What can we, the Church, learn from Uber? AirBNB? We’re 100+ days into this COVID thing. Our buildings aren’t getting much usage. In some areas (like where I am in Florida) we’re actually worse now than ever. In that same vein, I had a pastor tell me recently, “Jeff, we really can’t pause the ministry of the Church any longer. We’ve been in slow motion since COVID started, and we’ve got to ramp up again.” I love the idea of the Church doing ministry in this season, and while the perceived techno...
Jul 13, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 85
What does the future hold for Virtual Reality?... for Artificial Intelligence? Talk to the business world and they're chomping at the bit to take advantage of disruptions like these. But what of the church world? As a general rule, we're more skeptical of these innovations. Is the skepticism warranted? Or are we missing an opportunity? This is where Christopher Benek comes in. As Lead Pastor at First Presbyterian Miami, he understands the value of our buildings. A Historical Landmark in the hear...
Jul 06, 2020•57 min•Ep. 84
YouTube is powerful. Incredibly powerful... if you use it right. In this COVID-19 season, churches have been jumping onboard the YouTube bandwagon. But there's more to YouTube than just storing video. This is the heart of the podcast here. Dave Adamson is passionate about YouTube. An Online Pastor for over a decade now, Dave has been very vocal in recent years, helping churches figure out how to better do YouTube. Our conversation here hits the basics of YouTube for Churches... building a founda...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 83
As reports show COVID-19 is spiking, churches are starting to engage more and more with the idea of micro-locations as a short-term solution. It's important to notice that even with the idea of micro-locations, there's different ways these locations can look. The main difference really lies in the expectations of the volunteer leader. The two extremes are basically the "Watch Party" and the "House Church"... two extremes that show what a distributed model of smaller churches can look like. Wheth...
Jun 25, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 82
How do you start a church movement? Sure, there's probably different ways we can answer that question. If we looked at Christ's example, well, he started with 12 guys. Not a massive movement. He started with individuals and took three years to groom, grow, and disciple them. (Interestingly, one of them tried to kill Jesus, which just goes to show how difficult disciple-making actually is!) When we look at our churches today, do we see organizations who are capable of multiplication? Do we see di...
Jun 22, 2020•59 min•Ep. 81
The idea of a Digital-Only Church was quite controversial pre-COVID. Truthfully, it's still controversial today. What we're discovering, though, is there are pioneers out there who are testing these waters... paving the way for the settlers to come in later. Angela is one of those pioneers. In 2017, she launched a Social Media Church on Facebook... Pursuit Church Live is a digital-only church (with no physical footprint) that does ministry on Facebook. More than broadcasts and flashy content, Pu...
Jun 18, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 80
I love the Internet. Dave Ferguson, Leader of the Exponential Conference/Movement and Lead Pastor at Community Christian Church in Chicago... over the years I've been influenced by Dave. Hero Maker had a big impact in my life, and Exponential as a tribe has felt like home in recent years. So, imagine my surprise when Tanys, a faithful Church Digital Podcast listener from Canada, tags Dave Ferguson and I on Twitter, telling Dave that he should talk with me about creating a Digital Disciple-making...
Jun 15, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 79
Church, we are content beasts... I actually had a friend of mine tell me once, "The only people that create more content than Churches is the Porn." He wasn't a Christ-follower and I'm going to have to take his word on the porn side... That being said, our weekend services take a massive amount of work to create. That's nice and all, but we need to move beyond creating content to consume and continue the journey to move to community, towards relationships. How does that happen? Enter Kristel Ace...
Jun 11, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 78
Church, why do we do this? Why do we do 'church'? I don't mean physical church, or digital church. I don't mean weekend services, or small groups. I simply mean, why is it that we do what we do? Our buildings, our online... Pastor, there are times that pride gets to us and we think that our physical or digital footprint are the endgame. I've been guilty of this, I admit it. Chances are, if you're honest, you have been to. That being said, the digital/physical representations of our church are ac...
Jun 08, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 77
So, who are these people who are watching our Churches Online and what are we supposed to do with them? COVID-19 has brought us tons of traffic, and maybe for the first time we, as a church, are understanding the potential of the reach of Church Online. But here's a hard truth: people are not going to stay at your church because of content. Why do people stay? Because of community, vision, being on mission... The COVID-19 lesson for Church Online, if nothing else, is integral to your vision into...
