Church Leaders Podcast: This Is Why You Should Care About Online Church
The Church Leaders Podcast gives voice to recognizable names in ministry, subject matter experts, and local pastors and leaders. Whatever area of ministry you serve in, the Church Leaders Podcast has you in mind. Our goal is to help you lead better, everyday. Jason Daye asks Jay Kranda about #ChurchOnline and why you should care about online church.
Extremes of Online Church Define Debate. No More!
We love the extremes, but reality happens in the middle, and this is why I hate the dialogue around online church. I dislike, both thumbs down, how we have to go to extremes and not have a real conversation about using an online paradigm for evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and worship. I do understand how the extremes of online church make headlines and stir up middle Americans, but often nothing fruitful is produced. In a recent USA Today article called "Online church: Ministries use VR, apps to deliver digital services and virtual baptisms" I got a few mentions talking about online ministry.
The Role of Online Pastor Championing Local Campuses
Online ministry, commonly called #CHURCHONLINE, can and should strengthen your local church(es). I talk about this approach and more on the Vanderbloemen Leadership Podcast with Holly Tate. I share two recent stories of people attending online and assimilating into our local campuses while openly discussing how a healthy online ministry is cultivate.
The Gap with Online Church
I mentioned these two examples because friction can enable and disable the expansion of an idea. The internet has amplified many great things, but this new frontier has introduced further questions. For churches, the lack of friction encouraged ministries to start streaming their services regularly with very little critical thinking about the broader strategy of online. The shift happened in 2016 because Facebook Live became a free feature to anyone with a Facebook page and most churches jumped on the opportunity.
State of Online Church eBook
I’m excited for this new ebook called “State of the Online Church” eBook. It’s the most extensive survey of what is actually happening with online church. No opinions, but real data. I partnered with Vanderbloemen and Pushpay to conduct the survey and visualize the results.
Why I Cringe When People Say "Internet Church Isn’t Really Church"
All I can think about is the fallacy of equivocation when someone says an online church isn’t church. A great example of this argument is in a recent NY Times opinion piece where the headline was "Internet Church Isn’t Really Church.”
Featured Resources
The same four things, licensed for one reader. If you are buying this for a team, the Church License covers your entire staff and every volunteer for less than the cost of three copies.
What you get:
Online Church Is Not the Answer, the full book as a PDF. 227 pages, 15 chapters, each one ending in a big idea you can put in front of your team.
The complete audiobook in MP3. 5 hours 28 minutes, read by Jay.
A Guide to Digital Goal Setting and Online Ministry Planning, including the team assessment.
The Church AI Policy Template, an editable policy your board can approve. What staff and volunteers can and cannot use AI for, when it has to be disclosed, where the line sits in sermon prep and pastoral care, and how member data gets handled.
Read three chapters. If you do not walk away with at least one thing you can change this season, reply to your receipt and I will refund you. Keep the files either way.
Everything in the Digital Strategy Kit, licensed for your entire staff and every volunteer on your team. No seat counting and no per person pricing. Buy it once, download the files, and send them to everybody.
What you get:
Online Church Is Not the Answer, the full book as a PDF. 227 pages, 15 chapters, each one ending in a big idea you can put in front of your team.
The complete audiobook in MP3. 5 hours 28 minutes, read by Jay.
A Guide to Digital Goal Setting and Online Ministry Planning, including the team assessment.
The Church AI Policy Template, an editable policy your board can approve. What staff and volunteers can and cannot use AI for, when it has to be disclosed, where the line sits in sermon prep and pastoral care, and how member data gets handled.
Read three chapters. If you do not walk away with at least one thing your team can change this season, reply to your receipt and I will refund you. Keep the files either way.
Overview of Book: Digital is a confusing concept, and many churches struggle to understand it, with most limiting their digital experience to streaming their church services and nothing more. In this book, you’ll learn how to think strategically about digital strategy and how to best integrate digital ideas into your church that align with your ministry’s in-person objectives. The goal is to disciple more people and not just get an online audience. Readers of this book will learn to cut through the hype and discern the most critical, high-level concepts and find practical ideas they can implement in their church. You’ll walk away with a vision and a pathway to take your church’s digital strategy to the next level and beyond just streaming a church service.