Not all engagement is the same, and that's okay. The unwise thing is equating commitments. Someone who walks forward in a service publicly to say they committed their life to Christ is more engaged compared to a person who liked a post on Instagram. The like is still relevant, but not equal to the altar call. You have to think about engagement in terms of good to best on a sliding scale. A person who is sitting in your worship center on a Sunday morning is more engaged than someone watching at home. The person at your church had to get dressed, maybe wrangle up their kids, and get through traffic. Now, that doesn't mean the online watcher isn't engaged or doesn't have valid reasons for watching online, but let's not equate the commitment levels. A comparable commitment experience to sitting in your church for online watchers are those who host an in-home worship service. These online watchers had to get dressed, wrangle up the kids, but instead of traffic, pick up their house. I would say hosting church in your own home is more engaged than those who are only keeping a seat warm. Understanding the sliding scale of engagement is an important principle when processing the value of online engagement to your local church's goals.

Xfinity and DirecTV have more users than YouTube TV, but over the next decade, that will change. AT&T knows this future is real too. Something that works now doesn't mean it will tomorrow. Your switch to a digital approach isn't an automatic win. It has drawbacks. Things need thinking through, but if you don't adjust, you will lose your audience to the grave. Invest time and resources to figure out what your YouTube TV could be. Remember, good things take time.

When internet campuses, iCampuses, and online campuses launched fifteen years ago, the digital expression of the church was new. Most online churches started for people far from a physical church. The original vision was to reach people globally and provide a practical resource for anyone traveling or sick. Flash forward to 2019 and online has engulfed the entire world. We are all online. Even your grandma is connected. She might be rocking Microsoft Edge and shares only cooking recipes on Facebook, but she is online.

I had the honor to be on an academic video meeting centered around the topic of Digital Ecclesiology. The conversation included pastors from around the world, church planters, online pastors, theologians, and digital experts. Not everyone agreed on what was and wasn't possible for the church online, which lead to a healthy conversation. I geeked out a bit because a few of the participants were authors I have read. I enjoyed the meeting and I believe you will too. Thank you to the Aqueduct Project for putting the meeting & transcript together!

You're trained in seminary and throughout your internship as a pastor never to send people away. A person comes into your doors, and our job is to keep them connected to the church. After that first modem came online, the game changed. People could tune in from anywhere in the world. The online attendee isn't just down the street. Your reachable audience is broader, which means your methodology needs a good old fashion upgrade. Unfortunately, most seminaries are still operating on those AOL CDs.