It is no longer news that churches all over the world have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. And as the need to ensure social distancing becomes more paramount, more churches are forcefully adapting to hold services and meetings online. Churches are resorting to the internet to create and maintain a sense of community. All of these are in a bid to retain the fellowship with church members.
Some churches have had a pretty smooth transmission. In contrast, a lot of churches have been faced with several dissuading challenges. The truth is, taking your church online does not necessarily have to be so exhausting. Here are some things to put together to get a well organized virtual church for yourself and your members:
Create an Online Community for Your Church
Creating a private online community for your members avails you the opportunity to keep your members up to date with announcements, communicate important messages and recent church happenings, assign tasks to individuals, distribute sermon audios and materials, and much more.
We are aware that all churches usually have different departments with leaders assigned to spearhead the affairs in each of them. Setting up a community allows for effective communication among church members and helps you keep tabs on all activities in each department. ChurchPad provides tools churches can utilize to manage teams and ensure seamless interactions within their community.
With the church pad, you can maintain fervency by sharing prayer guides for members to follow. Prayer requests and testimonies can also be shared on the platform to stimulate more members’ engagement. Additionally, there are tools set up on church to enable your members to give easily and in due time. You can get these activities done in real-time as there are integrated notification tools, which helps members to be aware as these activities are ongoing.
A virtual online community is not only feasible, but it is also a reality we should implement during a crisis like the current pandemic and much more, one we should consider in a connected and remote world.
Live stream church meetings
Of course, since virtually all governments have suspended physical church meetings, the only option is to go digital. Considering the uncertainties on board following the pandemic, you don’t want to wait this out. It’s not too late to start thinking about planning your worship services online. And while it may seem a little overwhelming to figure out how to get your meetings online in good time, we’re here to provide you with the necessary information you need to get started.
- Facebook Live and YouTube Live
There are various tools and platforms to leverage online services for your church. Some highly recommended platforms are Facebook Live and YouTube Live, which have high engagement rates and minimal set-up requirements. ChurchPad allows you a more hosted experience as it provides access to live streams on these third-party platforms.
Church members can also view and access multiple live streams simultaneously. It comes in handy for churches with segregation based on age or language. You can make sure every member is available to attend fixed online church services and meetings by enabling push notifications to always to alert them whenever a new live-stream is about to begin.
It would result in increased participation from members. You can also set timers which automatically converts your live streams to sermons immediately they are over. You see now that the ChurchPad gives you, as a Pastor, a church leader or a member, control over your virtual church experience. It eases the navigation process as it enables a somewhat centralized system. You can do anything ‘churchy’ with and through your church pad.
- Zoom and Google Meets
Another virtual communication tool companies can make use of mainly for mini church meetings and meetings among church leaders, or staff is Zoom. Zoom is undoubtedly one of the best and the most popular tech tool for organizing virtual video conference meetings.
Google meets affords you the same facility as they both offer free services and are better suited for smaller gatherings. It’s easy to navigate too. You don’t necessarily need to create an account as you can log on through your Google account. These platforms can host meetings with a membership of over 100 people.
Gadgets
To achieve successful live streams, you might want to make sure you have a few technical inputs in place. You must ensure you have a good internet connection for a smooth ride. A good lighting system should also be a top priority, so your live stream has a good video quality for its viewers.
That’s pretty much the basics. You could get a camera too, depending on what you’re trying to achieve. There are also a good number of other sophisticated platforms for effective live streams.
At the end of the day, the most important thing here is to communicate with your members. Get a hold of the resources available on ChurchPad and build a successful online community for your church.
Now, more than ever, believers need to consistently feed on God’s word, and you cannot afford to be careless about your flock’s spiritual growth. Ensure you are in touch with as many church members as possible through multiple ways.
