As Christians, we are called to spread the gospel message to those who do not know God. We are to go out to all the world and preach this wonderful news to those who are lost. But, how should we as Christians recapture the individuals who have been in and actively part of church? The following question is something that me and my teammates are attempting to do for Methodist United in Faith Church. With the pandemic going on they too were unable to hold church in person; because of this, they decided to go to an online platform. They were very successful pre-pandemic with a regular attendance of 500-700 people. Once everything started with the pandemic, Methodist United in Faith decided to record and post messages for the spiritual growth of their members. This was done every Sunday for church. However, there is a very large disconnection between an in-person service, online service, and prerecorded message and that is the area we are trying to solve. People who truly love God want to be actively involved in the church and the messages that are being given to them. With each version of church being moved from in-person to prerecorded tends to lose interest for many.
My group and I are looking to bring back a part of the personal aspect to church which should bring more members back to the church during this difficult time. Some of my ideas are to not get rid of the prerecorded messages–because those can make an impact–but adding a live component during the time of remote church services. If the weekly message is shown live, I believe that there will be an uptick in attendance to Sunday services. I think Methodist United in Faith should continue to post the prerecorded messages but only in addition to the live stream every Sunday. I hope that they can recapture the individuals who felt lost due to the lack of personal touch involved in our current circumstances.
I like how you linked this post to your project, and I’ll be super interested to see what you guys come up with! I think that this specific category is a huge “target market” for the church, and one that is very winnable. In order to do this well, always be asking “why?” Why did they stop coming? What’s the pain behind that decision? And if they’re not coming there, where are they going instead and why? Address the needs and pain primarily, and you’ll be well on your way.
I like the idea of adding a live element to this church’s online services! That will definitely help to rekindle the dying flame of Christianity that we have seen in the past few years. Your project is pretty broad, so make sure to have a well thought out plan. It will be exciting to see what you and your team come up with for this!