GET MORE INFORMATION ON CHURCH IN A VR BAR - http://churchinavrbar.com A SELF-PROCLAIMED "PASTOR AT THE BAR" Joey Santos has been on The Church Digital Podcast in the past, talking about his experiences doing church at a physical bar in Ohio. A self-proclaimed “Pastor at the Bar”, I wasn’t surprised in a recent conversation when Joey said, “ Jeff, what would it look like to open a Bar in Virtual Reality and be the church in that space? ” I wasn’t surprised but, I’ll admit, I got really excited. ...
Sep 05, 2022•54 min•Ep. 232
TABLES ARE TURNED THIS WEEK. Jeff is getting interviewed by Pastor and Author Doug Bursch. Virtually complete strangers, Jeff and Doug meet for the first time in this podcast recording and discuss the challenges and obstacles of social media and digital church. A FASCINATING AND HILARIOUS CONVERSATION. Doug and Jeff talk about Doug’s book - Posting Peace, Why Social Media Divides Us and What We Can Do About It , applying some of Doug’s principles of Social Media into Digital Church overall. Look...
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 231
Seacoast gets it. To reach different people you have to do something different, and Seacoast is doing something different. What are they doing? Well, I don’t want to give it away here in the intro but... Let’s just say the South Carolina megachurch is exploring a future model of church that I believe will be very popular in the months and years to come. Vague enough for you? Dig into the podcast and discover what Seacoast is up to, and how you can experiment with this idea as well. SUBSCRIBE TO ...
Aug 22, 2022•58 min•Ep. 230
Part Two of this Apprenticing Roundtable will happen Tuesday, August 23rd, 7pm Eastern in a Digital Church Network LIVE Roundtable on Apprenticing. Bring questions and let's dig in. More info http://thechurch.digital/apprentice THE NEGATIVE TREND CONTINUES IN 2022, AS .... post-COVID churches are closing quicker than we can open them. In this decrease season, it is essential for our churches to multiply… even more so in digital space! Our digital and metaverse churches need to multiply to better...
Aug 15, 2022•49 min•Season 3Ep. 229
HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN ONE OF THOSE EMAILS WHERE... ...the prince of Nigeria is looking for some money in order to restore his kingdom? All he needs from you is $600,000 wired to one of his accounts, and once restored he will return your loan 10-fold. Well, maybe you’re brave enough to try this. I am not. That being said, there are other opportunities coming out of Africa that are worth your attention. HOW DOES A WOMAN FROM GEORGIA CONNECT WITH AFRICANS AND OTHERS GLOBALLY? Meet Anne Bosarge. Anne...
Aug 08, 2022•51 min•Season 3Ep. 228
It was a quick throwaway line from Lucas Pulley with Metaverse Church NEXT… "We’re even doing Dungeons & Dragons Church!" Wait, what? Dungeons and Dragons Church? Is that allowed? Evidently, yes, it is allowed. Meet Andy Corson, a Bi-vocational minister with a unique history of creating unique expressions of Church. Preaching in a Bar? Doing bible studies for Dungeons & Dragons players in a game store? Andy has a heart to reach bikers, bar people and gamers for Christ, and has a history ...
Aug 01, 2022•54 min•Season 3Ep. 227
WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE IF YOUR CHURCH ACHIEVED GLOBAL REACH, DIGITALLY? This is what Casa Church Miami is wrestling with. A Hispanic Church in the heart of Miami, Casa Church Miami saw it’s ministry expand broadcasting church services on social media, but online church services is not the endgame, but the beginning, of online ministry. LET’S TALK WITH EZEQUIEL FATTORE, AND LEARN HOW CASA CHURCH MIAMI IS EXPANDING INTO LATIN AND SOUTH AMERICA DIGITALLY. How is Casa Church expanding onto another ...
Jul 25, 2022•48 min•Ep. 226
CAN AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHURCHES BE EFFECTIVE IN DIGITAL MINISTRY? Coming out of COVID, what is the role of digital? This is a challenge for many of today’s churches, including African-American Churches. Typically, African-American churches have struggled technologically, but having learned in the COVID season how to do digital ministry, is there an opportunity for an African-American church to continue digital ministry post-COVID? LET’S TALK AFRICAN-AMERICAN DIGITAL MINISTRY WITH LMICHELLE For the...
Jul 18, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 225
Alright. This is one of these conversations where we probably won’t put our technology hat on. We’re not talking some new technique or process for digital ministry. Instead, we’re going to dive deep into microchurch. LET’S BETTER UNDERSTAND MICROCHURCH STRATEGY, AND HOW IT CAN REACH THE CITY. As we look at Decentralized Microchurches, we see an immense opportunity to reach people digitally… utilizing digital community in the same way that physical microchurches are reaching to their community. T...
