Developing your ministry online

Here you’ll find ideas to develop your online ministry, sourced from corps from Abergavenny to Kirkwall and Liverpool to Hedge End. (In comparison, the Moving your ministry online page shares advice for getting online in the first place.)

The three key pieces of advice for maximising the impact of your online ministry are to:

  • Share regular content
  • Inspire deeper engagement
  • Help worship flow

For each area we’ll give some basic advice, ideas for different levels of technology or skill requirement, and examples of corps who are already doing it.

Sharing details of online services

One way to let people know about your online worship services is to add details to your corps webpage. Find training guides on OurHub or email the digital team for help.

Developing Ministry Online Image

Share regular content

The temptation is to put all your efforts into the Sunday online service, but it’s equally – if not more – important to have regular content throughout the week.

By sharing regular content, you increase the range of people who’ll see it and give your congregation multiple opportunities to engage with God. You might find that conversations during the week are deeper, and that you attract others who wouldn’t engage with your Sunday material.

Balance your content between new content you’ve made and things that others have made – and get your congregation involved in the content creation!

Recording as a (virtual) band

Here's a guide to get you started

Download

Inspire deeper engagement

Social media statistics can be difficult to interpret correctly, and Christian thinker Mike Frost recently suggested that the global church’s excitement at the ‘success’ of their online ministry may be ill-placed. The church’s mission is to make disciples who participate in the life of Jesus, rather than encourage people to be consumers of religious content.

You can inspire that commitment to discipleship and mission in your congregation by encouraging them not only to view content but to engage with it and each other. In addition you should ensure the focus is as much on the regular, midweek opportunities for congregation and others to connect and engage as it is the one-off Sunday services.

Countdown videos for live streamed worship

Use this video at the start of your livestream to give people time to tune in.

Download countdown video

Help worship flow

One challenge of online worship services is to make the various pieces of content you’ve planned flow into each other as smoothly as possible.

The focus isn't on perfection, but on making sure the technology doesn't become a distraction.

At a time when nothing feels normal, I'm so grateful for the regular opportunities we have as a corps to engage in worship together.
Matt, Sutton

Other examples of online ministry and worship

Find out how Coventry corps are moving online 

Other downloads