Who is watching your online services?

Many churches report that the number of people who watch their worship services on social media or online outnumber those who attended services before Covid-19. If this is true in your case, do you know who these people are? Many churches try to capture information on the guests who attend their physical services so why wouldn't we want to know who the people are who attend the services online?

One of the keys to a growing church is developing a connection with people who show an interest in your ministry. That connection cannot happen if you do not know who those individuals are and how to make contact with them. There is a reason they are tuning in to your services, especially if they watch the services regularly. Something about your service speaks to them. This gives your church a window of opportunity to minister to them.

For too long the church has practiced a front-door ministry. We opened the doors of the church each week and invited people to join us. The problem is that few did. Still, we stuck to the old strategy that worked years ago and saw our numbers continues to shrink. Maybe one good thing that will come out of this pandemic is that churches will begin rethinking how to do ministry. Part of this strategy must include taking the church to the people, which, by the way, is what the Great Commission tells us to do anyway. This is going to require churches to consider how to best do that given their communities and the people in their congregations who are involved in ministry.  This new paradigm of ministry will not feel comfortable for many in the church, but it is a change that, in my opinion, will not be optional.

As many of you know, in addition to being a minister I am an auctioneer. Covid-19 has caused the auction world to change. In many states live auctions are still not permitted due to crowd size and social distancing. In order to survive many of these auction companies have gone to online auctions. This involved a big learning curve and a financial investment. Some have learned that their business has actually improved since making the change. I've been told by some that they will never return to live auctions. Others refuse to make the change for various reasons, but one of the reasons is that they don't want to give up what they've always known. It's too early to make a prediction, but they may not have any choice if they want to survive.

Churches are in the same situation. When this pandemic is over I'm not sure churches will be able to return to their old normal ways of doing things. Now is the time to begin considering what new ways of ministry God might be leading your church into and begin taking the steps to get there. Those churches that are able to make the necessary changes will be the ones God will use to further His kingdom.