.

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I realize that sounds exhausting, and here’s some encouragement (and advice) on how to hang in there for the long haul.

What you’ll realize though is that remaining agile, open and ready to change is one of the greatest strength you can have moving forward.

And ultimately, agility is far less exhausting than decline is.

The era of set-it-and-forget it strategy is over. Agility is far less exhausting than decline is.

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What Do You See?

What do you see as you look to the future?

Anything you’re seeing that’s getting traction as you move into the future?

The post 5 Post-Pandemic Church Growth Accelerators appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 5 Post-Pandemic Church Growth Accelerators

The post 5 Post-Pandemic Church Growth Accelerators appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By The Church.Digital: Research December 2020 tells us that 80% of people cold to Christ don’t care about our worship services, physical or digital. Event-based evangelism has been waning for years, and now COVID has effectively killed it off. While today’s large gathering church services do serve a purpose beyond evangelism, it’s important for churches to recognize that there are other ways we need to share Christ with those who are far from Him.

Enter the Search Engine. 40% of people who are cold to Christ, when they have spiritual questions, will hit Google and try to find the answer. This incredible opportunity is entirely missed by churches today who do not understand simple processes in not only how to shape content to make it effective for online environments, but also how to utilize metadata and other descriptive fields to make the information more findable for searching.

Part One of the Pastor Google Ongoing Series: We’re doing a deep dive into simple processes how to make YouTube the Evangelical Engine it has the potential to be.

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

Apple Podcasts | RSS Feed | Anchor | Overcast | Spotify | Pocket Casts | Google Play

ON THE SHOW

Source: PODCAST 113: Justin Nava & Modern Evangelism by Pastor Google

The post PODCAST 113: Justin Nava & Modern Evangelism by Pastor Google appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By Carey Nieuwhof: Having been through a year like no other, what can you expect as a church leader in 2021?

In all likelihood, this year will lead the church into the post-pandemic world. It won’t be the light switch you hope for (and suddenly, we’re all back!). Instead, it will be a gradual emergence into whatever our normalized future looks like. But at some point in 2021 you’ll look back and realize most of the pandemic is behind you and the future is ahead of you.

The question is, what kind of new reality will emerge?

For church leaders, it will be a different world for sure.

Since 2016, I’ve done an annual church trends post. For the most part, many of the trends have emerged and are still relevant to what we’re all experiencing right now. Some accelerated dramatically.

You can access the entire archive for free here:

The Original 2020 is History: 7 NEW Disruptive Church Trends Every Leader Should Watch

5 Disruptive Leadership Trends That Will Rule 2020

6 Disruptive Church Trends for 2020

5 Disruptive Church Trends for 2019

7 Disruptive Church Trends for 2018

6 Disruptive Church Trends for 2017

5 Disruptive Church Trends for 2016

While no one can say exactly what the future holds, here are 8 trends I’m watching and would encourage you and your team to consider and process as well.

2021 will lead the church into the post-pandemic world. It won’t be the light switch you hope for (and suddenly, we’re all back!). Instead, it will be a gradual emergence into whatever our normalized future looks like.

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1. The Majority of Attenders May No Longer Be In The Room

Physical church attendance has been in decline for decades and COVID in all likelihood accelerated the decline even further.

The average church has seen their re-opened attendance come in around 36% of previous levels. Almost no leader I’ve interviewed expects church attendance to jump back to pre-COVID levels for a while.

For years, most pastors didn’t know how to handle anyone who engaged the message or mission outside of their facility.

Moving forward, many church leaders will realize that people who are engaging from home or other places will count just as much as those who are attending in a facility.

Moving forward church leaders will realize that people who are engaging from home or other places will count just as much as those who are attending in a facility.

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Over the last year, so many things have shifted home: work, shopping, food, fitness, school and (at least for a season) church.

People have realized they don’t have to go to a building to engage. And as a result, some won’t do that nearly as much in the future.

As 2021 rolls on, many growing churches will see what you off-facility attendance (home partipation, micro-gatherings and distributed gatherings) eclipse facility-based attendance: the number of people participating in the mission who are not in the building on a Sunday will surpass the number of people participating in the mission inside the building.

More and more growing churches will embrace online viewing from home, micro-gatherings and micro-campuses as normal.

What pastors have to understand quickly is that this trend isn’t about people who are dropping out. It’s about people who are leaning in.

In the future, the number of people participating in the mission who are not in the building on a Sunday will surpass the number of people participating in the mission inside the building.

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If you can be good with the fact that micro-gatherings, distributed gatherings and people watching from home count, then you can mobilize those people in the same way you would people who are in your building.

In the same way retailers have come to understand that an online purchaser is still a client, and restaurant owners have embraced the fact that drive-thru, take out and delivery can still be fulfill their mission around food, so church leaders have to get good with the fact that people who aren’t in the main room count.

Your church is still around. The church is still around. It’s just left the building.

In the post-pandemic church, it’s possible that the majority of attenders as well as your most engaged people may not be in the room.

Your church is still around. The church is still around. It’s just left the building. In the post-pandemic church, your most engaged people may not be in the room.

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2. Growing Churches Will Shift Their Focus From Gathering to Connecting

This leads us to the second trend. Historically, the church has wagered almost everything on gathering people in a building.

This year, however, growing churches will focus less on gathering and much more on connecting. (Thanks to Tony Morgan for this language.)

Connecting people who are engaging from home both with the church and with one another will become and essential skill for all church leaders.

In 2021, if coming to Christ means coming to your church in a set location and a set hour, you need a new strategy.

In 2021, if coming to Christ means coming to your church in a set location and a set hour, you need a new strategy. Growing churches will focus less on gathering and much more on connecting

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The easiest way to think about this is the same way church leaders have thought about small groups for the last 25 years.

Almost no church leader today feels threatened by the idea that hundreds or thousands of people will be meeting in their homes to connect with other people. The church facilitates groups but doesn’t host them in a centralized facility.

Instead, leaders simply connect people who want to be connected and engage them in the mission.

This is where the potential for Sunday morning starts to move it to the new direction.

Small groups by nature tend to be closed and intimate. Gathering in people’ homes and outside the building on Sunday morning (or off-Sunday) would consist of micro-churches that are outward focused. Think of groups, but with an evangelism thrust.

The good news is that the scales in a way that gathered worship doesn’t period. It costs less and produces for more.

Gathering people on Sunday mornings will be as important as ever. It just won’t all happen in a building owned by the church.

Gathering people on Sunday mornings will be as important as ever. It just won’t all happen in a building owned by the church.

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3. Some Pastors Will Try to Fill Auditoriums While Others Focus On Fulfilling The Mission

The first two trends are disorienting and it’s easy to see why they would seem discouraging to many leaders. It’s a whole new paradigm the church is emerging into.

Just search the comments on this blog or social media and you’ll see church leaders who are having a really hard time coming to terms with what’s happening. I get it—it’s hard.

As a result, the natural tendency will be to ignore Trends 1 and 2 and focus on filling up auditoriums again once everything is fully open.

That might create a short term win but result in a longer term loss and missed opportunity. After all, for most leaders filling rooms was getting harder long before the pandemic.

So what’s underneath the obsession about filling auditoriums?

Often arguments include things like “Christians can’t forsake getting together” or “we have to gather in community.” That’s deeply true.

What’s not true (or biblical) is that the gathering has to happen in a building owned by the church (see the first two trends).

As someone who’s led a church for two decades, I promise you I like full rooms too. A little too much to be honest.

As much as they make for great pics on Instagram and make you feel better about yourself, full rooms do not guarantee a fulfilled mission.

Full auditoriums do not guarantee a fulfilled mission

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What’s under all this? Let me quote from a text a friend sent to me recently:

It would be interesting to know whether pastors value in-person attendance more than distributed attendance (micro-gatherings) or online attendance.

My feed had a lot of pastors quoting the stat that showed only people who attend in person saw improved mental health in 2020.

Personally, I saw that as very self-serving and bit dangerous as in “see…you need to come back to the building like I said you should…”

I’ve seen that in my feed too.  (I also haven’t seen any pastor mention that in the same poll, low income earners, young adults and single people fared better than others. No one wrote about the political findings either.)

At stake here is a full room versus a fulfilled mission.

In the future, leaders who only focus on filling a room will miss the biggest opportunity they have to fulfill their mission.

If the size of your vision shrinks to the size of a room you can fill, you’ve missed the church’s mission.

In the future leaders who only focus on filling a room will miss the biggest opportunity they have to fulfill their mission.

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4. Growing Churches Will See The Internet and Their Buildings Differently

So, what do you do with your building?

Great question.

You use it to equip people, not just gather them. Yes, people will gather in your building. And that’s awesome.

For too many years, pastors have been focused on one thing: Getting the greatest number of people in the room at the same time.

Sometimes that’s about ministry. Sometimes (honestly) it’s about ego. I’ll confess to both.

