What I Have Learned About Doing Church Online
In just a few weeks, we will cross over the one year anniversary of when almost every church in the world began some type of conversion to an online service, broadcast, or campus, if they had not already been doing so. At Allison Park Church we had been broadcasting our services on Facebook Live and on our website platform for several years.
We are a multi-campus church and had been live-streaming the messages, from time to time, to all of our locations. That was certainly an advantage on March 14, 2020 - when we were forced to move all of our locations and services online during the first “fifteen days to slow the spread” of the Covid-19 pandemic.
What we already had in place at that time was a production team that understood how the broadcasting technology worked, cameras in the auditorium to capture the service, a switcher to move between cameras for different angles, and someone on Facebook monitoring the chat box during the live experience.
But we quickly discovered there was a lot we still needed to figure out. Here are some observations from our journey:
#1 - WHAT I LOVE ABOUT DOING CHURCH ONLINE
First of all, I love how an online service can reach people that would never otherwise attend one of our locations. Even before the pandemic, I would regularly meet people attending one of our services in-person, who started their relationship with us by watching online.
Second, I love how a solid and engaging online experience can begin a relationship with someone that we have only met virtually. Yet, it is still a relationship! People are finding salvation in Christ —online. They are taking steps to join a small group, completely online. They are growing in their understanding of the Bible, by accessing material they find online.
Third, I love how I can define and distribute my own voice as a pastor/leader online. Over the last twelve months, I have discovered that there is great value in providing additional teaching and prayer through Facebook Live and posting that same content on Youtube.com/jeffleake for on demand viewing later. Back in the summer, I began a weekly online Bible Study (which became something I did every day during our month of prayer in January). It has been a powerful way to engage with, encourage, and teach people in an easily accessible way.
Fourth, I love how we can reach people from all generations, backgrounds, and locations - even though we may not recognize the full extent to which this is happening. Allison Park Church has people engaging with our content from Florida, Arizona, Michigan, and beyond. Some missionaries tune in from where they are stationed overseas.
One young man came in to see me for an appointment. He had been away from God and hurt by some folks in the church world. But he began tuning into our weekend service and through one of our messages, he decided to rededicate his life to Christ. He came to talk with me in person because he felt that would solidify his commitment.
#2 - WHAT I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT DOING CHURCH ONLINE
After the first weekend of being completely online, our entire team made a huge pivot. We realized that to engage our audience properly, we needed to plan the services more like a TV show than an-in room event:
We removed all of the seats from our auditorium and set up a studio in the center of the room, creating more of a ‘worship in the round’ environment.
We tightened our time frames for each segment of the service.
We kept the worship focused and engaging.
Instead of broadcasting our in-person emcee moment, someone standing on the stage giving the announcements, we added a feature with online ‘hosts’ who were functioning like news reporters, in a way. These hosts welcomed those joining online. They made the experience warm, welcoming, and fun. They encouraged engagement in the chat box. They closed out our worship set with prayer and gave the announcements.
In the beginning of the lockdown, we did a lot of pre-show and post-show games and giveaways to help people feel connected. That was really great at first. But we probably overdid that a bit and decided to cut back to more of the basics after a few months.
We have encouraged as many people as possible to engage in the chat box online. We have assigned a monitor to serve as a greeter and in a way, like a pastor to those who in the chat. Our goal is to keep people engaged in the comments all throughout the service. It is not a distraction when someone leaves a comment, but actually a way to keep everyone focused on the experience and not be distracted by what’s going on in the room around them.
One of the biggest changes for me in the online only format was the need to preach shorter messages. I had already begun to shorten my messages through the years, moving from 45 minutes down to 32 minutes. But when we shifted to online only, I cut my messages down to 25 minutes. Now that we are back to in-person gatherings, I have my time clock set at 28 minutes.
It’s crazy, but I actually don’t think my messages are missing anything. The time constraint has forced me to become sharper and more focused.
Finally, we have now taken all of our processes and are putting them online. Our ‘growth track’ course, Difference Makers, is now available online. Many of our life groups are meeting through Zoom. We now help our people baptize and celebrate communion from home. It is possible to participate in just about every aspect of the life of the church from an online position.
#3 - WHAT I AM continuing to process ABOUT DOING CHURCH ONLINE
Currently, we are doing a combination of in-person services and our online campus as well. We are back to broadcasting from the stage, but trying to be mindful to sing and speak to the camera, not just those in the room. We continue to use the online hosts and chat monitors every week, but we are now starting to imagine what church online might look like when everyone is able to come back to in-person services.
I was on a Zoom call with a group of pastors this past week and Pastor Jeremy Ziegler from Redemption Community Church asked this thought provoking question: “What does the win look like for online church in the long-run?” Jeremy referenced an article written by Dr. John Davidson in Influence Magazine about the ‘Ethics of Pastoring Online.’ Here are the questions John is asking (and so am I):
Is pastoring a church the same as simply streaming sermons online?
Is simply watching a church’s online service the same as being a part of that congregation?
Should you attempt to pastor viewers who attend another church?
What responsibilities do the church body and the church attender have to one another?
“Technology is a wonderful tool, but we should not embrace it uncritically. Ministers have an ethical responsibility to be aware of the potential ripple effects of its usage, take steps to mitigate the negative side effects while leveraging the benefits, and faithfully execute the biblical mandate to shepherd God’s flock.”
I am certain we will continue to broadcast our services online and maintain all of the things we have learned about how to do this well. For many people, the online experience is their only option to engage with us at Allison Park Church. Maybe they are serving in the military overseas? Maybe they are in Florida for the winter? Maybe they don’t have a life giving church in their area and now consider us their home church?
We also know that we will continue to provide extra ways to learn, grow, and participate with what we are doing through online tools. Travel schedules, kids activities, and the busy pace of life often make it difficult for people to get in an extra season of worship, or Bible study, or even be able to participate in a small group. Online options provides flexibility.
The biggest question I’m wrestling with right now is this: If a person has the ability to attend in person, do we want them to make the effort to do so on a regular basis? Or is worshiping online of equal value? There is so much to learn and consider and I pray that God gives us discernment and clarity as we move ahead.