The Change We Need: Best Practices for the New Online Church

Jamie Jean Schneider Domm

Digital Strategist, Social Media + Big Data, North American Division

You might be tempted to think that we will return to normal in a few weeks or a few months. We will return to normal, but it will be a new normal. – Chuck Scroggins

In the weeks since COVID-19 shut down churches across America and the world, I’ve seen an unprecedented amount of creativity and innovation from churches and ministry leaders. What was previously considered impossible or unimportant has become both possible and important overnight. For many, such as the physically disabled and those unable to attend church in person for other reasons, these changes are welcome and long-anticipated accommodations— accommodations that should have been offered when the technology first became available. Our hesitancy to embrace change left many behind and isolated long before COVID-19. It’s unfortunate that it took a pandemic to motivate the Church to embrace digital technologies, but here we are.

Change is not only possible but also necessary. Now, we must figure out together what the “new Church” will look like. When the dust settles, society will return to a new normal with new habits and expectations. The changes we make now will set us up for success or failure in the years to come.

First and foremost, online church must be different. It can’t be just a streamed program of a few people in an otherwise empty sanctuary. Church is not a program or a building, it’s a faith community sharing their relationship with God and taking action to improve the well-being of others. We must consider the experience of the individuals participating and think empathically about what they expect and need.

Beyond meeting the spiritual needs of church members, digital technologies can be used to mobilize a congregation for community and service in the digital space. What starts in the digital space is not necessarily nor ultimately confined to the digital space. These tools and technologies can create impact in the real world and be leveraged to meet the real physical needs of the community. We can still be the hands of Christ reaching out to help others in their need; it will just be in a way that is different from what we’re currently comfortable with.

We must think creatively about how the “church experience” can be translated to the digital space. This will take the creativity and innovation of everyone, experimenting and trying new things to figure out what works best. It will be different for each congregation and community. We are now in a period of rapid development, innovation, and customization. It’s an exciting time, and I am personally energized seeing God working through His church during this time of change.   

This also means that our choice of our “home” church is no longer restricted by physical location. Churches that adapt well will draw members from everywhere to their online church experience. The barriers to entry that once prevented people from attending in person have been stripped away. Those who were previously at a disadvantage are now on equal footing with the rest of the community. When COVID-19 is all over, the structures we are now implementing should stay in place to continue to reach those we’ve previously left behind. Besides, we know the scriptures: this may be only the beginning of such troubles. There will be more pestilence and an ongoing need for digital technology. We must stop thinking of this as a temporary shift and realize technology’s long-term potential.   
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You may be asking: How can we build community online? How can we make online church special? What are the best practices for online church? 

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As we continue to adapt and modify our worship and service experiences to address these questions, here are 15 “best practices” to consider: 

• Use interactive tools. Use tools such as live chat and social media for real-time interaction. People are social creatures; let’s create opportunities for social engagement online. This may feel like a distraction from the sermon, but understand that your audience (especially young people) have already been accessing social media while you preach. Digital interactive tools may be out of your comfort zone, but for many, they are a vital enhancement to their worship experience.
  
  
• Rethink your service and music. Remember, put yourself in your online audience’s shoes. What are they supposed to do during song service? Some may sing along, but most won’t. It’s awkward to watch people singing and pretending a congregation is singing with them. Consider having special music instead and, overall, keep music interludes brief.
  
  
• Shorten the service. Don’t try to fill the same amount of time as a regular church service, and limit dead space where nothing is happening. Keep the worship service moving.
  
  
• Speak directly to the audience. Zoom in close with the camera and let the audience see your face and your expressions. A good rule of thumb is to enable your audience to see the whites of your eyes. Speak to your audience as though you are speaking to each person individually. Acknowledge your audience, engage directly with them, and encourage comments, likes, and shares. Ask them to open their Bibles and follow along with the scriptures. You can even encourage them to take notes or type in answers to your questions in the comments section of the livestream. Avoid standing alone on an empty stage with the camera zoomed out at a distance. Bringing the camera in close will make your sermon more inviting and personal. Click here for more live-streaming and video tips.  
  
  
• Turn your livestream into evergreen content. When the service is over, repurpose longer videos into shorter focused clips that will be searchable long into the future. Church announcements have a short shelf life and should not live indefinitely on your YouTube channel or website. Cut out just the message and other key elements such as the children’s story to create content optimized for search. To learn how, visit:
  • Evergreen Livestreams: 4 Ways to Turn Livestreams into Great Video Content
  • How to Start Your Own Video Ministry (Free Course)
    
    
• Meet together in the digital space. Use video conferencing technologies to keep your regular Bible studies and prayer meetings going. Zoom is a great tool. It’s easy to use, and a basic account is free. You may find that your attendance increases now that physical barriers like traffic have been removed. Click here for guidelines for hosting online small groups, forums, and video conferences.
  