The church facilities of the future will be places where people assemble to be equipped to do ministry during the week. I realize that, theoretically, we’ve always believed that, but we often haven’t behaved that way. What we believe and how we behave are often two very different things.

The difference is that most of the people you’re equipping won’t be in the room. You may be speaking to them from the room, but they’ll in their homes, in their cars, at work and in the community.

Right now, most pastors are using church online to get people into the building. In the future, most pastors will use the building to reach people online.

Right now, most pastors are using church online to get people into the building. In the future, most pastors will use the building to reach people online.

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Just because they’re not attending doesn’t mean they aren’t engaged or in community. They can and will gather outside a church building.

In the future, churches that equip Christians will eclipse churches that gather them.

In the future, churches that equip Christians will eclipse churches that gather them.

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5. Content Alone Won’t Cut It. Community and Connection Will. 

The rush in 2020 was to get content online. Which was completely natural and appropriate.

Heading into 2021, the mood around content is shifting.

Pastors are complaining that views are down because people are ‘Zoomed out” or “Screened out.”

Sure, the spike in screen time has been a shock to all our systems, mine included.

But just because you personally feel screened out doesn’t mean the culture is.

If you think people are screened out, run your theory by TikTok or Instagram. Apparently, people aren’t nearly as done with screens as church leaders think.

If you think people are screened out, run your theory by TikTok or Instagram. Apparently, people aren’t nearly as done with screens as church leaders think.

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Which leads us into the fourth trend. Yes, content matters because sharing the Word of God matters…immensely.

However, many Christians now realize they they can watch or listen to their favorite preachers, content creators and voices in the world today any time for free. So they do.

One approach is to try to equal or match the exceptionally gifted and skilled communicators out there. But for most of leaders, that’s not a winning strategy. You won’t be able to compete.

Growing churches (and yes, that includes small and mid-sized churches too) will realize that connection and community will win out over content in the end, and they’ll focus their resources there.

Nobody should be able to out-local or out-community the local the church.

Nobody should be able to out-local or out-community the local the church.

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Absolutely produce the best content you can, but make the goal connecting with people.

When you provide connection (getting to know people, moving them into community, caring for them), it will provide a loyalty and sense of tribe that people can’t get elsewhere.

Therefore, make the goal of digital content connection, not consumption.

Make the goal of digital content connection, not consumption.

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6. Generational Differences Will Become Clearer Than Ever

Shifting gears a little, one of the creeping trends in the last few years is that generational differences are becoming sharper than ever.

While according to one survey, 71% of Boomers preferred physical worship as opposed to digital or hybrid church, only 41% of Gen Z preferred physical worship. Everyone other than Boomers had a preference for hybrid (a combination of in-person and digital gathering) or digital gatherings.

Many studies these days show stark differences between younger adults and older adults.

And while leaders love to pick part data, try a simpler approach. If you think attitudes about worship, racial justice, sexuality, economics, and even things like climate change aren’t morphing where you live (i.e. folks around here are pretty traditional), talk to a youth pastor.

Youth pastors more than almost anyone else sense where trends are heading.

If you want to get more personal, talk to some churched and unchurched teens and young adults.

While this doesn’t change core Christian theology, it does probably means wise leaders will think about their tone and approach.

If you want to get a sense of how the dialogue is changing, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyon’s UnChristian is still remarkably relevant even fourteen years after its first publication while Faith For Exiles offers an updated perspective.

As Gen Z emerges into the workforce, attitudes and beliefs most leaders were thinking were aberrations and exceptions will become mainstream.

Leaders who understand the emerging culture, its language and its values will have the best chance of reaching it.

Leaders who understand the emerging culture, its language and its values will have the best chance of reaching it.

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7. The Political and Ideological Churches Will Lose Influence With the Unchurched

If 2020 surfaced anything, it’s how political and ideological some kinds of churches have become.

It’s easy in a tribalized culture to become tribal. And while that might score some short term points with like-minded people who are angry and self-righteous (both are characteristics of the political left and the right), in the long run it will diminish your influence with most of the people you’re trying to reach.

Unchurched people aren’t looking for an echo of the culture, they’re seeking an alternative to it.

Unchurched people aren’t looking for an echo of the culture, they’re seeking an alternative to it.

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Moving ahead a few years, the future church will consist of Christians who look, live and sound much more like Jesus than the political candidate of their choice.

What many church leaders are about to face is this truth: Unchurched people aren’t looking for politics or ideology. They’re looking for Christ.

I pray they find him in our churches.

The future church will consist of Christians who look, live and sound much more like Jesus than the political candidate of their choice.

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8. Spiritual Entrepreneurs Will Thrive

These are hard times for all leaders, but as the dust settles and we emerge into the post-pandemic world, leaders who see opportunities instead of obstacles will thrive.

The missing gift set in the church is spiritual entrepreneurship—something the New Testament calls apostleship. It’s the kind of radical determination, innovation and fierceness the Apostle Paul showed.

As I wrote about here, the church today is filled with shepherds, to the point where shepherds are perhaps over-represented in church leadership. What we need most as we navigate new waters in a post-Christian culture is not more shepherds, but spiritual entrepreneurs.

Whether you call it spiritual entrepreneurship or the gift of apostleship, what we need is a new generation of Apostle Pauls who forge out in new directions.

Who experiment boldly. Who dare greatly.

Spiritual entrepreneurs are the kind of leaders who will find tomorrow’s solutions when most leaders can only see the problem.

Spiritual entrepreneurs are the kind of leaders who will find tomorrow’s solutions when most leaders can only see the problem.

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In a marketplace that’s in love with start-ups and new ventures, we need some leaders who are inclined to spend their lives in the marketplace who will take their God-given talents and energy and throw them full time behind the mission of the church.

Some of the ideas that will become widely embraced five years in the future are being birthed right now.

New ways of gathering people, mobilizing and equipping people and moving the mission forward are being developed as you read this.

Micro-churches, the distributed church, community focused churches, the location independent church, and many other new forms of expression are leading the way into the future.

Right now, most of those approaches will get more criticism than praise. In the same way few people thought private citizens renting out their homes and vehicles to others was a good idea (Airbnb and Uber), so a lot of the ideas for church you’ll see in 2021 will be denounced and dismissed…until they’re not.

In the same way few people thought private citizens renting out their homes & vehicles to others was a good idea (Airbnb and Uber), so many ideas for church you’ll see in 2021 will be denounced and dismissed…until they’re not.

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As is often in culture, the leaders you criticize today will be the leaders who coach you tomorrow.

So be open. A lot of good, messy, untested, might-not-work initiatives are going to launch. It’s out of that the future is always born.

As is often in culture, the leaders you criticize today will be the leaders who coach you tomorrow.

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2021 Is Here. Free Help on Digital Preaching, Team Burnout and More.

As hard as it might be, what if 2021 could be a year of real growth for you and your church?

You know that in 2020, some organizations grew while others struggled. I’d love to help your church thrive in 2021.

I know, that sounds crazy (especially after a post like this), but like most things, it’s crazy until it’s not.

I believe 2021 can be a great year for you and your team, and I’d love to help you make it happen.

That’s why I created the 2021 Church Leader Toolkit.

Inside, I cover:

How To Produce Content That Actually Gets Read & Watched
5 Keys To Better Digital Preaching
7 Strategies To Deepen Digital Engagement
How To Keep You And Your Team Out Of Burnout
3 Key Pivots For Every Organization In 2021

The toolkit is free.

You can get access and share the kit with your team here!

What Do You See? 

There could easily have been a dozen trends and I kept it at a meta-level to hopefully spark some creative thinking.

Watch for my 2021 Leadership Trends posts to follow in a few days.

What do you see as you head into 2021? Scroll down and leave a comment!

The post 8 Disruptive Church Trends That Will Rule 2021 (The Rise of the Post-Pandemic Church) appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 8 Disruptive Church Trends That Will Rule 2021 (The Rise of the Post-Pandemic Church)

The post 8 Disruptive Church Trends That Will Rule 2021 (The Rise of the Post-Pandemic Church) appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By Carey Nieuwhof: As things continue to change and the crisis we’re in drags on, you’re probably asking what’s going to happen to physical church attendance in the future. That’s a really important question.

The good news is that as long as there are people, people will gather.

The need for human connection and face to face gatherings runs deep—it’s how we were designed.

But over time, how people gather has changed from generation to generation and moment to moment.

This may be one of those moments for the church.

While in-person gatherings are here to stay, in the future church, people may gather differently.

For decades now, there has been a slow decline in in-person church attendance. Growing churches have bucked that trend and managed to find growth despite massive cultural shifts.

There are indications though that the disruption of 2020 is accelerating those trends even further (here are 3 shocking statistics about how rapidly church is changing).

Yes, physical attendance is here to stay. But it may not follow the patterns quite the way it did even as recently as 2019.

