What’s Inside the How to Have a Successful Online Church Ministry eBook?
Church membership is down. From just 1998 to 2018, it dropped from 69% to 52% in churches nationwide (Gallup). That’s why your church needs to join the thousands of others across the country that have successfully innovated by expanding their church ministry online.
Churches who have brought their physical ministries online see increases in engagement among members and new guests. They enjoy more donations and keep their churchgoers satisfied and fulfilled. Fortunately, expanding your church’s ministry online has never been easier. You don’t need to be a megachurch with deep pockets to set one up. In fact, many of the tools we cover are either free or cost very little. And, the steps for starting an online church ministry are simple.
Before your church can start an online ministry, you’ll need to build it a virtual home. If you don’t already have a website or yours is either out of date or difficult to use, there’s no need to worry. Gone are the days of paying a web developer thousands of dollars to build a website. In our eBook, we cover a few low-cost options that look great and can be set up within a day, even if you don’t have a ton of technical expertise.
Having a website will allow you to more easily accept donations, set up recurring giving, inform members and guests of upcoming events and much more.
Having a virtual space for members and guests to meet and chat is equally as important as your website. An online church directory creates one centralized hub connecting and facilitating your church activities such as online prayer groups, virtual Bible studies, livestreamed and recorded church services and much more.
Managing this may seem complicated and expensive, but it isn’t. It's free if you use the tool we cover within our eBook, and the process is very simple.
Churchgoers need spiritual guidance and fulfillment beyond your weekly church services. Unfortunately, they can’t always make it to your church to meet for essential committee meetings, Bible study or prayer groups.
Hosting and managing these groups is easier than you might expect, and it can be done without any expense to your church. The eBook covers these tools, along with key strategies you need to follow to make sure your online groups are a success.
What makes your church’s community strong is the various individual conversations that happen throughout the week. These conversations build friendships, trust and help members get the support they need. With group and direct chat, you allow these connections to occur throughout the week, even when the church’s location is closed. And with a free tool that we highlight in our eBook, offering and managing group or individual chat won’t cost a thing.
You don’t need to have fancy cameras and equipment to create a high-quality video stream. With the right set of tools, any church, no matter their technical experience, can create a quality production of a church service. All your church needs is a smartphone and a few gadgets costing less than $100 total. In the eBook, we outline an inexpensive and easy-to-use setup. We also show you where you can livestream for free and how to do it.
Many churches overlook this easy step, missing out on their chance to not only keep their existing members engaged, but to connect with new or potential members. Having YouTube links on your church’s website promotes one of your church’s most valuable assets, spiritual guidance. Individuals interested in your church will be able to look at past sermons and see the value they’ll receive by attending. They'll be more likely to give your church a try and become members.
One of the reasons so many churches overlook this step is because the thought of recording and posting videos of services sounds difficult or expensive. It isn’t. Aside from the video equipment, a smartphone and a few accessories, it’s free. And, setting a recording up is simple. In the eBook, we’ll share all the tools you need along with guidance on how to set up a recording.
With the free tools at your disposal, livestreaming and recording is easy, but like anything, it takes practice. Your members will be okay with that. Virtual church services are an extra value, which they’ll appreciate no matter the result of your first efforts. However, we cover several best practices in our eBook that can help you hit the ground running.
By broadcasting your services on your website and external channels, you can reach new guests and reconnect with old members. There are plenty of tactics your church can use that won’t cost you anything extra and won’t take a large time commitment from staff or volunteers at your church.
Although attendance and membership is down for churches nationwide, churchgoers are still connected to their church’s missions. Philanthropy Daily found that 62% of religious households donate to charity compared to only 46% of unaffiliated households, a clear indication that they are inspired to give.
The most common cause for the dip in donations that so many churches have seen and continue to see is that members simply forget, and with churchgoers attending less frequently than they did in years past, that means their usual donation doesn’t make it to the church as often.
In our eBook, we outline the tools that 25,000 churches and counting have used to increase giving and make the donation process more automatic.