  
• Continue to serve the community. For too long, churches have been the building up the street. Let’s not let the church now become the empty building up the street. Church should be a group of people mobilized to serve, actively engaged in improving the well-being of their broader community. Click here for 10 ways to serve your community using digital tools during COVID-19.
  
  
• Create content to help people move along their spiritual journey. God’s church is 24/7. Therefore, we should endeavor to put Christ on display every day through our digital influence, not just one day a week. We should create digital content that speaks to the spiritual needs of people and seeks to address their deepest longings. To get started with content creation and evangelism, read these blogs:
  • What Role Do Content Creators (Creatives) Play?
  • Basics of Content Creation and Strategy
  • A Deeper Dive into Content and Creative Planning Through Keyword Research
  • Content Evangelism: Engaging Your Audience and Improving SEO
  • Writing Effectively for Online Audiences
  • Basic Principles for Creating a Strong Social Media Post
    
    
• Mobilize your congregation to become a reach vehicle for souls through digital door knocking. Digital door knocking is when a person shares spiritual content on their social media profiles or through messaging and email to create an opportunity for people to engage with them about their faith. Spiritual content can be anything (a picture, text, video, blog, etc.), and should include a personalized message. A person’s friends and followers can scroll past it or choose to engage when it’s convenient for them. Given that a lot of people are stuck at home with extra time in their schedule, social media may be their main source of entertainment and connection. Create a culture of sharing and content engagement within your church community. Train your members to share your church’s content (created or curated) on a weekly basis as part of ministry efforts. There’s a lot of opportunity right now for us to share and reach people everywhere using digital technologies. A congregation that understands the value of participating in ministry this way could serve as a powerful reach vehicle for souls. Success can no longer be measured only by counting people in a building; rather, we must consider whether or not we’re building a kingdom. 
  
  
• Create opportunities for prayer online. Even the skeptical may long for someone to care enough to pray for them personally. Social media is a powerful tool for soliciting prayer requests and following up on those requests. Prayer can be just one “like,” comment, or message away. Online communication lowers the barrier to asking, making it easy for people to reach out when they may be reluctant to do so face to face. Click here for more ideas for prayer opportunities in the digital space.
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• Develop a 360° community care strategy. In this time of crisis and beyond, we should work to extend the church experience beyond the confines of time and space in a building to an involved community that provides 24/7 support not only to members but also to our broader contacts. To be effective, churches should cultivate and nurture healthy communities, both analog and digital, both within the church and in the community, thereby better positioning ourselves to provide a ministry of healing and broad networks of support. For ways to do this with your congregation, read these blog posts:
  • What's the Role of Engagers?
  • What Does Community in the Digital Space Look Like?
  • What Does a 360° Community Care Strategy Look like?
    
    
• Empower Digital Disciples. Content creation, engagement, and distribution are not limited to the official Church brand and accounts. Make a point of reaching out to young people, and let them know that their talents in this area are highly valued even if they are not part of the core team. Some people just need permission and a little mentorship to realize their talents and passion for personal ministry. Everyone has social influence through texting, messenger applications, email, and social media. Encourage and inspire them to use it to build God's kingdom. To learn how, read these two blogs:
  • Practical Tips for Digital Discipleship and Engagement
  • Growing as Disciples
    
    
• Invite creativity and new ideas. Listen to the tech savvy and to young people. Now is the time to make them feel that their spiritual gifts are valued by their church. Young people in particular are digital natives and instinctively know a great deal about how to leverage technology. They are eager to help shape the future of their church and will be more likely to stay if they are involved.
  
  
• Train your members. Take the time to show your members, especially older members, how to participate and use digital tools. Ask your younger members to create tutorial videos or to FaceTime with older members to talk them through using technology for worship and ministry.
  
  
• Protect your community. Going online means getting used to dealing with negative comments. For antagonists who threaten the health of your digital community, hiding/deleting comments, muting people, and even banning them are options. Click here to download a response assessment flow chart to help you navigate the sometimes rocky waters of online engagement.
  
  
• Be ready to adapt to and get comfortable with change. Change is the new normal. Embrace new ideas and technologies as they become available. Get creative and don’t be afraid to try new things. If it doesn’t translate, that’s okay. You will have many more chances to figure out what works. 

 
We want our church to come back stronger and more unified from this experience. Normally, we talk about how digital technologies are a powerful means to scale up traditional ministry and evangelism, but COVID-19 has pushed the need for digital technology to become our priority. We’ve created and curated several resources we think you will find useful to help migrate your worship service and help you build an online community for your church. Visit SDAdata.org/goingdigitalcovid19 to get started.
 
Click here to learn more about digital evangelism and discipleship.