And if the trends are changing rapidly, so should your response.

While the cement is still wet, here are four ways in-person church attendance might well morph further as we head into the future.

So, how will physical attendance change in the future? No one can see the future perfectly, and I may be wrong on some of this, but based on what I’m seeing, here are 5 ways physical church attendance will change in the next few years.

While in-person gatherings are here to stay, in the future church, people may gather differently.

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1. In-Person Doesn’t Necessarily Mean In Your Facility

So let me say it again. The gathered church is here to stay. In the future,  we may just gather differently.

For centuries, the gathering of the church has happened in a facility, and as leaders, we’ve become both accustomed to that and a bit addicted to that way of gathering.

One of the big shifts that the disruption is ushering in is that in-person doesn’t necessarily mean in your facility.

It could be far bigger than that.

The gathered church is here to stay. In the future, we may just gather differently.

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While that sounds threatening, it isn’t nearly as threatening as it seems.

With some of the shift home for work, school, shopping, dining, entertainment and fitness is temporary, a proportion of it will likely be permanent in the post-COVID era. The same is perhaps true with church.

With 71% of Boomers desiring primarily a physical church experience and only 41% of Gen Z desiring a primarily physical experience of church, some kind of change seems inevitable.

Younger generations are deeply social, and forward thinking churches might look to capitalize on facilitating home gatherings, community gatherings and other micro-gatherings that pull people together for in-person experiences.

When church leaders realize that this isn’t a threat, but possibly an advance of the mission, the mission could move forward at greater scale and speed than in a model where everyone had to gather in one central facility.

There will always be people who want to gather in a central facility. And in the future church, there will also be some who want to gather elsewhere.

Before you think ‘house church’, realize that this model could provide a lot more growth than most North American house church models ever did. Many home-based churches to date are a retreat from the organized church. This could become an advance.

In the same way workplaces are embracing permanent distributed teams, a distributed church that’s centrally connected to joint leadership and mission could be a massive step forward for most churches.

Church leaders, in the future in-person gathering doesn’t necessarily mean in your facility. It could be far bigger than that.

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2. In Person Attendance In The Building Will Be A Percentage of Your Real Church

If you think about it, for years now, the people in the building on any given Sunday have been a minority of those who call your church home.

If you have an attendance of 150, you probably have 300 or more people who are actively engaged in your mission. They just don’t show up all at once.

What if in the future, most of the people engaging with your mission won’t be in the building and not just be ‘away’. What if instead, most of the people engaged with your mission will watching online, watching on demand, attending micro-gatherings or engaged in other ways?

I completely empathize with the frustrations of empty seats and not having ‘everyone’ together, but if you can begin to expand your definition of ‘together’, you can realize a much deeper sense of mission.

Or even imagine packing out your auditorium. Awesome. But what if there are still far more people engaged who aren’t in the room?

That leads to a much expanded mission.

If you expand your definition of gathering, it’s much easier to genuinely expand your mission.

If you expand your definition of gathering, it’s much easier to genuinely expand your mission.

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3. You’ll Use the Building to Reach People Online, Not Use Online to Get People In the Building

For centuries, church facilities have existed to assemble people.

And in a pre-digital world, that made a lot of sense. In a digital world, facilities will still play a role, but perhaps they’ll play a different role.

In the future church, the way church leaders think about buildings and online might flip.

Today, most pastors use church online to get people into the building. In the future, most pastors will use the building to reach people online.

Today, most pastors use church online to get people into the building. In the future, most pastors will use the building to reach people online.

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If you look at the way many churches use their online ministry, it’s designed to either get people in the room (join us Sunday at 9) or to show people what’s happening in the room (here’s our livestream).

Those won’t go away, but perhaps the building will no longer be the main event. Equipping people to follow Jesus (wherever they are) might become the main event.

Then, the building becomes a means to an end, not the end in itself.

No matter how large your church is, the world you’re called to reach is larger.

So use the building to reach people online, rather than online to fill the building.

No matter how large your church is, the world you’re called to reach is larger.

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4. In-Person Church Attendance Will Probably Become More In-Frequent Church Attendance

For decades now, even committed Christians have been attending church less often (here are 10 pre-pandemic reasons why).

With the rise of online ministry and millions of people exploring that for the first time, that trend is likely to continue.

I understand how disappointing it can be to have a ‘committed’ follower show up once a month.

When I started ministry, if I ran into someone I hadn’t seen at church in six month at the supermarket, it was pretty much a guarantee they had left our church. More recently, when I run into someone at the grocery store that hasn’t attended church in a few months, they likely haven’t left. They love our church…they just haven’t attended. Having grown up in the church, I still don’t fully understand that mindset, but it’s a real thing.

My guess is that with digital options abounding in the future, frequency might drop further.

And as hard as that is for church leaders, it’s important to remember that culture never asks permission to change. It just changes.

So maybe think about it in a fresh paradigm. In addition to the other points in this post, ask yourself why does ‘attendance’ is still a litmus test for devotion?

Is it a little like saying in sports that only people in the stadium are true fans? Or only people who buy an iPhone from the Apple Store in-person are real customers?

You and I know that’s not true.

I have argued before that decreasing attendance rarely signals increasing devotion. While that has been true in the past, I wonder if it’s always true (or still true) in the new culture that’s emerging, particularly if people gather in person outside of the facility and use online options to deepen their faith, not weaken their faith.

I’ve also argued that attending church no longer makes sense, but engaging the mission does.

We’re all figuring this out in real time.  And yes, it’s confusing.

But if you see the future, you can seize it. If you miss it, you’ll miss it.

Culture never asks permission to change. It just changes.

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5. Digital Church Will be More of a Front Door and A Side Door than a Back Door

The great resistance to digital church in the last decade for many leaders is the fear that people would walk out the back door and never come back.

And in many cases, that happened. Consumers left and never engaged meaningfully again.

What that means is the fear around digital church moving forward is largely a false one.

In fact, many leaders will realize that digital church will serve as much more a front door and side door than a back door. A front door to new people, and side-door for existing people who want to engage more deeply or stay connected when they’re away.

Everyone who’s wanted to leave is gone. That ship has sailed.

Which means those who are left will use your online presence almost exclusively as a way to engage, not to disengage. A way to stay connected, not to disconnect.

It also means many people will discover your church for the first time through your online presence and want to engage physically with you, whether that’s in your facility, in a micro-gathering, in group, or all of the above.

The back door days of digital ministry are pretty much behind us.

The front door and side door days are just beginning.

If you see your physical presence and online presence as working hand in hand, your mission can move forward in more ways than you imagined.

Those who are left at your church will use your online presence almost exclusively as a way to engage, not to disengage. A way to stay connected, not to disconnect.

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What Are You Seeing?

So in-person gatherings are here to stay. So is the digital church.

I realize it’s a confusing time, but it’s also an exciting time.

What are you seeing the sensing as you plan for the future?

Scroll down and leave a comment!

The post In-Person Church Attendance Is Here To Stay (But 5 Ways It’s Changing In the Future) appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: In-Person Church Attendance Is Here To Stay (But 5 Ways It’s Changing In the Future)

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By Carey Nieuwhof: Knowing what you should do as a leader in normal times is hard enough.

As you may have noticed, these aren’t normal times.

Trying to figure out what to do in the midst of a global crisis is so much more complicated.

So how do you cut through the mess and noise to chart a course that leads you into a better future?

Here’s a simple place to begin: start by asking the right questions. After all, the quality of the answers you get as a leader are determined by the quality of the questions you ask.

Ask better questions, you get much better answers and, as a result, a much better future.

The challenge is that it can be difficult to know which questions are the best questions to ask. In addition, you’ve got more agitated and angry voices than ever trying to tell you what to do (for more on that, see Pastors, Here’s Why Everyone’s So Mad At You Right Now).

So to help cut through the noise, here are five questions about the future that in my view, are helpful ones to be asking right now.

They’re questions I’m asking, and I think two years from now, they’ll turn out the be questions leaders who are making progress found themselves asking in this season.

The quality of the answers you get as a leader are determined by the quality of the questions you ask.

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1. How much of the current change is permanent?

People in the midst of a revolution often don’t realize they’re in the midst of a revolution.

It’s not like people woke up on November 1st, 1517—the day after Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to a cathedral door—and said “Hey, it’s day 2 of the Reformation.” No one knew the Reformation was underway. They didn’t even realize a seismic shift was underway that would change the course not just of the church, but of human history.

When carriages and horses first starting begin replaced by cars, or radio went from Marconi’s curious invention to the launch of KDKA in Pittsburgh in 1920 (America’s first radio station), no one realized this was the cusp of a massive and permanent cultural change. The first cars and first radios seemed like anomalies, until, of course, they weren’t.

People in the midst of a revolution often don’t realize they’re in the midst of a revolution.

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Crisis is an accelerator, and many of the ‘temporary’ trends we’re seeing right now are likely more permanent than we realize.

