By Erik Cave, Director of NextGen Ministries, PacNWC
At any moment a seeker may be visiting your online space looking for hope in Jesus and a welcoming community. This is an unprecedented opportunity for the church to reach hurting and isolated people.
We are compelled by scripture to live missionally. In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 Paul says he will go to great lengths, even make himself a slave to others, to win as many as possible for Jesus. To Jews, he becomes like a Jew; to those living under the law, he becomes like one living under the law; to those not having the law, he becomes like one not having the law. In sum,
“I have become all things to all people so that by all means I might save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:22
We have to come to grips with the fact that we are called to be missional, and that being missional has nothing to do with us, our desires, our comfort or our way of doing things. It has nothing to do with the people in your church and everything to do with the people not in your church. It includes embracing them, their desires, what makes them comfortable and their way of doing things. It is about leaving your comfort to go where they are.
Our world is looking for hope and community online. The COVID-19 quarantine has accelerated this phenomenon as we have become more dependent on the internet than ever. For better or worse, the people in your neighborhood are selectively picking and choosing their communities through social media, and these communities are not regionally based. It is easy to make a case for the problems this poses for healthy social, emotional and spiritual lives. This is why it is so important for the church to be missionally reaching into these online spaces to call a broken world to hope and community in Jesus.
What can a church do to take a missional approach online ministry? Begin by strategically approaching streaming of live services. Seekers will visit your church online before they will visit in person. The trap to avoid here is falling into televangelism. Simply feeding content to observers will not reach seekers looking for engagement, interaction and invitation.
Here are some good steps:
Engage All Audiences as Though They are One. We must go beyond simply greeting both online and in person audiences. Announcements need to be tailored for both. Welcome and connection cards need to be available in person and online. The speaker needs to speak to and interact with both audiences.
Interact With Both Audiences. Invite both audiences to share prayer requests. Invite both audiences to a common online chat to comment and discuss the service. That’s right, consider encouraging those at the in person service to use their phones to interact with those online. Consider asking a question from the pulpit, and share responses from the chat with all. Doing this will encourage those watching the recording later to watch live.
Invite Both Audiences to Deeper Connection. Lurkers is the name given to people who watch online communities but never contribute. We need to draw these lurkers into a deeper level of connection through an invitation to something outside of the Sunday morning service. This may be a lunch with the pastor on Sunday afternoon, an online small group or webinar, a Facebook group, or ultimate frisbee in the park. The invitation to deeper connection must be a constant and compelling part of every service and include both online and in person options.
I like to listen to podcasts. One host regularly reads comments on their YouTube posts. This drew me into making comments in hopes that they would be read. Every time one is read, I show it to my family and friends. I used to listen to another podcast at a later time than it is recorded live. After hearing the hosts interact with live comments in the chat, I decided to listen live so I could also participate in the chat. Still another podcast regularly invites all listeners to an online game night each Saturday. One Saturday I had nothing to do, so I joined. I met the hosts, who learned my name. I am now part of their community. These are examples of how online platforms can draw people into deeper connections one step at a time through engagement, interaction and invitation.
Think about online ministry beyond Sunday services. We must go beyond inviting seekers to our online spaces to connect with them in their online spaces. Ask yourself the question, “What online communities, or gathering places, are connected to our churches’ local physical community?” Apps like Next Door are designed to connect regional communities. Sites like Reddit and Facebook have groups dedicated to cities and neighborhoods. Your church already has members embedded in these online communities. Consider leveraging this by providing digital postcards consisting of pleasant images and text inviting people to your online services. Encourage your church members to regularly post these to their social pages and online communities.
These ideas are disruptive and require some work, and they are worth it. They may not result in substantial increased attendance or giving, and that is OK. Let us remember that missional activities have never been about comfort, numbers or institutionalism. Missional living is about going into the world with the hope of Jesus and invitation to community. We can make an impact on the world through missional online ministry.
PacNWC Resources for Online Ministry:
[Click Here] to access our page dedicated to resource for online ministry
- Streaming Live Services Guide
- Online Annual Meetings Guide
- Website Front Page Guide
- Faithful Ministry for the Long Haul Webinar