Jun 01, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Depending on your location, gathering restrictions are starting to loosen, and churches are considering meeting together again. Some restrictions remain in place limiting size of gathering, wearing of masks, and appropriate social distancing. And while some churches are rushing to get back to the building, and the perceived normal... what if there's another way. Enter Adrienne Feldmann, Online Pastor at Northeast Community Church. Rather than rushing into the building, NECC is taking the approac...
May 28, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 75
Pastor, if there's one thing you've learned in this COVID-19 season, it's that you want to have influence online. For most churches, that means putting your sermons online. For Scot Mendenhall, though, that means something completely different. Scot, a pastor at Unlock Church in Minnesota, took to YouTube to gain influence on One Wheels... a motorized scooter of sorts. An incredible story, Scot uses YouTube to connect not only with his family, but then relationally connect with the digital commu...
May 21, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 74
Well, we're going back into the building. Or at least a small percentage of us are. Many, though, are opting to take a slower approach heading back into the space. Is there a different approach? Churches like Saddleback and Elevation have been experimenting with Micro-locations for a while now, and this week we're having a conversation with another church who has been doing micro-church for almost five years now. Greg Aukerman has served as the Director of Online Community for Crossroads Church ...
May 18, 2020•58 min•Season 1Ep. 73
If there's a lesson the church needs to learn in this Global Pandemic: Physical Church & Church Online need to learn to play together nicely. In the pre-COVID season of our life (that was merely two months ago) Physical Church was king of the hill, leaving Church Online as the red-headed stepchild. In the midst of COVID, Church Online is the only game in town as the Physical Church doors are literally locked, and let's be real... no one knows what's coming next. What we do know is there's di...
May 14, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 72
In the midst of this pandemic, we're taking a moment to talk with one of the pioneers of the Church Online movement. Nils Smith was there from practically day one, diving into Church Online when the social media platform of choice was MySpace (yes, Myspace). This conversation is unique in that Nils isn't a a technology expert, at his own declaration. Nils is really good at reading, anticipating culture... and where he ends up in this conversation is a rich, deep view of the past while setting up...
May 11, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 71
COVID-19 has brought a lot of confusion into the church. It's hard enough to be an existing church navigating this season. Try being a church that hasn't even launched yet. That's where Ray Hudson found himself. A Church Plant slated to launch Fall 2020, Ray launched early, digital only. And this is what makes Ray interesting. Ray is running a digital only church, but not wanting to limit himself digitally. Ray's church, Our City Center, is passionate about reaching Berkeley, CA. Even in its dig...
May 07, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 70
When we look at the idea of a Phygital Church, one that truly utilizes digital and physical, there is going to be a tension of who is priority? The majority of churches spun up their Church Online quickly in order to do ministry in this COVID-19 season. Did we learn anything in this season? Or are we attempting to go back to status quo? The idea of a digital first mentality is challenging to some, if not most. In this theoretical world that COVID-19 has created for us, I believe this wholehearte...
May 04, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 69
What does a church look like in Virtual Reality? Greg Nettle, President of Stadia Church Planting and DJ Soto, Lead Pastor of VR Church... who's discipling and shepherding people in the digital community of Altspace VR (and Rec Room)... jump in on a conversation helping to redefine what the digital church looks like tomorrow... scratch that... what the digital church looks like today. COMPLETE SHOW NOTE AVAILABLE AT THECHURCH.DIGITAL...
Apr 30, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 68
In the hectic-ness to build a Church Online, we often forget the biggest part... okay, Jesus is the biggest part. Didn't mean to Jesus juke you there. So let's call it the second biggest part, and no I'm not talking sermons. Church, we are in the people business. Oftentimes that gets forgotten among all the hectic-ness of COVID-19, or life in general. Church, we cannot automate away discipleship. These relationships, online, are the strength of Church Online, and should be valued above all, save...
Apr 27, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 67
We're wrapping up here on our our 3rd part of the Biblical Functions of a Digital Church. We've covered the easy stuff coming into this episode. What's left is the hard stuff. Justice. Compassion. Mission. Body Ministry. How do you do these things digitally? Global Mission? Local Mission? All of a sudden, there's a challenge to Digital-Only church. I'm not saying that it's impossible. I am saying that it's not easy. And there's the challenge. Even in context of what we, the Church, are doing in ...