The COVID disruption that started off as a medical disruption is now also accelerating cultural disruption. Work, school, shopping, entertainment and fitness (all of which has become more home-based or morphed in other ways) will never quite be the same again.

Neither will church.

Whether you and I like change or not is kind of irrelevant. Culture never asks permission to change. It just changes.

If you want more on what I see changing, these posts can help.

The Original 2020 is History: 7 New Disruptive Church Trends Every Leader Should Watch

Why Going Back to “Normal” church Seems So Compelling and Can Be So Dangerous

Avoid This Big Mistake: Stepping Back Into the Past When You Step Back Into Your Building

Leaders who see the future have a better chance of seizing it.

Culture never asks permission to change. It just changes.

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2. What do I now have permission to stop doing?

This is a fun question for most leaders.

Remember all those things pre-disruption you wished you weren’t doing but didn’t have the courage or energy to kill? Yep, now’s the time.

If you haven’t gone back to ‘normal’ yet, this is the time to redefine what normal is.

I’ve found that changing one big thing (like say a move to a new facility) can give you permission to change a lot more things.

It’s like moving from one era to another. People expect there will be change, dislocation and new things.

So often when we’ve gone through a big change, we’ll change a lot.

Hint: There’s never been a bigger disruption in our life-time. You’ve already stopped doing so much…only bring back those things are are mission-central as you move into the future.

Remember to focus on the why of change, not just the what and how. But if there was ever a time to change what wasn’t working, this is it.

If you’re wondering how to lead change without blowing up your organization or your own leadership, this might help.

If you haven’t gone back to normal yet, this is the time to redefine what normal is.

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3. What would I do if I was leading a start-up? 

It can be hard to transition an existing church or organization into a new future, but one helpful way to think about it is how you would approach things if you were a start-up.

Old models rarely do well in new eras.

If you were a brand new church plant, opening a new restaurant, launching a new business…how would you approach it?

That kind of thinking can be exceptionally clarifying.

Old models rarely do well in new eras.

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For example, speaking at conferences and events was a big part of my life pre-COVID. Like many people, I haven’t been in a plane since March 2020.

With COVID still surging and mandatory quarantines in place where I live for returning visitors, I don’t know when I’ll be back on a plane again or speaking in person.

If you were launching out as a speaker right now, well, how would you behave?

If you were launching a church right now, what would your strategy be?

Or say you were opening a new restaurant, how much would you focus on indoor dining v. take out, delivery and patio space? Or helping people create their own food experiences?

Once you know the answer to that question, go there.

For me, we’ve written speaking out of our business plan indefinitely, launched a second podcast (which doesn’t, of course, require travel) and done any speaking events I accept digitally instead. At this point, it doesn’t matter when in-person speaking at events will be feasible again. We don’t need it.

Existing organizations who behave like start ups will have a much better future than organizations that don’t.

You can bet the future on things changing, or you can change. The second is a much wiser strategy.

You can bet the future on things changing, or you can change. The second is a much wiser strategy.

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4. Where are we seeing real momentum?

This is another fun question.

It might feel like you have no momentum anywhere, but that won’t be true for most organizations. (If it is true for you—that you have zero momentum anywhere— the problems are much deeper than a global crisis.)

You likely have momentum somewhere, and chances are it’s happening somewhere different than it did before.

Pay attention.

Example: you might be hyper-focused on getting people back in the building because that’s where you historically had momentum. You can end up being so fixated on trying to manufacture momentum where you used to have it that you completely miss that your YouTube channel is growing quickly and you have a far bigger open rate on your emails than in the past.

And when someone points out that you’re growing your open and subscriber rates, you dismiss them because it’s not where you want to see momentum.

Continue that for long, and you become the music industry executive focused on CD sales who keeps ignoring the 20-year-old who are focused on streams that keep growing while your CD sales keep dropping.

“Streams aren’t real”  you tell yourself, and make fun of people who don’t want to ‘own’ their music or have a physical copy of it.

Soon, you’re staring out the window watching the future pass you buy.

You probably have momentum somewhere.

Study it. Try to figure it out. Ask yourself why that’s growing and how you can leverage it to reach more people.

If you want to get your mission going, fuel what’s growing, not what’s declining.

If you want to get your mission going, fuel what’s growing, not what’s declining.

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5. How will I find a sustainable pace? 

This one is really close to my heart.

I’m running into so many exhausted leaders right now.  I’ve been there.

One of the best questions (perhaps the best question) you can ask yourself is how you can find a sustainable pace.

As I shared in this post, most leaders look to time off to heal them.

The problem with that strategy is you can never have enough time off to recover from ridiculously stressful, unattainable days.

Time off won’t heal you when the problem is how you spend time on.

Time off won’t heal you when the problem is how you spend time on.

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A decade into leadership, I went through a season of burnout that was so intense I thought I was finished. By the grace of God, I wasn’t. But I’ll never forget how painful it was. (If it’s helpful, here are 11 signs you might be burning out.)

My heart for leaders is that you find a sustainable pace heading into year two of the crisis that will give you the regular rest and renewal you need.

My formula for staying out of burnout for the last decade a half can be summed up in this phrase: live in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. 

Most leaders live in a way that will make them struggle tomorrow: too many hours, not enough sleep, poor diet, too little exercise, and failing to nurture life-giving friendships. Living that way slid me into burnout.

So as you move forward, ask yourself: what changes can you make spiritually, emotionally, relationally, physically and even financially (financial stress is stress) that can help you thrive moving forward?

If the crisis is a long term thing, which it appears to be, you need a longer term strategy for personal renewal.

Time off isn’t the solution for an unsustainable pace. A sustainable pace is the solution for an unsustainable pace.

Time off isn’t the solution for an unsustainable pace. A sustainable pace is the solution for an unsustainable pace.

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Stay Out of Burnout: A Strategy That Will Help You Thrive

So how do you live in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow?

In The High Impact Leader Course, I outline the strategies and principles that have helped me (and now thousands of others) stay out of burnout and get far more done in far less time.

The course will help you thrive by helping you find healthy, sustainable rhythms that move your life and leadership to a new level.

This 10-session online course will show you highly practical, proven strategies on how to finally get time, energy and priorities working in your favor. It includes 10 videos, an online workbook and 10 specific exercises that will help you create a personalized plan to help you get productive and accomplish the things you know are most important, but rarely have time for.

The course, which proceeds at your personal pace whenever you’re ready to tackle a unit, is designed to help you:

Get your most important priorities done early in the week, every week.

Spend more of your time at work doing the things that energize you and less time doing the things that drain you.

Invest more of your time with the people who energize you and less time with the people who drain you.

Discover time to finally exercise, pursue a hobby,  launch a blog, start a podcast or write that book.

Actually be OFF when you have a day off.

Be far more focused on your family when you’re with your family.

Learn how to say no nicely, so you can free up time for the things you’re truly called to do.

In short, it’s designed to help get your life and leadership back, or maybe find them for the very first time.

Learn more  and gain instant access here. 

What Questions Are You Asking?

These are five questions I’m finding helpful right now.

Any other questions you’re asking that are helping you navigate the future?

Scroll down and leave a comment!

The post 5 Simple Questions About the Future Every Leader Should Be Asking Right Now appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 5 Simple Questions About the Future Every Leader Should Be Asking Right Now

The post 5 Simple Questions About the Future Every Leader Should Be Asking Right Now appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By Carey Nieuwhof: Ready or not, both you and your church are online more than ever before.

You’re streaming your services live and posting clips and videos on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.

Handling the tech is one thing, but a question many don’t think of is how to handle the people.

As you’ve probably noticed, you’re getting more weirdness, trolls and criticism than you’re used to.

What do you do with all that?

As an online content creator, I’ve been wrestling this problem down for years, and while it’s not easy to deal with, if you think in categories it can save you a lot of time, heartache and a few sleepless nights.

It starts here. The tone you set as a leader determines the tone of your online community. The tone you foster is the tone you fuel.

So if you’re angry, caustic and mean…you’ll attract those kind of people.

The tone you set as a leader determines the tone of your online community. The tone you foster is the tone you fuel.

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On the other hand, if you’re thoughtful, kind and generous, you’ll find that most of your audience is the same way.

I’ll also be the first to say I feel as a content creator that I’m in the rare space of having a generally amazing, thoughtful and kind audience. For the amount of traffic we get, 95% of the interaction I see online via the blog, podcast, and social media are overwhelmingly positive.

But—and this is the catch—no matter how kind, thoughtful and generous you are online, the critics, trolls and weirdness will find you.

So…what do you do?

In this post, I’ll share a filtering system for handling online comments, direct messages and interactions that have helped me a lot. And a new streaming solution that can help solve some of the tech problems for your church.

I hope they help you.

No matter how kind, thoughtful and generous you are online, the critics, trolls and weirdness will find you.

