Life After Forced Live Streaming
For this article I’m teaming up with James Buce, a communications specialist, student minister and passionate storyteller. Scroll to the bottom of this article for his bio.
Like many of you, I was shocked when we decided one late Friday afternoon in March that we needed to cancel services for the upcoming Sunday. Events fell off the calendar like dominoes on Red Bull, but at that time we were thinking the whole thing would either blow over or skip Mississippi altogether. Clearly I’m good at denial and bad at seeing what’s coming around the bend. That first Sunday we had no plan, no online service, and no idea of what the next few weeks would bring. But by the following Sunday, we got our act together and worshiped online using Facebook Live. Since then, I’ve unofficially earned a degree in live streaming and made more than my share of mistakes in front of large online audiences.
Now that we are contemplating the go-back-to-the-building phase, I must admit one really important thing: we should have already been streaming our services. As you are well aware, many churches provide that service. This is not totally foreign to church culture. However, maybe you are like me and just keeping up with my regular to-do list is a big challenge. We don’t have any graphic designers or marketing people on our staff. That’s laughable for our church. There is always one more person who needs support, always one more thing on my list that needs attention, and the thought of tackling a new project like live streaming just never made the cut. So as we were discussing the necessary church changes required by COVID-19, one of my minister friends said, “You know, there are people who were born to lead during times like this, and they are going to do wonderful things!” Clearly, she is a Mary. I am a Martha, so I responded, “Is someone going to let us know if we are the chosen ones? Because there is no way I was born to lead during a time like this and yet I still have to do it.”
Because of our at-risk members who won’t be able to join us when we begin meeting in person again, we have committed to continue live streaming our services. However, it’s 2020 and I have to acknowledge that our credibility, along with how we tell our story as a church family in this digital age, hasn’t merited the attention it justly deserves. This oversight is hurting our ability to tell others about Jesus, no doubt. Pandemic or no pandemic, churches are facing huge challenges for ministering to a skeptical culture and for facilitating transformation for the members we have. Since I’ve already been forced into learning a bunch of tech stuff, I’m determined to take off my old lady glasses and position our church to tell our story in an authentic and relevant manner. We have an awesome church family, but if I’m honest, I don’t think our public messaging tells our story well, and we don’t have a voice at all on some important platforms. This is an issue because our front porch is now digital and has been for a long time. People will largely make decisions on what kind of church family we are based upon what they see online.
How am I going to address this? Well, right now I don’t exactly know. But the good news is that there are those who do, and I’m first in line right now to get help with my digital to-do list. James Buce, a Communications Specialist, student minister and passionate storyteller, encourages us to first think about how we are telling the most important story: Jesus.
Storytelling is an art, and every digital or print media is a platform for sharing God’s story. It is necessary to be creative and to explore new ways of connecting people with a church community. Creative storytelling is the way to connect people to the hope provided in God’s story, but that does not mean it must be contained to people in the same room. As the world has become increasingly digital, churches must be intentional about connecting with the people in our communities. Websites, podcasts, live stream, and graphic design are a few ways to take necessary steps to effectively share Jesus.
I always tell people I’m coaching that effective communication isn’t hard; it’s a skill just like playing baseball or learning words to a new song. If you want to do better, you will. No one is saying your church has to change personalities, become something it isn’t, or spend crazy amounts of money. However, we do have to be strategic and consider at least having a plan so our outside matches our inside. If people don’t like our front porch, they aren’t going to come inside. Jesus is too important for us to be complacent and then complain about our inability to evangelize. In the interpersonal world (my wheelhouse) that usually means giving about 5-10% more effort. And I think the return on investment will be surprisingly high.
COVID-19 forced us this far, so let’s max out the work we’ve already invested and keep pushing forward, digitally and otherwise, to connect people to Jesus. If you’d like to reach out to James to get help with digital next steps for your church, you can email him at or check out his website.
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James Buce has worked with various nonprofit organizations, companies, and churches over the last 10 years. He graduated from Harding University with a bachelor's degree in public relations and from Oklahoma Christian University with a master's degree in ministry, and he is working on an MBA in strategic leadership from Amberton University. He is currently the student minister at Legacy Church of Christ in North Richland Hills, Texas. James has a passion for great storytelling and wants to help churches and individuals reach their potential as great storytellers.