Jul 11, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 224
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE CHURCH LOOK LIKE? This is the question we’re asking. Post-COVID we’ve learned a lot of what a church can look like digitally, but how do these lessons help the Church moving forward. You’ve heard us talk about digital expressions of church, but are these social media churches, zoom churches, even streamers doing church… are these opportunities viable? What about the physical churches that are no longer financially viable. As we see potential recession and economical strains,...
Jul 04, 2022•57 min•Ep. 223
RUDE PEOPLE! THE INTERNET IS FILLED WITH THEM. Seems like wherever you turn there are negative people, angry people. To make matters worse, they seem to be louder on the Internet. So we as digital pastors and planters strive to do ministry in an area that attracts rude people, almost enabling them by giving them a platform? Sounds about right. CHURCH, LET’S NOT RUN FROM RUDE PEOPLE. IS IT POSSIBLE TO RUN TOWARDS THEM? That’s tricky, right? How do we do ministry with rude people when they are rud...
Jun 27, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 222
Give to DigitalChurch.Network - http://digitalchurch.network/give SADDLEBACK IS REACHING A DIFFERENT TYPE OF PERSON THROUGH THEIR EXTENSION CAMPUSES Even some physical churches are learning that they reach a different type of person through different methods. This is the heart behind Saddleback’s Extension Campuses. Through multiple revisions in recent memory, the giga-church Saddleback has been exploring the idea of operating as a microchurch, struggling to figure out a model of operation that ...
Jun 20, 2022•52 min•Season 3Ep. 221
DIGITAL CHURCHES ARE REACHING PEOPLE WITH HEALTH ISSUES We talk about how Digital Churches reach different types of people. This week we’re talking about Painted Prayers, a creative, digital expression of church that’s found a way to reach a different type of person. Brianna Heida planted Painted Prayers to reach creative people. As an artist, Brianna was woven many creative aspects into her church as well as the church’s creative process. A year or so into the church, the experiment of Painted ...
Jun 13, 2022•48 min•Season 3Ep. 220
THE CHALLENGE OF CHURCH INNOVATION & HUMILITY What if what the church needs isn't more of the same. What if it really needs something different. The challenge of church disruption, of innovation even, can be couched in two different mindsets. One is a prideful innovation, one where we know what's best for know what's best for a person, and pridefully lead the person or persons in the way that we think best. The second, though is a humble innovation, one that is led by the Spirit. One that ac...
Jun 06, 2022•59 min•Season 3Ep. 219
Can We Really Be Digital Missionaries? This is the heart of the conversation with Dave Ferguson today. Dave, and his brother Jon, recently released a book B.L.E.S.S. which details how people can be a missionary in physical space… “Begin with Prayer, Listen, Eat a Meal Together, Serve, Share Jesus”… Recently the question was asked: Can we do the BLESS practices digitally? Can BLESS become the framework for a Digital Missionary. So, we invited in a bunch of digital pastors and digital planters and...
May 30, 2022•55 min•Season 3Ep. 218
How are We Supposed to Stay Healthy When We're Literally Ministering in Addictive Spaces? Internet Addiction is actually a thing. So wait, we're trying to do ministry, we're trying to be the church, in digital- and metaverse- spaces... and evidently these areas are addictive. How do we do ministry in areas that can damage ourselves? How do we minister to those that are damaged? The more complex these technologies become, the more we need to respect and understand the scope of the battlefield. Wh...
May 23, 2022•57 min•Season 3Ep. 217
Could Everyone in Your Church Become a Digital Missionary? What if your Physical-, Digital-, or Metaverse- Church used Digital as the training ground to release Digital Missionaries? What if we utilized the strength of digital to train, activate and release people to reach their circle of influence physically, digitally, or even in the Metaverse? Maybe, just maybe, digital can provide the spiritual purpose that many churches are missing beyond the content-driven Sunday mornings, and help us move...
May 16, 2022•57 min•Season 3Ep. 216
What Could Digital Missionaries Look Like for your Church? We’re talking digital missionary today, with my friend. I love hanging out with my friend Tyler Sansom. You know, we rarely ever see each other physically. I think we’ve only been together two, maybe three times in our lifetime. But an encouraging text, a well-timed email, or a Spirit-led Facebook Message is always good to lift my spirits. I’m proud of my friend Tyler, who just transitioned to become Lead Pastor of First Capital Christia...
May 09, 2022•55 min•Season 3Ep. 215
What Does Your Church's Content Strategy Look Like? What is the role of content in the church, and how can we maximize this content. Yes, our weekend services are content, but there is so much more our churches can do to create, and connect, to people digitally. Let’s bring in Mark MacDonald into the conversation. Mark, author of the book Be Known for Something , has been helping churches master not only content creation, but also to maximize the impact by developing a content strategy. Jeff &am...