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There Are Three Basic Kinds of People In The World

Life online is still life with people. So it’s helpful to realize when you’re dealing with online comments, you’re dealing with human nature.

And basically, there are three kinds of people in the world.

It may seem too simple to divide the world into three kinds of people, and try as he might to avoid it, clinical psychologist and best-selling author Henry Cloud helpfully points out in his book, Necessary Endings that there are essentially three kinds of people in life and leadership.

Wise People 

Foolish People 

Evil People

After 25 years in leadership, I’d have to agree with Henry.  Sure, people can move between categories. Wise people have foolish moments and we can all do things that can only be described as malicious or evil.

All day long, though, you hear from all three categories of people online.

Essentially the difference between wise people and foolish people comes down to how they deal with truth.

Wise people encounter truth and change as a result. For example, after getting a speeding ticket, wise people learn and slow down. After being told their words hurt someone, a wise person will try to understand why, apologize and work hard not to do it again. They’re open, not defensive, they learn and grow and tend not to make the mistakes over and over again.

Foolish people encounter truth and don’t change. Instead, they try to adjust the truth so they don’t have to adjust to it. Confronted with a problem, a foolish person will deny, blame, minimize, generate excuses and do anything in his or her power to avoid having to deal with reality.

They don’t learn and rarely grow. As Cloud’s frequent collaborator John Townsend puts it, foolish people have a flat learning curve. As a result, they tend to wreak a lot of havoc and cause damage in their own lives and the lives of others.

Foolish behaviour means some broke people will always be broke, some chronic procrastinators will always be late and some people keep running into the same problems again and again. They may mean well, but their lack of learning means they keep making things hard for themselves and others.

Evil People. Finally, as hard as it is to admit, some people really act in an evil way. They intend to harm you. They want to take you down.

And as hard as it is to believe, they don’t have your best interests at heart and want to see you fail.

I found it hard to accept this early on in leadership, but I’ve seen it often enough times to no longer dismiss it.

For years, I kept thinking evil people would change and that foolish people will change.

I’ve learned the hard way that that’s just not always true.

Just because someone can change doesn’t mean they will change.

Just because someone can change doesn’t mean they will change.

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How to Handle Three Kinds of People

So what’s the takeaway?

If you want to curate a positive, helpful, honest and real presence online, my suggestion is to:

Amplify the voice of wise people.

Help and interact with foolish people (but limit their influence).

Delete and block evil people.

It can be difficult to discern who’s wise, foolish or evil in real life. It can be even a little harder online. But here are some characteristics to guide you and your team.

1. How to Recognize Wise People Online

Wise people are the people you want to attract, keep, promote and whose voices you want to amplify.

A few characteristic sum up wise people:

Thoughtful. They actually add to the conversation and are mindful of other people.
Considerate.  They think about other people and often engage with others in a way that makes everyone better.
Helpful. They make a positive contribution with their words and tone.  
Mutual. This one’s a little harder to put into words, but there’s a give and take, a back and forth. They’re open to new ideas and interested in what other people think.
Generous. They’re kind with their words and attitudes.
Humble. It’s not all about them, and they don’t mind saying sorry if they stumble into negative territory. They learn from their mistakes.

These aren’t just the kind of people you want online, these are people you want in your chat, comments and interacting with your guests online.

What do you do when you find a wise participant in the chat or comments? Amplify their voice.

Acknowledge them. Interact with them. Thank them.

Better yet, ask some wise people you know to be active early in the chat or comments to set a great tone.  Wise people often hold back from the conversation, allowing, well, others, to dominate. Draw them in. Ask them to comment.

This is the kind of interaction we all long for online but which seems to be oh-so-scare.

When you find it, fuel it.

What do you do when you find a wise participant in the chat or comments? Amplify their voice.

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2. How to Recognize Foolish People Online

Foolish people, as John Townsend says, have a flat learning curve. They don’t intend to harm themselves or others, but they do.

Here are a few characteristics of foolish people to help you recognize that kind of behaviour in the chat:

Selfish. It’s all about them.
Single Issue. Because it’s all about them, they keep coming back to their pet issues.
Unhelpful. They’ll keep talking about what’s on their mind, but instead of being open to others, they’ll link to the things they care about? i.e. “Have you heard about the latest discoveries about the Moon Landing in 1969? Totally run by aliens. Here’s proof.”
Off Topic. Because they’re the topic, they have a hard time tracking with what’s happening in the stream.
Not Humble. It is all about them. Sorry, did you say something?

Foolish people aren’t evil people, but the best practice in chat is to limit their interactions.

A great strategy when someone dominates the chat with their own issues is to invite them to an offline conversation. Hey Carey…thanks for being part of the chat. I see you’re really into Moon Landings. Jason on our team would love to connect with you. Can you send him a note at jason@xyz.com and he’d be happy to hear more of your story there.” 

If you run a Zoom service, you can move that person off to a breakout room.

The truth is people are lonely. They need connection, but sometimes the best way to connect is offline rather than in front of everyone in the group.

You’ll also notice that the characteristics above can describe the behaviour of someone in crisis or deep pain. Not necessarily a foolish person at all, just a hurting person.

Again, the best way to deal with grief or pain is to help the person get the help they need. You can best do that offline.

What’s your method for taking online conversations off line so people can get the help they need?

Once you have that set up, your chat will get a lot healthier.

3. How To Recognize The Trolls and Haters Online (Evil People)

People who behave an evil way can destroy your online conversation in minutes. Be really careful.

As much as you want to help people, if someone is there to harm you, you need to take action.

The biggest differences between foolish behaviour and trolls and hater are tone and intent.

Rude. Hater and trolls specialize in ALL CAPS, lots of exclamation marks, and being dismissive of other guests.
Abusive. They lash out against the speaker or other participants in rude or obnoxious ways.
Anonymous or Fake. Trolls and haters rarely use their real names and have fake account pics.
Single Issue. The issue tends to be them or what they’re against.
Closed. People who do something foolish often respond to correction. Trolls and haters don’t. They’ll keep going until you shut them down.
Persistent.  Even after you shut them down, some will come back under new, fake accounts.
Vain. It is all about them. There is no other message or messenger other than what they’re communicating. (Note, usually people who start with ‘In my humble opinion” aren’t).

I wish we live in a world where none of this happened, but it does. And you have to be ready for it.

What you focus on expands. The more you feed the trolls, the more often they return. The more you amplify the voice of the wise, the more the good people show up.

So, when I see someone like this on one of my posts, I’ll usually just delete their comment first, and if they are kind after that, I won’t ban them.

But often, an evil person will follow up and say something like:

“Oh, now you’re deleting my comments??? THIS IS CENSORSHIP AT IT’S WORST!!!”

In the same way thieves don’t have a ‘right’ to come back into your house, you can decide trolls and haters aren’t allowed to steal meaningful dialogue from your channels.

In the same way thieves don’t have a ‘right’ to come back into your house, you can decide trolls and haters aren’t allowed to steal meaningful dialogue from your channels.

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Letting trolls and haters control your feed is like letting cancer grow untreated. It will eventually kill all good life.

The best thing you can do to a troll or hater is block, ban or delete them.

They’ll find another place to spew on the internet, it just won’t be on your site.

My guess is the compassionate side of you would probably like to give trolls and haters another shot. I get it. I’ve tried more than once.

Hate to tell you this, but it pretty much never works. A true troll has no interest in dialogue, learning or respecting others. Maybe they do need help, but if they’re only doing damage on your site, you’re probably not going to be the person who helps them.

Letting trolls and haters control your feed is like letting cancer grow untreated. It will eventually kill all good life. The best thing you can do to a troll or hater is block or delete them.

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Flex, grow and thrive moving into 2021

Yes, there’s a ton of change happening right now. And it’s exhausting. 

There are 5 different ways a leader can respond to change, and each means a different outcome for their organization. With the free Pivot-Ready Cheat Sheet, you’ll find out: Which kind of leader you areWhat it means for your organization; andThe mindset that will propel you into a new (and better) future

Learn more and access The Pivot-Ready Cheat Sheet for free. “,”container_class”:””,”element_class”:””,”wrap_styles_border”:0,”wrap_styles_width”:””,”wrap_styles_margin”:””,”wrap_styles_padding”:””,”wrap_styles_float”:””,”wrap_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”label_styles_border”:””,”label_styles_width”:””,”label_styles_font-size”:””,”label_styles_margin”:””,”label_styles_padding”:””,”label_styles_float”:””,”label_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”element_styles_border”:””,”element_styles_width”:””,”element_styles_font-size”:””,”element_styles_margin”:””,”element_styles_padding”:””,”element_styles_float”:””,”element_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”cellcid”:”c7986″,”key”:”the_pivot_ready_cheat_sheet_1602862985838″,”drawerDisabled”:false,”wrap_styles_background-color”:””,”wrap_styles_border-style”:””,”wrap_styles_border-color”:””,”wrap_styles_display”:”block”,”field_label”:”The Online Church Engagement Summit”,”field_key”:”the_online_church_engagement_summit_1600435685509″,”id”:593,”beforeField”:””,”afterField”:””,”value”:”

Flex, grow and thrive moving into 2021

Yes, there’s a ton of change happening right now. And it’s exhausting. 

