I was stuck in a room this past week with some ministry experts, tons of stationary time, and a notebook. I started to doodle whenever my mind got antsy. I hope the following diagrams help form what online ministry looks like for your church.

We love the extremes, but reality happens in the middle, and this is why I hate the dialogue around online church. I dislike, both thumbs down, how we have to go to extremes and not have a real conversation about using an online paradigm for evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and worship. I do understand how the extremes of online church make headlines and stir up middle Americans, but often nothing fruitful is produced. In a recent USA Today article called "Online church: Ministries use VR, apps to deliver digital services and virtual baptisms" I got a few mentions talking about online ministry.

I was featured on the Vanderbloemen Leadership Podcast on EXPERT INSIGHTS, a series bringing together Christian leaders – from across the theological spectrum and from a variety of professions – to share their expertise on leadership topics, all through the lens of faith. It was a fun conversation where I answer different questions on the topic of digital church even being church with my friends Nils Smith and DJ Soto.

I mentioned these two examples because friction can enable and disable the expansion of an idea. The internet has amplified many great things, but this new frontier has introduced further questions. For churches, the lack of friction encouraged ministries to start streaming their services regularly with very little critical thinking about the broader strategy of online. The shift happened in 2016 because Facebook Live became a free feature to anyone with a Facebook page and most churches jumped on the opportunity.

Your church’s leadership wants to know people watching online will be cared for correctly. Those seat warmers on big boards monitoring all the vitals of the bride do care about everyone attending locally and possibly tuning in online. The barrier of embracing an online ministry usually comes down to trusting you, the online pastor or potential online pastor.

Your online church will either amplify an existing well-executed strategy or highlight widespread issues. It won’t magically fix your church’s problems. If your church knows how to attract younger people than your online ministry will attract younger people. If your church is good at small groups than your online small group strategy will work. If your church is great at getting people to fill out response cards than your weekly digital respond card submissions will be high. If your online ministry doesn’t grow most likely your church is lacking in evangelistic outreach.