Previously, I shared with you that technological platforms now exist that allow us to reach the same audience time and time again and be laser focused in our message without ever leaving our homes. As pastors, we must be willing to innovate, because there are new ways of getting the gospel out. We must look for new ways to propagate the message of the gospel. And because the time is short, we must find new ways to accelerate in impacting people like never before.
In my last blog, I shared about the power of Television Ads and Search Engine Campaigns. You can read more about them here. Today, I’d like to finish the list with four more technological opportunities I’d like you to consider, starting with social media
Social Media. Billions of people use social media today. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are the most popular. There’s also there’s Tik Tok, which targets the younger generation. But every day a church can plant a seed of righteousness by using social media. And I encourage them to do it and do it well!
Unfortunately, many churches don’t have the staff to manage their social media. If that’s your situation, I hope you’ll stop by the Partnership Page at Significant Church and see how you can tap into our free social posts and social media management.
One of my main encouragements to churches is that they establish an online pastor who can bond with people and build relationships with them through your social platforms. It’s a great way to stir up conversation, build rapport, and build bridges with people. The online pastor may make a post asking if anyone has any questions today. Well, they just might! They might ask a question about something said in a recent service or about what they were reading during their devotion time. It may be a question about the meaning of a certain Bible verse. The point is that the one asking gets an answer that helps them grow in relationship and confidence with the church. A bond will form. They’ll go from talking to the pastor on social media to attending the church on Sunday!
Podcasts and Webinars. This is a great way for ministers to impact people on a weekly or monthly basis. Through the use of podcasts and webinars, you can expand your reach to touching thousands, if not tens of thousands of people. Webinars are a great starting point because from them you can capture the content needed to release a video or audio podcast.
Livestream. When COVID hit in March of 2020 and everything began to shut down both here in America and around the world, my company was bombarded by ministries requesting our live streaming service. We found out very quickly that while churches knew they needed to take their services online, they didn’t know the first thing about live streaming in an effective way. My team gave a lot of direction and provided a strong support to these ministries jumping a learning curve in the midst of all of the other challenges of the time. And you know what? Livestream is being utilized now more than ever! It’s a great opportunity to factor in because it integrates well with social media and allows people to access your ministry from wherever they may be. No one needs to miss out on Sunday’s message any more due to travel, illness, or mobility! They can tune in on your church’s website or through Facebook or Periscope, if you’re integrated with them.
When you livestream, you drive traffic back to your website. It’s not uncommon for viewers to track back to the website to watch archived videos. Since we only retain about 15-20% of what’s said, it’s great to be able to offer a recording of the message so church members can review the parts they may have missed. When visitors hit your website, they will see the diversity of your ministry and upcoming service times and outreaches they can take part in.
Here’s another perk when it comes to live streaming services: You can edit down your Sunday morning content once the video archives, put some info in the lower thirds of the screen and overlays and an open and close with music – these are the elements that make your video look polished – and then when people go back on Monday to review the service, they see the best version of it. It’s not as hard as it sounds, and with all the effort and preparation you put into the message, why wouldn’t you!
Zoom. Zoom is a platform that allows people to audio or video chat through the use of the internet. It became integral to communication during the COVID shutdown.
Prior to COVID, my company was organizing about 30 large-scale events on four continents, some of which were to have an estimated 100,000 in attendance at a single service. A lot of preparation had gone into those meetings, a lot of promotion and planning, but when nation after nation began to shut down, we had to postpone events. I prayed to God, “You said in James 1:5 that if I lack wisdom You’ll give it to me. I’m asking You to give it liberally, Lord, because we have to get this gospel out! We can’t let the devil shut our voices down!” The Lord gave me the word “zoom,” but I didn’t know what it meant. I had to research it! But Zoom became our vehicle for taking the gospel into homes and villages and nations we otherwise wouldn’t have been allowed into because of the pandemic.
My company now utilizes Zoom on a daily basis to facilitate meetings and spread the gospel in other nations to crowds exceeding 1,000! We just recently held a 30-minute Zoom meeting with Significant Church leaders Pastor Don Duncan, Pastor Mike Conaway and Pastor Pat Butcher. Together, they touched about 5 million people across 182 nations! As a result, we received 23,583 prayer requests, miracle testimonies and decisions for Christ in one hour!
John 14:12 tells us that we will do greater works than Jesus. I’ve often thought about that what that means. I wonder, “How are we supposed to do greater works than You, Lord? You’re God! You walked through towns and they were transformed by the miracles You performed!” But I am beginning to believe the “greater works” are made possible today by technology. So I encourage you again, pastor: Let’s innovate, let’s propagate and let’s accelerate the gospel message by using technology. Let’s be the hands and feet of Jesus every day. That’s the beauty of what we can do. We can go right into a lost and dying world and reach the invalid in their sickbed as easily as we can reach the CEO in their corner office or the college student on his way to class! Technology made this all possible!