There are 5 different ways a leader can respond to change, and each means a different outcome for their organization. With the free Pivot-Ready Cheat Sheet, you’ll find out: Which kind of leader you areWhat it means for your organization; andThe mindset that will propel you into a new (and better) future

Learn more and access The Pivot-Ready Cheat Sheet for free. “,”label_pos”:”above”,”parentType”:”html”,”element_templates”:[“html”,”input”],”old_classname”:””,”wrap_template”:”wrap”}];nfForms.push(form);

So I’m curious…

Have you had to ban anyone from your online chat yet?

If so, what happened? Leave a comment below!

The post Now That You’re Online Far More: How to Handle the Critics, Trolls and Weirdness appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: Now That You’re Online Far More: How to Handle the Critics, Trolls and Weirdness

The post Now That You’re Online Far More: How to Handle the Critics, Trolls and Weirdness appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Carey Nieuwhof: You’ve had so much change thrown at you this year, it’s hard to know what to do.

Especially about church online.

As more and more churches re-gather, it will be easier than ever to look at church online as something you had to do to survive, or as a side project you keep going while you focus 90% of your time and energy on in-person gatherings.

And that would be a mistake. For some churches, it might be a fatal mistake.

For others, it’s won’t be fatal, but it might mean you grossly under-realize your potential and miss the opportunity of a lifetime.

To help you both realize the potential of church online and grow your online ministry, I’m hosting a free Online Church Engagement Summit with Levi Lusko, Nona Jones and Bobby Gruenewald.

You can register your entire team for free here to how to turn viewers into engagers with insights from the leaders behind YouVersion, ChurchOnline, Facebook and Fresh Life Church.

In this post, I’ll take on seven weird lies about online church I keep hearing that it’s time to finally stop believing.

As churches re-gather, it will be easier than ever to look at church online as something you had to do to survive, or as a side project that doesn’t require much attention. For some churches, that will be a fatal mistake.

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1. People are screened out

I hear this one almost every day from church leaders.

Sure, the spike in screen time in 2020 has been a shock to all our systems, mine included. And yes, people are looking for chances to meet in person, go for a walk, or do something other than take yet another Zoom call.

But just because you personally feel screened out doesn’t mean the culture is.

If you think people are screened out, run your theory by Tik-Tok or Instagram. Apparently people aren’t nearly as done with screens as you think.

Pastors, if you think people are screened out, run your theory by Tik-Tok or Instagram. Apparently people aren’t nearly as done with screens as you think.

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But the idea that people are just screened out doesn’t resonate with long term trends. In 2019, for the first time ever, the amount of daily minutes people spent on their mobile devices surpassed the minutes they spent watching TV. The younger the demographic, the more true that is.

The truth is time spent on social media has been rising every year since it was invented. The average American spends 152 minutes a day on social media alone…that doesn’t include other online activity.

You can find some evidence Gen-Z is being more careful about social media taking over their lives (and some are quitting or taking breaks). That said, 91% of Gen Z still use social media .

So what’s going on? Here’s my theory.

People are screened out on things that aren’t interesting to them. People are screened out on bad content.

But are they screened out? Nope.

At least not yet anyway.

People are screened out on things that aren’t interesting to them. People are screened out on bad content. But are they screened out? Nope.

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2. The internet is “temporary”

I have a hard time this is actually something church leaders argue, but I’ve heard so many versions of this I had to list it.

“The internet is temporary” is an actual quote I pulled from the comments on my blog.

Other variations of this include

When everyone can come back in person, they will.

People don’t like technology. 

Online won’t last. It’s just a bridge to get us to re-opening.

I personally wouldn’t bet the future on the internet being temporary.

But resistance to technology and predicting its demise is a pretty usual thing.

This 1985 article from a New York Times columnist predicted that laptop computers were a fad that was fading fast:

On the whole, people don’t want to lug a computer with them to the beach or on a train to while away hours they would rather spend reading the sports or business section of the newspaper.

Somehow, the microcomputer industry has assumed that everyone would love to have a keyboard grafted on as an extension of their fingers. It just is not so.

Just because you don’t like something or don’t fully understand it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

And just a reminder, you’re reading this on your phone.

I’m guessing the internet is here to stay and planning my strategy around it.

Just because you don’t like something or don’t fully understand it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

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3. Online relationships aren’t real relationships

Another argument I keep hearing is that online relationships aren’t real relationships.

To begin with, many leaders are changing their mind on that as we speak, discovering that people who were either resistant to face to face gatherings or couldn’t get to one are loving the ability to connect digitally. Nicky Gumbel’s story of moving Alpha online for the first time in 2020 and seeing huge results inspiring.

The reality is we all live in a hybrid of online and real life relationships.

You FaceTime your parents and then see them three nights later for dinner. You text your friend and minutes later meet up for coffee. Some long-distance relationships are kept alive because of technology.

According to a recent Stanford study, more couples now meet online than through friends, family or church.

Naturally, those relationships migrate into real life, but in many ways, that’s what the church can expect for the future.

People who meet you online will eventually meet you in person. But if you only rely on in-person for connection, you’re greatly limiting your options.

Saying online relationships aren’t real relationships is a little like saying online shopping isn’t real shopping. Ask Amazon whether they would agree with that.

Saying online relationships aren’t real relationships is a little like saying online shopping isn’t real shopping.

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4. My people aren’t online

I have to push back on this one a bit.

Really, who are you leading?

While it’s true that in rural areas internet usage and adoption is lower than in suburban and urban areas, even in rural America, 86% of people say they use the internet daily.  In 2019, 90% of Americans overall say they regularly use the internet.

I appreciate the fact that pastors have a heart for people who don’t have internet. That reflects a shepherd’s heart and there are workarounds for that.

But 8.7% of American’s don’t have access to cars. That hasn’t stopped church leaders from constructing buildings that require cars.

I love that leaders want to help those with little access to technology. But your pastoral heart shouldn’t stop you from using technology.

Almost all the people you want to reach and connect with are online. It’s time for the church to embrace that.

Almost all the people you want to reach and connect with are online. It’s time for the church to embrace that.

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5. Online attendance will keep dropping

As churches re-gather (and in North America, the majority are now open for some kind of in-person services) pastors are noticing a drop in online attendance.

A few thoughts.

If you neglect your online presence, online attendance will continue to drop. Almost everything you neglect declines.  As I shared in this post, the trap for many leaders in re-gathering is the trap of doing nothing well: you don’t have enough staff and resources to do in-person or online well.

If you neglect your online presence, online attendance will continue to drop. Almost everything you neglect declines.

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Moving forward though, wise leaders will invest more time, skill and expertise in their online experience. And when you do that, you’ll see your effectiveness grow and with it, your online attendance and engagement.

If the internet was declining, it’s reasonable to think online attendance is bound to keep dropping.

But the internet isn’t declining.

And churches who embrace online ministry will see tremendous fruit down the road. Hang in there.

If the internet was declining, it’s reasonable to think online attendance is bound to keep dropping. But the internet isn’t declining.

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6. It’s impossible to get people to engage online

This is a hard one.

It is tough to get people to engage online.  But it’s not impossible. You just haven’t figured it out yet.

Reddit, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and many leaders online have figured out how to get people to engage.  Some churches have done a great job at this too.

To help, I’m hosting The Online Church Engagement Summit, a FREE 90-minute online event featuring Levi Lusko, Nona Jones and Bobby Gruenewald.

During the summit, we’ll share best practices from YouVersion, ChurchOnline, Facebook and Fresh Life Church about how to turn viewers into engagers. YouVersion alone has 443 million installs on devices globally that see people engaging daily with God’s Word. We’ll share industry best practices that will help you and your team.

You can register your team for free here.

Turning viewers into engagers is a tough nut to crack. But you can do it.

7. I can afford to ignore this

Returning to what you know, what you’re good at and what you’ve had success with in the past is really tempting.

In the midst of an unprecedented amount of change, it’s natural to cling to the familiar. It’s also a terrible leadership strategy.

In the midst of an unprecedented amount of change, it’s natural to cling to the familiar. It’s also a terrible leadership strategy.

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Here’s the truth, in the short term you can ignore online. And you’ll probably go back to 40-70% of what you used to have in church pre-COVID. You might even eventually grow back to 100% of what you had.

Success is intoxicating. But when your success is based on an approach that was already producing diminishing returns, your success is both short-lived and much smaller than it could have been.

As a leader, you love to think you can defy the odds, recreating something no one else can do and ignore the trends. I do too.

But of course, the rules never apply to you until they do.