Apr 24, 2020•59 min•Ep. 66
What is a Digital-Only Church? Well, thanks to COVID-19 we've got maybe a couple hundred thousand of them right now in America. Pre COVID-19, though, the idea was quite controversial. Stadia is passionate about planting Digital-Only Churches, and even still in this COVID-19 season we're still wrestling with how to make Digital-Only churches effective. To that end, I want to present this conversation to you. Biblical Functions of a Digital Church, Part 2 was actually recorded before COVID-19 happ...
Apr 22, 2020•48 min•Season 1Ep. 65
The hardest thing in Church Online is meeting people. I recently had an online pastor tell me that he had over 500,000 people attend Easter services online and thru television, but only collected 11 connect cards over the entire weekend. Meeting people through our Online Services can be a difficult thing to do. I've been learning something with this new Stadia relationship... Rather than going big to connect with individuals, sometimes it's better to start with the individuals... but how do you ...
Apr 20, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Covid-19 is challenging, stretching the Church. As we've discussed... the Church has responded well, but at what cost? Our newfound love of Digital Church in this season of Coronavirus has churches growing at incredible rates, but the consensus of many of our pastors and staff is that this environment, at the pace and expectation we're executing, is becoming unmanageable. There are pending philosophy questions we need to eventually have. This is not that conversation. Let's focus on this: As Pas...
Apr 16, 2020•51 min•Ep. 63
Church, you should be celebrated. You survived Easter 2020 Church Online. A month ago most of you weren't even broadcasting online, and now you just completed the biggest Sunday of the year. Congratulations!!! Well, what now? As we continue the learning experience that is this Coronavirus season, there's a word we all need to learn... PHYGITAL: the combination of Physical and Digital. You see, we all know how to do Church Services physically. The Church has been doing physical services for centu...
Apr 13, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Don't forget about the Kids & Students. In the midst of the Coronavirus season, with the pressure of Easter looming, what are we doing with Kids and Student ministry? Like everything else in the church world today, everything is new. All the playbooks, all the strategies are done. While we're reinventing church for adults, don't forget we need to reinvent church for kids and students. Enter into the conversation Ileana Siljee and Tony Cobb, two staffers over at Christ Fellowship in Miami. Co...
Apr 09, 2020•58 min•Ep. 61
My favorite part of this podcast episode is that it is everything I expected it to be, and I had set the standard very, very high.. Larry Walkmeeyer is the Lead Pastor of Light and Life Christian Fellowship in Long Beach, CA. Larry is also author of one of my favorite books of 2020, The Mobilization Flywheel. The heart of this episode with Larry is centered around multiplication, disciple-making, leading people to be on mission for the kingdom. Notice we didn't say "on mission for the church", b...
Apr 06, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 60
You know that playbook you had? The strategy that you built for your church? For the foreseeable future it's trash. Not to mention, when the dust settles on this COVID-19 season, I don't think we'll recognize the world we'll see. So, in the midst of this new season, how does the church find its voice? This is the heart of this podcast, bringing in friend of the pod, Ben Stapley, one of the lead church communication guys in the country. Ben shares some great insight in how it's time for the churc...
Apr 01, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 59
What is the role of the Church? In this Coronavirus season, that is a difficult question. How do we broadcast our church service online? By far this is the most popular question the church is asking in this Coronavirus season. While it's a valid question to ask, for me a much more interesting question is: How do we stay on mission? Better yet, in this new Coronavirus Season, has our mission, has our methods, changed? Software vendors have bugs. Internet Service Providers will fail. Any given wee...
Mar 30, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Evidently, even the Easter Bunny has to worry about Social Distancing. So, have you come to the realization yet that Easter is only going to be online yet? Or are you still holding out hope that the world will somehow miraculously solve a global pandemic in the next couple weeks? It's time to embrace the facts. Easter is going to be online. What we do with Easter in the midst of Coronavirus? How do we pivot? How do we prepare? How are we effective? For this conversation Jeff and Rey bring in an ...
Mar 27, 2020•56 min•Ep. 57
Need a break from coronavirus? I hear you. Hopefully this podcast is what you're looking for. My favorite book so far in 2020 has been Daniel Im's No Silver Bullets . Yes, it was written 5 years ago and I'm late to the party, but the book hit me with the right message at the right time. Discipleship, Disciple-making, Multiplication, On-Mission... whatever the term is... I've been noticing that a lot of our churches, a lot of our church onlines, are missing this. And the more I delved into the bo...
Mar 25, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 56
