In the age of technology, churches have to learn to adapt and include technology in order to maintain their church following and engagement of members. The needs of the community are changing and even traditional churches can utilize technology and incorporate a digital ministry aspect while maintaining their traditional nature. Continue reading to learn our digital ministry tips and tricks.

Stick to Your Strengths

When starting or improving your digital ministry programs, it is important to realize that you do not have to completely change everything you are doing for the online portion. Often times, members of a church community want to be able to experience their normal church activites through technology at home. If your digital programs are completely different than your in person programs, than you could lose members who prefer the only like the online material and there are going to be people who like the in person more. If the members only like one, they will just not participate in the other option.

Be You

Let’s be honest, standing in front of a camera speaking can be very awkward and uncomfortable. Especially if you are the only one with your camera on. It is easy to get caught up in trying to be perfect but people don’t expect you to be perfect. Pretend that the camera is one of your church members and just have a casual conversation with them. Just being real and present with them is more impactful than trying to be perfect.

No Need to Be Flashy

Sometimes people believe that they need to use all of the bells and whistles when they are doing digital ministry. However, this can be challenging for the church leaders to execute and distracting for member to watch and participate. We suggest following a simple is better motto and not diving too deep into trying different things before you are competent with the basics.

It’s Okay to Be Brief

Often times, there are extra transition time necessary during church services or other church programs. For example, you could have a group bible study that has smaller break out groups half way through. In a digital setting, there would not need to be as much time allocated towards that transition to different rooms. It is completely okay to have a shorter bible study because of the time saved because the transitions are quicker. Sometimes we feel the need to fill space and keep things the same length but it is fine if they are shorter.

In the ever changing technology society that we live in, it is vital for the success of the church to include a digital ministry aspect. That doesn’t mean that you have to completely change your churches format or message, you can stick to your strengths. It is important to be yourself in front of a camera and let your members know that you are the same person whether you are in person or online. I believe that having a simple online presence can make a huge impact in members’ lives, especially during a time when most people are utilizing digital ministry. Hopefully reading this has helped you learn some of our digital ministry tips and tricks and allows you to feel more at ease with managing online church programs