And when they do, and your effectiveness is far less than you want it to be, you might wish you could get this moment back.

So seize it now. The future you will thank you.

So will all the people you reach.

The rules never apply to you until they do.

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Free Online Engagement Summit—Turn Online Viewers Into Engagers

So you’ve got people watching your church online. How do you get them to engage?

The Online Church Engagement Summit is a 90-minute value-packed live event on October 8th that will show you how to turn viewers into engagers.

Learn practical strategies for engaging your online audience from the leaders behind Fresh Life, YouVersion, Church Online, and Facebook.

You and your team will learn strategies not just to get people to like comment and share, but to move beyond building consumers and start building disciples.

If you’ve thought you don’t know where to begin with online church, or if you’ve had success online but want to reach and engage more people, The Online Church Engagement Summit is perfect for you and your team.

Register for free today.

Any Weird Lies You’ve Noticed?

So this is a strange time. Any lies you’re noticing about the future it’s time to move past?

Scroll down and leave a comment!

The post 7 Weird Lies About Online Church Pastors Need To Stop Believing appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 7 Weird Lies About Online Church Pastors Need To Stop Believing

The post 7 Weird Lies About Online Church Pastors Need To Stop Believing appeared first on Passion for Planting.

This post on the algorithms around us is written by Leslie Mack. Leslie is a creative director, singer-songwriter, and communicator from Atlanta, Georgia. I recently interviewed her for ChurchPulse Weekly on how to leverage this crisis to reach the next generation. You can listen to the interview here. 

By Leslie Mack

You and your team just hit “post” on your latest magnum opus of content and with bated breath, wait for the likes to start pouring in.

You’d never say it out loud, but this could be the post that goes viral and brings your organization the visibility it deserves.

You check back in 15 minutes…2 hours… 2 days. Where are all the likes, views, reshares, and comments?! You have 500 followers but only 12 likes. You have 3,000 subscribers, but only 78 views.

Alas, we shake our fists to the heavens and lavish our unspeakable cures on the only one to blame here… The Algorithm.

Why do we hate “The Algorithm”?

Algorithm, a word that – if you’re bad at math like me- sounds like it’s spelled with numbers.

Between high school math equations, the binary zero and ones code the matrix showed us, and our leach-like dependance on a technology we barely understand, no wonder we feel defeated and helpless toward the invisible machine that seems to swallow our best work into the oversaturated oblivion known as the internet.

But what if you could sweet talk an algorithm?

What if you could sweet talk an algorithm? – Leslie Mack

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Algorithms have feelings too

What if we embraced the idea that algorithms have feelings too? That, like humans, algorithms are trained to pick up on behaviors, and adapt to social norms (or “abnorms”). What if we viewed the algorithm as highly emotionally intelligent and not just mathematically intelligent?

By the time you feed the algorithm several opportunities to practice reading your audience, provide the algorithm several opportunities to hone this skill, it becomes highly skilled at predicting the behavioral responses of your audience.

Don’t believe me, just google “Cloud AI”.

It’s not that the algorithm doesn’t want the world to see your content. The algorithm is more like a big brother (no pun intended) who doesn’t want you to “leave the house like that”. i.e. Put out bad content to your audience.

What if it were possible to partner with – dare I say befriend – the algorithm. You can begin to implement strategies to make the algorithm appreciate your best content by avoiding what the algorithm hates.

1. The Algorithm hates when you sucker punch your audience

The algorithm’s job is to keep people watching, scrolling, and attention-giving as long as possible. It will refuse to feed your audience something it has no history of ever liking.

Based on the previous content you posted, the algorithm collected enough data to tell what your audience likes to click on. So when you come out of left field with a new style of content, abandoning your truest tone of voice, the algorithm tries to protect your audience from the sucker punch you’re delivering. It ups it’s loyalty to the platform you’re posting on by not pushing your content.

Instead of a drastic change from say fixing motorcycles to make up tutorials, consider having a familiar face give a familiarly toned- intro to set up the change.

You might even consider cushioning either side of your “new” content with content that features a familiar face, topic and tone to your channel and audience.

The algorithm’s job is to keep people watching, scrolling, and attention-giving as long as possible. It will refuse to feed your audience something it has no history of ever liking. – Leslie Mack

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2. The Algorithm hates when you seem like a liar

If we agree the algorithm can feel things, the one feeling it hates most would be deception. And it’s pretty impatient when deciding whether or not it believes you’ll deliver on your promise.

Early on during the pandemic, I posted a video to YouTube called “You, Kanye, and Hangry Jesus” – teaching on the parable of the cursed fig tree. Originally, the thumbnail featured images of cut-outs of fruit, my face, and Kanye’s face. Clickbait-y? The algorithm definitely thought so. I didn’t mention Kanye until 9 minutes into the video!

In the first few minutes of the video being live, the metrics predicted that the video would perform below average for our channel. We changed the title of the video to “New Pandemic, Old Me: are Instagram Lives Making Us Better People” and changed the thumbnail to just feature my face with a confused expression holding fruit.

We were able to restore the performance of the video back to being on target for our channels average.

Now, we both know that you’d never intentionally set out to flat out lie to your audience. We just tend to like a sermon that ends with a good ah-ha moment.

However, if in the first few seconds of your content it doesn’t seem like you’re going to deliver on the promises made in the title, the thumbnail text, and the thumbnail art, well the algorithm would much rather suggest a video that will.

That’s why a large amount of the successful videos you watch on YouTube start off with “In today’s video I will…” followed by a list of buzz words and phrases that align with the title, tags, thumbnail text.

Try using a Search Engine Optimization tool along with a tool to help craft strong titles, to see what words people are searching for and align your content – from the title and thumbnail to the very last sentence- to meet an existing need.

If in the first few seconds of your content it doesn’t seem like you’re going to deliver on the promises made in the title, the algorithm would much rather suggest a video that will. – Leslie Mack

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3. The Algorithm Hates When You Thoughtlessly “Re-gift” Content

Grandma may always give you socks for Christmas and money on your birthday. At least she recognizes there’s a difference between the holidays (and doesn’t re-bless you with socks for both).

It’s tempting to put all your energy into making one piece of amazing content and just repost it, as is, across all platforms. But, the reason why your great aunt is on Facebook, your brother is on reddit, and your niece is on Tik Tok can be chalked up to two words: pace and preference.

Not tailoring your video to the platform it will live on means you’re guaranteed to be missing key components of what makes content succeed on different platforms.

It’s up to you to learn the pace and preferences, i.e. the native language, of the platform to which you post.

Where blogs speak the language of text with subtitles throughout, Tik Toks speak the language of short vids, overdubbed with jump cuts and text on screen.

Your audience (and therefore the algorithm) can spot “regifted” content from a mile away. Videos made for YouTube stand out like a sore thumb on Instagram- can the link you mentioned “in the description box below” actually found in your bio now?

Your church websites’ generic greeting video feels irrelevant to the audience on YouTube. Is regifting content all bad? No, but making some minor edits that make your content native to the platform help up your chances of visibility and reach.

Here are a few things to consider when customizing the content you intend to post on various platforms:

Your audience (and therefore the algorithm) can spot “regifted” content from a mile away. Videos made for YouTube stand out like a sore thumb on Instagram. – Leslie Mack

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1. Which platform supports the type of audience engagement you or your team is able to be responsive to?

If someone comments “I want to accept Christ” on your YouTube video you posted 3 months ago, do you have the right systems in place to respond in a thoughtful and timely manner?

If they reach out looking for your church’s address via Instagram DM, can you respond?

2. Are you thinking mobile-first?

The content we create is being consumed not on the massive computer screens we use to edit on, nor on a flatscreen TV, tablet, or jumbo stage projector in an auditorium.

By a landslide, mobile devices are the primary space for consuming digital content.

When you shrink your content down to the size of an index card, or even a 2’’ x 1’’ screen within a screen, are the graphics still legible? Does the orientation of the video allow your subject to be centered or cut off? Is important information in your headers or lower thirds being covered by in-platform graphics?

Does your call to action ask your audience to navigate through tricky multi-step processes that are hard to get to from the current platform? (Ask me about the nightmare of using Instagram Stories to ask 10,000 students to submit TikToks via FormStack that ultimately got complied into dropbox files for a DJ to mix into a video that would play on 40 ft projectors at an in-person event. The complexity!)

By a landslide, mobile devices are the primary space for consuming digital content. – Leslie Mack

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3. Are you using your title real estate effectively?

Is your title now cut off due to the character limit shown on this specific platform where the full title was clear over on YouTube?

Are you posting a series that all start with the same phrase and therefore limits your audience’s ability to engage with all the different parts of your content at a glance?

Is the text on your thumbnail redundant to title redundant to caption?

Maximize on grabbing attention by rephrasing or re-angling at each opportunity.

