I recently talked with a high-level leader and mentioned I had been an online pastor for ten years. He replied, "Once you figure out digital for your church, get back to us because we are still trying to figure it out." I often hear this from churches of all sizes. I don't have all the solutions, but I believe I have a way to think about digital to get things moving in the right direction. So here is my 18-minute Ted Talk, "Thinking Digitally as a Local Church Pastor," which took ten years of trial and error.

Notes from "Thinking Digitally as a Local Church Pastor" | TED Talk:

Why is digital so confusing? The priority is in-person, while digital is every expanding and locationless endeavor. The word digital can mean all sorts of things as well. It can mean streaming, social media, your website, email campaigns, texting, YouTube, digital ads, discipleship courses, online groups, online bible study material, Zoom events, pieces of training, and so much more.

Two types of churches today:

• Location-based

• Locationless

3 Audiences of your church's digital strategy:

• Local new person

• Local Member

• Far away person

Digital approaches for your church:

• Amish

• Broadcast

• Front Door Local

• Alpha-Omega Digital Integration

So what? As a church/team/person, think of your objective. It's not to get people in a room but to produce something. The question is, how can digital help accomplish your goal? Ask this question as a whole church and team, and think it through with your specific role. Create action steps for each area/focus of your church and cast a vision for every staff/volunteer to integrate digital into their space. Again, healthy digital integration isn't digital-only but a merging of both to produce your primary objective as a church/team/person.

Summary: Embrace your location-based church, understand new people and your members want digital done right, and start integrating your Alpha-Omega Digital Integration!