How the

COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Is Causing the Church to Flourish
in a DIGITAL AGE
by Josh Morris

Presented by
The world has changed for churches and continues to change every few hours.

Churches have been forced to close their physical doors; people have been asked
to self-quarantine or, in some cases, "shelter-in-place." Chances are you're
wondering how to continue our mission as the Church amid this ever-changing
environment.

Let me start off by saying that I’m not a pastor, and this guide is more practical
than spiritual (while there
the are still spiritual components involved). As Christians,
we are to pray about everything (Phil. 4:6-7), and live our lives in faith that God
is still on the throne. This e-book presupposes you are doing those things. I want
to give hope to those church leaders who are wondering simply: what do
we do now?

The movie-industry has a term that is referred to as "tent-poles." Simply put, these
are major motion pictures that support the overall mission of that film-industry.
Think of popular movies like Avengers, or the Star-Trek series as “tent poles” for
their respective companies. The purpose of creating tent-poles is to increase the
reach (and for those companies, turn a profit) in a strategic and intentional way
that they aren’t able to do with lower-level films.

I believe that the Church

Chu today has a "tent-pole" called Online Church. While our
goal isn’t to make a profit, we are still called to reach people (in a much better way
than Hollywood), and it’s never been more attainable than today. Over the past five
to ten years, more and more churches have begun to stream their service online
to meet people where they are.
Now as the COVID-19 Pandemic sweeps our nation, you as a church leader
are left with the difficult task of reaching people exclusively online, as physical
gatherings are discouraged and in some cases, banned.

I’m here to tell you there’s hope, and God is ready to reach more
people through your ministry than ever before.

At the church
chu where I serve, while we have had an Online Church for years, in the
past couple weeks, we have seen crazy numbers as Christians all around the world
are left with no choice but to consume church exclusively online.

We have seen 400 and 500 percent increases in attendance,

with thousands and thousands making decisions to accept Christ
as their savior!

God is doing something special in this season, and He’s ready to use you and
your ministry to do the same.

The following are some points that I hope will help you in your journey
to implement an Online Church and follow out the great commission
to go into every corner of the world, preach the Gospel and make disciples.
 1.
The World Is Digital, Now the Church Has to Be

I have spoken to many church leaders over the past couple of years about the
concept of an Online Church. It seems like for every leader I talk to, there is a
unique opinion about how an online church fits into the framework of how God
intended the church to be carried out.

There seem to be three main camps. The first are those that are adamantly opposed
to Church Online. The second are those that are accepting of it, but always want
it to drive local church
chu attendance. Lastly, the third are those that are completely
sold on the idea and want to use it to reach more people than ever before.

If you're reading this e-book, chances are you're somewhere in between camps two
and three.

Throughout history, the methods of how we communicate have changed, but the
Th
Gospel message never has. We are called to go into the world; Jesus never specified
how. I think that was intentional so that we wouldn't get caught up in the how but
instead be focused on the who, what, and why. The "who" is Jesus. The "what" is that
He came to save people from their sins, and the "why" is because God loves us and
has a plan for all His children.

The time for an Online Church is now. The “how” just changed with COVID-19,
but the fact remains, we can still reach people through an online experience, and
it doesn’t have to be expensive.
 2.
Digital Church Isn't Expensive

One of the most common excuses I have heard from church leaders about why they
haven’t implemented streaming their services online is that it’s too expensive. That
is simply not true.

If you have an iPhone, a tripod, and a directional microphone,

you’re ready to broadcast a live service to multiple platforms
at well under $1,000.

Of course, you can spend thousands and thousands of dollars getting high-level
production equipment, but you don’t need to.

The tools are accessible to you RIGHT NOW.

Companies like Church Online Platform are giving their products away for FREE.
It doesn’t cost you a dime to open up a Facebook account and stream a live service.

I have seen some churches with a $1,000 set-up reach more people than some
well-polished televangelists on TV.

