{"id":694188,"date":"2019-03-11T02:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T07:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomrainer.com\/?p=694188"},"modified":"2020-02-07T15:08:55","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T21:08:55","slug":"new-research-and-insights-on-the-online-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/new-research-and-insights-on-the-online-church\/","title":{"rendered":"New Research and Insights on the Online Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

I see a pattern developing in online churches. Perhaps it is a trend. The overall pattern is that online ministries of churches are becoming a strategic part of the overall church ministry. They are not viewed today as much as a separate congregation than as an entry point for people ultimately to connect to the physically-gathered church.<\/p>\n

The new research is from Vanderbloemen<\/a>, Pushpay<\/a>, and Jay Kranda<\/a>. All of the 176 churches participating in the study have an online church, so we are hearing from those who are presently very active in this ministry.<\/p>\n

Definitions for the online church are evolving. Among those surveyed, the definition included an intentional effort to identify and minister to a group of people who are regularly viewing streaming services. The most common name for these digital gatherings were \u201conline campuses\u201d (36%) and \u201cchurch online\u201d (28%).<\/p>\n

These churches typically had a person designated to lead these digital ministries, but the title of that person varied significantly. Only 16 percent of the churches surveyed had a full-time online ministry leader.<\/p>\n

What are some of the key findings of this study? Here are nine insights:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The plurality of churches have a volunteer lead the online ministry. <\/strong>This ministry is led by a volunteer in about four of ten churches. Another 35 percent give the leadership to a full-time staff person who has other responsibilities.<\/li>\n
  2. The dominant broadcast method is live streaming. <\/strong>Among these churches, nine of ten congregations broadcast through live streaming. But over half also have the full service on demand.<\/li>\n
  3. The opportunity to reach local community members is significant.<\/strong> Over four of ten of those attending online are people within a reasonable driving distance of the church. Most of the churches view the online community as a first step to move them toward the in-person gathering.<\/li>\n
  4. Most of these churches do count online attendance.<\/strong> Of the churches surveyed, 72 percent report online attendance, but keep it separate from in-person attendance. Fewer than 10 percent include online attendance as part of the overall total weekly attendance.<\/li>\n
  5. There is little consistency on how churches count online attendance.<\/strong> The most frequent response, but only by 26 percent of the churches, is \u201cconcurrent streamers at a given time.\u201d<\/li>\n
  6. There is anecdotal evidence that indicates the online church is actually a growth source for the in-person church. <\/strong>Some of the church leaders see the online church as part of a process that may progress from social media to online church to community groups to in-person worship services.<\/li>\n
  7. Over half of the churches are considering using the online church to launch future churches and sites.<\/strong> Already, 17 percent of the churches are embracing this strategy. In total, over 60 percent are considering this strategy, or they are already doing it.<\/li>\n
  8. More older churches are using an online church strategy than younger churches. <\/strong>For example, churches over 50 years old accounted for nearly 30 percent of the total, while churches under five years old accounted for less than 15 percent of the total.<\/li>\n
  9. Five ministries are offered online by a majority of the churches.<\/strong> They are: prayer (81%); giving opportunities (72%); pastoral care (58%); serving opportunities (54%); and online groups (52%).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I am thankful to Vanderbloemen, Pushpay, and Jay Kranda for providing this information. You can get the full study here.<\/a><\/p>\n

    We will continue to watch the changes and development of the online church. This study is fascinating. But we know there is more yet to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I see a pattern developing in online churches. Perhaps it is a trend. The overall pattern is that online ministries of churches are becoming a strategic part of the overall church ministry.","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,183,175],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-694188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-communications","category-grow"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Research and Insights on the Online Church | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I see a pattern developing in online churches. Perhaps it is a trend. 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