Page 54 - Digital Church in a Lonely World

DEVEL OPING A DIGIT AL S TRA TEG Y

Live streaming a church service is not a digital strategy. It is merely one tool (of many) that may be used
in a digital strategy. In fact, a church could have such a clear digital strategy of how it will use online
tools to reach and grow people that it may intentionally choose not to stream its weekend services
online. It may sound counterintuitive that a church with an advanced digital strategy may opt out of
live streaming, but it may prefer to focus on providing other forms of digital engagement and keep its
weekend services in-person only. I’m not necessarily advocating for that, although I can see how pastors
could arrive at this decision in the future. What I am doing, however, is trying to break the assumption
that a digital strategy for church is simply live streaming a weekend service. In the future, it could be
that the churches that are most effective online do not use their weekend services as any part of their
digital strategy.

A church could have such a clear digital strategy of how it will use
online tools to reach and grow people that it may intentionally

choose not to stream its weekend services online

Think of a digital strategy as a spiritual formation ecosystem. Digital strategy needs to be integrated
with the church’s vision. A digital strategy integrates the following into one cohesive plan:

• Social media • Smartphone app
• Online discipleship • People management software
• Sunday live streaming • Kids’ church check-in
• Small group content • Volunteer rostering
• Online giving platforms

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