4. Does your content artwork break the promise your title makes to your audience?

Are you covering a sensitive topic but your artwork is your default, million-dollar smile headshot?

Is your message titled “peace during a pandemic” but your artwork feature an image of the pastor, scowling with passion as he makes his most poignant point?

Does your video title promise you’ll be hearing from students in this video but your thumbnail only show your face?

Treating the Algorithm as if it’s highly emotionally intelligent (even if that “emotional intelligence” is just a string of calculated predictions and mechanistic understanding) will help the algorithm begin to love some of your best content.

Treating the Algorithm as if it’s highly emotionally intelligent will help the algorithm begin to love some of your best content. – Leslie Mack

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The Online Church Engagement Summitnn

nn

So you’ve got people watching your church online. How do you turn them into engagers?nnnn

On October 8th, 2020, Carey Nieuwhof is hosting The Online Church Engagement Summit. It’s a free, 90-minute value-packed event where Levi Lusko, Nona Jones, and Bobby Gruenewald will give you their best practical strategies to turn viewers into engagers.nnnn

If you feel like you don’t even know where to begin, or if you’ve had success but want to reach and engage more people, this is for you and your team. nnnn

Learn more and register for free. n”,”container_class”:””,”element_class”:””,”wrap_styles_border”:0,”wrap_styles_width”:””,”wrap_styles_margin”:””,”wrap_styles_padding”:””,”wrap_styles_float”:””,”wrap_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”label_styles_border”:””,”label_styles_width”:””,”label_styles_font-size”:””,”label_styles_margin”:””,”label_styles_padding”:””,”label_styles_float”:””,”label_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”element_styles_border”:””,”element_styles_width”:””,”element_styles_font-size”:””,”element_styles_margin”:””,”element_styles_padding”:””,”element_styles_float”:””,”element_styles_show_advanced_css”:0,”cellcid”:”c7949″,”key”:”the_online_church_engagement_summit_1600435685509″,”drawerDisabled”:false,”wrap_styles_background-color”:””,”wrap_styles_border-style”:””,”wrap_styles_border-color”:””,”wrap_styles_display”:”block”,”field_label”:”BOOST YOUR TEAM’S PRODUCTIVITY AND HIT YOUR GOALS”,”field_key”:”boost_your_team_s_productivity_and_hit_your_goals_1597338105384″,”id”:588,”beforeField”:””,”afterField”:””,”value”:”

The Online Church Engagement Summitnn

nn

So you’ve got people watching your church online. How do you turn them into engagers?nnnn

On October 8th, 2020, Carey Nieuwhof is hosting The Online Church Engagement Summit. It’s a free, 90-minute value-packed event where Levi Lusko, Nona Jones, and Bobby Gruenewald will give you their best practical strategies to turn viewers into engagers.nnnn

If you feel like you don’t even know where to begin, or if you’ve had success but want to reach and engage more people, this is for you and your team. nnnn

Learn more and register for free. n”,”label_pos”:”above”,”parentType”:”html”,”element_templates”:[“html”,”input”],”old_classname”:””,”wrap_template”:”wrap”}];nfForms.push(form);

What’s working for you? 

Have you had any posts go viral?

I’d love to hear about them in the comments below:

The post 3 Reasons “The Algorithm” Hates Some of Your Best Content appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 3 Reasons “The Algorithm” Hates Some of Your Best Content

The post 3 Reasons “The Algorithm” Hates Some of Your Best Content appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By: The Church.Digital

The short answer is no – the very definition of social media confirms that the purpose of social media is for “users (to) create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content”. (Merrian Webster)

So how do you begin to shift the communication to being one way only to a two way highway with your staff and attendees?

Give them permission to drive on the highway: Ask questions! It could be as simple as asking for people to respond with their favorite flavor of ice cream on #NationalIceCreamDay or as deep as asking viewers to share a personal prayer request or a personal testimony about their walk with Christ. If your social media posts only tell without asking for a response, you will get little to no response.
Show them how to drive on the highway: Get your staff involved in this process! Use 5 minutes of a staff meeting to ask each member of your team to comment on a particular social media post. Have them pull out their phone and do it right in the moment. Send out a weekly email with a call to action to your staff and key volunteers to interact on a specific post. Your staff and key volunteers set the example for your viewers and can be a positive change in helping people feel empowered to engage in your content. (It also doesn’t hurt to keep the algorithms happy and working in your favor!) 
Ask them to drive on the highway: Yes – make it a part of your order of service to ask for people to follow your social media accounts and perhaps even challenge them to share a post or host a watch party for your weekend worship services. Once asked, we hope you are surprised with the engagement that you will create. Don’t assume that the people that enter your doors or watch online are following your social media accounts or that they understand the impact they can have on their own networks.

The Bible says that we are the light of the world, and even in the digital age we find ourselves in, the digital world needs the light of Jesus more than ever. So open your social media accounts for two way traffic to not only communicate but to listen!

Source: Is Social Media a One-Way Street?

The post Is Social Media a One-Way Street? appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By: The Church.Digital

One of the greatest pushbacks against church online is that an online church cannot provide authentic discipleship because it is not authentic community. Though I will save the authentic community argument for another post, I want to make the case here that you can provide authentic discipleship in an online environment. In fact, the same components that create healthy discipleship in person are the same components to create healthy disciples online. If you are struggling with the concept of discipleship in an online community or how to make disciples in your meeting time online, here are six components to help you establish a discipleship culture.

Shepherding

Shepherding is too often reserved for pastors and not lay people. Yet, the concept of shepherding is simply to care for other believers, often those you have been entrusted to lead. Though you may not be able to hug someone online, you can still shepherd them effectively. Caring for other believers does not require to be with them in person. If someone is having financial troubles, send them some cash via Paypal or Venmo. If someone is having a difficult week, encourage them through prayer and scripture in text or messaging. If someone is facing big life decisions, provide wise counsel and fast and pray with them. 

Accountability

After focusing on shepherding, transition to accountability. Accountability consists of holding each other to obedience in our walk with Christ. Of course, this can mean asking someone who struggles with sexual sin how they have been doing, or utilizing online tools like Accountable2You to help. This also includes setting goals together (see number four) and holding each other to those goals that are being set. Use this time to ask about each other’s prayer life, their time in the word, and sin issues that can be holding someone back from an abundant life in Christ.

Worship

This one may be the trickiest. Of course, you can play a song on youtube and sing together. If you are musically inclined, feel free to play and sing together. However, this could also be something as simple as asking a question like: “What is your favorite attribute of God and why?” or “Tell me something that God did in your life this past week that you are grateful for?” Any act that draws our gaze and attention toward God is worship, so be creative. Note that this comes after accountability. If someone has had a hard week with accountability, it is important to immediately draw their eyes to Jesus for hope and to prevent shame and guilt that surfaces from sin.

Study the Word

Too often, we only study the word in our discipleship meetings, foregoing all the other things I mention in this post. However, time in the word should still be at the center of discipleship. The key to disicpling in the word is to come to the Bible with an obedience-based approach rather than a knowledge-based approach. In other words, we read the Bible to know God and to obey him through what we read, not to learn new things alone without concern for obedience. For Bible study, I highly recommend the Discovery Bible Study. It is the most adaptable approach to studying the Bible I know of, is obedience-driven, and is centered around a community approach rather than an individualistic approach.

Set Goals

After reading the Bible, the most important step is to take what has been understood and apply it to our lives in specific ways. Often, we use application in abstract ways by saying, “I just want to love God more.” That’s a great desire, but that is not a goal. A goal would be to spend thirty minutes in prayer every day for the next week, or to read 1 John once a day for the next week. In my groups, I use the acronym C.O.S.T to guide us in goal setting.

C – How will I Connect to God this week?

O – How will I Obey God this week?

S – Who will I Share the Gospel with this week?

T – What other Christian can I Train this week?

It is important that the leader provide a way for these goals to be made public to the group as these goals serve as a prayer guide for each other throughout the week and a chance to see how things are going as we seek to meet our spiritual goals. It is also important that the leader set goals as well and invite the group to hold him/her accountable.

Commission the Group

After setting goals and recording them, the leader ought to cast vision and commission them out into their communities. At the end of every group, we consider the Great Commission and remind each other that there is a real mission with high stakes that Jesus gave us to complete, and that is what we are being sent out to.

Disclaimer:

You may notice that prayer is not one of the six components. That is on purpose. Rather than making prayer a section during the time a group has together, I recommend making prayer center to every section. How can you shepherd each other without prayer? How can you determine what goals God would have you set without prayer? How can we understand the Word without prayer? Prayer ought to be in the ebb and flow of the group meeting rather than just one section.

These six components of a small group will create disciples online or in-person. For more resources like these, please visit http://t4tonline.org/ and https://noplaceleft.net/four-fields/.

Source: 6 Components of Authentic Discipleship that Work Online

The post 6 Components of Authentic Discipleship that Work Online appeared first on Passion for Planting.