Mental health for me often feels like a rabbit hole of a topic. How mental health is medically classified confuses me, how people get diagnosed is not clear, and treatment can be messy. I believe online ministries can offer hope not only through Jesus, but through relational restoration by inviting them to join the community of a church’s online experience.

Getting started as an online pastor can be overwhelming. What is my first step? Do I switch to entirely Facebook streaming? How do you become a tech expert overnight? So many questions. I would suggest first reading over my Start Here page and digest what other churches do on my Funnel page. After getting caught up check out this podcast from the Social Media Church podcast on “Started as an Online Campus Pastor with Aaron Magnuson.”

Have you heard about Virtual Reality Church yet? It’s caused quite a stir in Christian circles. Check out his multiple features on Wired, CNN, and Today Show. I’ve gotten the chance to get to know the founding pastor DJ Soto over the last year. DJ is one of the most outreach focused guys I know and the stories coming out of VR Church back it up, but often that isn’t enough to make “Christians” happy. I’m a bit sarcastic with my use of “Christians” because many have embraced VR Church’s endeavors while others have criticized.

Online church ministries are usually positionally and strategically murky. What I love about this foggy dispensation is the sandbox leaders create for their online leaders. Nothing makes sense when you start. Read any biography, and you’ll find out quickly most forerunners in fields had to experiment, fail, and repeat until success. Don’t ask for clarity positionally and strategically until you want the structure and the pros outweigh the cons.

Every ministry has their approach. Every church does ministry a bit different. The Bible does provide a framework, but its pretty open-ended on how you do “church.” Now that doesn’t mean many are doing church wrong and few are doing it better. There is a range, but I find the common criticism of many online ministries more a reflection on American church.

I did feel church planting needed to be disrupted and online church ministries as well. Not sure if this is the answer, but I pray more ministries consider this approach. If I could buy the stock, I would go all in.