If the influx of YouTube stars has taught us anything, it’s that you don’t need
a production quality set-up, the content is more important than the quality
of production.
 3.
Content Is King

The world needs hope now more than ever before. As a Church Leader or Senior
Pastor, that’s where you come in.

As you're getting ready to go live online, make sure that the content you are putting
out there is world-class. Make sure you aren't reusing some dusty sermons from
five years ago. Develop something new, address the issues at hand, and minister
to people in their time of need. The Senior Pastor at my church often refers to
us as "hope dealers."

We deal in hope, and that is what the world needs now more than ever.

In this worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, it’s time for us as ministry leaders to roll
up our sleeves and work harder now than ever before to provide content that
is relevant, edifying, and superior to anything else the world is ready to give
our people.
 4.
Distribution Is Essential

In this online world, you need to meet people where they are at. The worst thing
you could do is to figure out a live-streaming option, place it on your website, and
hope and pray people will find it. That’s like placing your light under a bowl, instead
of giving light to the whole house.

You have to meet people where they are, and you have to tell them about
your message.

Most people today are on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
So sure,
su you want people to be on your website, but you also should consider
how to take that same live-steam and distribute it to Facebook, YouTube,
Instagram, and any other platform that is applicable to your audience.

Again, this isn’t expensive, it’s just finding the right tools that will allow you
to leverage your amazing content, and tell the whole world about it.

People are dying to hear your message; you just have to tell them
where to find it.
 5.
Close the Loop

As Christians, we are called to go into every corner of the world to preach the
Gospel. So please, please, as you move into live-streaming your messages, always
remember to close the loop.

What do I mean by that?

Very simply, give a Gospel invitation, and give people the ability to sign-up for
a discipleship process.

Our church
chu has seen over 5,00 people make a profession of faith in the
past two weeks. That's crazy. Five. Thousand. People.

If you use a tool like Church Online Platform, they have a gospel presentation
function built into their FREE platform. Use the tools and close the loop.

Then, make sure you are capturing people’s contact information. This will allow
you to guide your audience through a mid-week discipleship process.

For us, we deliver daily devotions from

f our Senior Pastor, we have mid-week
messages that play on our online church player, and we provide things like e-books,
articles, podcasts, etc. We want to edify them on a daily basis, not just on Sundays.
 6.
Develop Next Steps

Once you conduct your first Sunday Online Service (which I hope is this coming
Sunday), you’ll need to work hard to develop the next steps. Save yourself some
trouble and invest in an email marketing tool, or Church Management Software,
that can send an automated email series to your people. I’d recommend having
an automated email series for new believers, where you deliver the basics of the
faith, and then a discipleship email series for those people that sign-up during
your service.

Again, these types of software

softwa aren't expensive. You just need to be intentional
about reaching people.

Chances are, you have a handful of church staff that are sitting around waiting for
something to do. Get them on the phones calling your people, praying with them,
encouraging them, and loving them. Then recruit them to help make some of this
digital content.

People's jobs may shift responsibilities during this time, but that's ok. Everything
has changed; we need to focus on the major priorities and figure
figu out the rest.
Remember, preach the Gospel and make disciples.
 Conclusion

Hopefully, by now, you are convinced that Online Church is something

COMPLETELY attainable for you and your church.

It isn't expensive; content is king; distribution is essential, and closing

the loop should be your top priority.

As we consider the concept of Online Church as a tent-pole, I truly believe that

if we as a Church really leverage this digital revolution, when this is said and done,
we will have moved our tent-poles.

Once our church

chu buildings re-open, we will see a whole audience of people
in our own community that ATTEND our physical locations, because they were
so encouraged and ministered to during this time of need.

I know this to be true for our church. We are reaching more people every Sunday
than we could have ever hoped or dreamed to reach at our physical locations.

I believe that God can use any situation for His glory and the furtherance of His
kingdom, including the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time in a while, people
in mass are
a thinking about questions that only the Church has the answer to. That’s
where you come in. Be a hope dealer.

It’s time to roll-up our sleeves, work harder than ever before and reach people
where they are at.