Leadership in our organization has changed in many small ways ; however , the overarching vision of leadership hasn ’ t . We believe in equipping our staff to run their ministries as they see fit . We hire smart , talented people who we trust now more than ever . — Matt Kautzky
How have you kept members engaged with your church , even ( sometimes ) from afar ?
Coughran : We offer limited-attendance and masked , in-person services , as well as virtual services . ( We also met outside in our parking lot until the weather got too cold .) Wherever possible , we ’ re using social media , live streaming , and prerecorded programs . People are reacting to the pandemic in different ways , and we ’ re meeting them where they ’ re at . For example , we created a special , activities-focused program for kids that runs immediately following online weekend services . We held our annual worship , prayer and healing night virtually this year ; people connected with the program from home and also called in for one-onone prayer . We host a Facebook Live program called “ The After Party with Pastor Lance ” on Sunday nights where our senior pastor talks on current areas of concern and then opens a Q & A session . We ’ re continually working to provide opportunities to worship , connect with God , and interact with our teams . As a result , some connections are stronger than ever before .
Wilson : Through the pandemic , we ’ ve learned just how much we relied upon programming to stay in touch with members . When all you ’ ve done in the past is stripped away , things have to change . We knew we wanted to use all the tools available — new and old — to engage people . Communicate , communicate , and then communicate more . We immediately began live streaming our worship services . Within weeks of closing our campus , we began offering small groups using Zoom . Our SVkids and student ministries stepped up in big ways by creating weekly programming . Our deacons have continued to stay in touch with our widows , widowers and homebound members . Another way we engaged with our church is by producing a weekly video called “ SV Update .” It ’ s a great tool to encourage , inform , lead and comfort those in our flock . We began writing daily Prayer Points to lead our church to new heights in praying together as a body .
Hart : Unfortunately , gauging engagement has never been more difficult . We ’ re contacting every member family by phone , but we only see about one-third of our folks each weekend .
Post COVID-19 , we ’ re most excited about reconnecting physically with so many families we haven ’ t seen in months .
Sarah Taylor : In 2018 / 2019 , we remodeled our sanctuary and upgraded our technology to allow for live streaming . We had no idea then that the Lord was uniquely positioning us “ for such a time as this .”
Immediately , we were able to continue our services , looking much as they always had — but without an in-person audience . Our media team became “ essential workers ,” and we began producing online content we ’ d never done before . We now see the church as being both online and in person , and we ’ re learning how to make that work .
Pritchard : Our tech ministry has expanded and improved exponentially during this time . Our livestream has become very professional . We ’ re hosting Bible study groups via Zoom , as well as orchestrating other online connections to keep everyone in touch .
In what ways has your church embraced alternatives to large , in-person worship services ?
Kautzky : During the pandemic , we ’ ve learned that we must not apply pre-COVID-19 metrics to our new events . If people are connecting with the Word of God , we ’ ve accomplished our goal . We were able to host a few outdoor worship events and are looking forward to doing more when the winter weather relinquishes its hold on the Midwest .
Wilson : Honestly , moving worship services to online , radio and cable TV was one of the easiest parts of the disruption . This is primarily because we were already providing cable TV and radio broadcasts of our services , pre COVID-19 . Last January , we moved to YouTube to host our worship services online . The only addition , post COVID- 19 , was Facebook Live . On March 13 , we closed our campus and provided live stream and cable TV services only . This continued until June 21 , when we moved to one in-person service , plus the live stream . We increased to two in-person services on September 6 . On November 1 , we welcomed our new pastor , Dr . Curtis Woods . On November 22 , we went back to onlineonly services due to a surge in people testing positive in Kentucky . All this to say , we ’ ve learned to stay agile and be ready for anything . We ’ ve also learned just how important in-person worship is . Sadly , sometimes losing something helps you understand its value .
6 CHURCH EXECUTIVE | JAN / FEB 2021