May 02, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 214
Pastor, are we tired of pivoting yet? I'm sure this season has been exhausting, but as much as we have tried different things (that may or may not have worked) the important question at hand is simple: what lessons did we learn? In this COVID season, Pastor, it's easy to chalk up the past two years as a one time experiment and ignore the potential lessons along the way. Can those lessons, though, help the pivoting? Can experimenting prevent the radical shift we've all felt in this COVID season? ...
Apr 25, 2022•53 min•Season 3Ep. 213
Goes without saying, but it 's a hard season to run a church. So much pressure week in and week out. Interestingly, this isn't going to get any easier. Culturally we've talked about culture is shifting and will continue to shift as a result of the adoption of metaverse , and as a result we, the church, are at a crossroads. Yes, all these pivots are exhausting, but the question is will these pivots help us be a better church? Enter Steven Barr into the conversation. Steven, leader of Castmember C...
Apr 18, 2022•50 min•Season 3Ep. 212
Friend of Digital Ministry, ever notice how sometimes people look at you like you're WEIRD because you're involved in digital ministry? Because you stream services or get passionate about discipling people in digital or meta spaces? We can relate. Join us for Digital Ministry Doesn't Have to be Weird, LIVE! Jump in the live show, ask questions, get affirmed in your ministry and learn how to help others better understand how God is using digital, globally. If you want. to catch up on what's going...
Apr 11, 2022•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 211
It's 2022. If there's ever a time to start something new, this is it. Some of us are looking to launch digital or metaverse churches. Many of us are looking for ways to relaunch or rejuvenate our online ministries or campuses... and have we got the roadmap for you. We're sitting down with DigitalChurch.Network's Chestly Lunday, and talking about what it looks like to launch a digital ministry or church. Interested in planting a digital/decentralized church, or even an established church looking ...
Apr 04, 2022•54 min•Season 3Ep. 210
There's a new type of Pastor coming, who's engaging in a different type of ministry. It's funny. I'm not actually sure how "new" this really is, but as the "great resignation" moves into church space, we're seeing more and more Pastors transition to a bi-vocational or co-vocational approach to ministry. Truthfully, even more exciting than this is the new wave of ministers, as the priesthood of all believers is embracing this new digital/decentralized model of church, allowing for different types...
Mar 28, 2022•53 min•Season 3Ep. 209
Season 3 is going strong, as we continue to feature the Humble Disruptors of Digital and Meta Churches. To kick it off, we're talking with two lead pastors of Digital Churches... The US church has lost 25% of attenders over the past 20 years. Many churches are reporting 50-60% pre-COVID attendance is back in the building. 43% of active church attenders do not strongly trust their church leaders. We are seeing a movement in the US, a movement of de-churched people. Let's talk about it. Who are th...
Mar 21, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 208
We're kicking off Season 3 with The Church Digital Podcast this week, talking about the State of the Digital Church, and from where I sit, we are looking good! Season 3 with the podcast is going to delve into the humble disruptors that are continuing to pave the way for digital, meta, and phygital churches globally. Want to know what I am really excited about? Check out the podcast, and then swing over to http://digitalchurch.network/joinfam ON THE SHOW Host: Jeff Reed THECHURCH.DIGITAL & Di...
Mar 14, 2022•21 min
So, way back in January (seems like eons ago) THECHURCH.DIGITAL started a podcast network, and it's been a blast bringing the team together, and featuring them over the past month on The Church Digital Podcast. If you want. to catch up on what's going on with Tom, Chestly, Andy, Jon and the Pocket Pulpit team, check out http://thechurch.digital/podcast But life goes on, and we finally get back to normal. Well, almost. This is the last week of the Podcast Takeover season but this time it's me tak...
Mar 07, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 206
A people group unto themselves, gaming culture is taking over. From video game consoles, to computer games, mobile games, tabletop games, card games, there is an expansive community centered around gamers... and we haven't even talked about streaming or the metaverse yet! As digital pastors and planters, we need to better understand this culture if we hope to reach it. Which is why I love this conversation right here. Two of my favorite people are jumping into this conversation. Andy Mage is tak...
Feb 28, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 205
I first met Chestly early in the COVID season. He was working at a Church in Student Ministry, but had some passionate ideas centered around digital ministry. In the time that followed, Chestly's desire to see people be discipled digitally increased. Chestly launched KingCity Church, which became one of the foundational blocks for the Digital Church Network. The Chestly Lunday Experience is an incredible experience exploring ministry for digital ministry through the prevailing/established model ...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 204
It's time for some new voices in Digital Church. It's been said recently (on Twitter) that "listening" is the new "reading", and I've loved in this recent season listening to the Digital Pastors and Ministers on the front lines. In this season the Church has grown so much in understanding what digital can be, and I have loved hearing some voices that honestly I hadn't heard before. Sarah & Hector are two of those voices for me. These two combine regularly to make up the Pocket Pulpit Podcast...
Feb 14, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 203
