Let’s talk about going beyond live videos and what it means for your church or ministry. It should come as no surprise with the recommendation of the CDC and other governing bodies, how this outbreak is substantially affecting churches around the world.
Many churches have recently started utilizing Facebook Live and Youtube as a means to communicate their services to their congregations. However, there are some things to take into consideration.
First, not all of your congregants have a Facebook account, nor know about YouTube.
While it certainly is a huge asset for those who do, however, we need to look into more productive ways to stay connected to our body of believers in the midst of what is going on around the world.
With many churches canceling their usual services, this certainly will have a substantial impact on the financial well-being of a church. There are so many ways to integrate online giving to your website to enable people to continue to contribute to your church or ministry. If you are currently using WordPress as your choice of Content Management Systems, there are several plugins, which actually make this fairly straight-forward to begin implementing immediately.
The most popular by far is WPGive. In addition, you may want to think about establishing a PayPal account for your church. PayPal certainly is by far one of the most trusted payment gateways and will bring a sense of security to those choosing to donate online.
While I have been encouraging churches to do this for years, many have waited as they didn’t think or see any reason to implement this. While a couple of weeks may not seem like a long time, it certainly can and will diversely affect most churches’ financial status during these times.
While most are very familiar with Facebook, again, not everyone within. your church has nor may want a Facebook account. We seem to take for granted that there are those out there who simply choose not to participate on it.
This is where having your very own online community on your website would play an essential role.
You can even make it easy for those who may have a Facebook account to be able to login into your new online community by using tools such as “Social Login.” You see these all the time on various websites that you may already be frequenting.
Having an online presence, by no means, should merely be limited to your pastor. Get the various leaders and teachers within your church on-board to help with providing ongoing content.
By doing so, you now are providing a way for people within your church to stay connected with the leaders and teachers. And believe me in the world we live in today, there are some pretty cool ways in which you can deliver your content.
While we are talking about delivering your content, this may be one of the greatest times in our history for churches to begin ramping up the content they are delivering, not only to their congregants but to new potential visitors as well. Let me provide you with some really cool ways to deliver content in using a unique strategy from one of my favorite experts on this topic.
It goes without saying that not all churches are connected or have an Instagram account, however, I can assure you that there are plenty of people within your church who do.
It’s quick and easy to get one set up and get rolling with this. Even if you don’t feel comfortable or confident enough to do this yourself, I know that you have people within your church who are true pro’s with this particular platform. Get them involved now!
Let’s face it. With a lot of churches being on lock-down due to the Coronavirus, not everyone is going to be prepared to watch your live video stream at the normal times that you generally have service.
You can actually shoot a “Live Stream,” then choose the time that you actually want it to be published, however, I am beginning to geek out a bit here.
The important thing is that you are investigating all avenues in which to reach your church and beyond with content that is going to help them through an event that many may have never experienced before in their lifetime.
We all have known people in our lives that are close to us who have suffered from fear at one point or another. Who hasn’t?
However, the current state of affairs is surely causing more panic and fear above and beyond what many may be prepared to deal with. It is certainly times like this where both Pastors and teachers can become pillars of reassurance and guidance during these troubling times.
So going beyond live videos is certainly going to provide churches who are pursuing their online presence seriously with new and effective ways in which to continue to deliver the Gospel message, as well as stay in contact with the congregation.
Let us know what steps your church is putting into place to maintain a steady form of contact with your church members and what is working for you. We would certainly love to share them around the world.
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