How To Be Engaging Online
I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, or any other thing that is created. (Romans 8:38-39)
…not even screens.
Like many of you, my week has turned upside down. I went from having a weekend that included a 2 day retreat and an upcoming week filled with 3 days of in-person events to having all those things wiped from my calendars, and instructions to work from home for the next two weeks.
Now, you might think, oh wow! Two weeks to catch your breath. Your schedule just opened wide up! Time to do some writing and real prep for the books that come out in a month or so.
Nope.
You see, in the first place, I work for the Center for Communication in the Arkansas Conference Offices, and we are fully on deck to provide the most up-to-date information for our churches as they seek guidance in confusing times. But my main role in that Center is to run our online learning management system (arumc.myabsorb.com – if you are trapped this week looking for things to do, check it out). So, rather than kicking back and relaxing, I am suddenly helping to lay out plans for taking all the things we need to do in the coming weeks online. This included scheduling and mapping out three webinars that our conference will be offering (Using Zoom to Keep Church Connection, Streaming Worship Online, and Getting Online Giving On Line) and beginning the conversations to transfer things like our licensing school to an online format.
I came into this role as a result of being trained in online pedagogy when our Regional Course of Study School at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas moved to a hybrid format of part online, part face-to-face. I will admit, I was initially skeptical of online education. I have since become a convert. But I admit part of my worry was losing that personal connection.
This week, churches all across the nation are preparing to online stream a worship service, or at the very least a fireside devotional from their pastors’ homes. I know my colleagues and friends are anxious about it. It is weird when you first start teaching and preaching online, and it is very weird to preach to a screen and no one else. So here are my bits of advice to encourage you in the work that is all of a sudden ahead of you.
1. It is gonna feel weird; just acknowledge that to yourself. When you are broadcasting, and particularly if you are broadcasting just into a camera with no live people around to look at, it is going to feel very artificial. You will want to look away from the screen. A lot. Try to resist that. If you need to, tape a picture of someone you enjoy talking to (just don’t block your camera) over the screen, although if you do that, make sure someone else is watching your feed who can tell you if things have gone wonky. If you don’t want to tape a picture over your screen, then you may want to set up a picture just behind your screen. If you have a live person who can sit behind it, even better. Just make sure you keep looking at the screen. You need to keep eye contact with your screen audience as much as possible. I encourage you to practice by setting your phone on selfie and talking to it while looking at yourself. If you can get accustomed to that, you can easily get accustomed to talking to “no one.” Above all, try as much as possible to be your authentic self. Authenticity translates well across screens. If you are a goofball, be a goofball. If you are a professor, be a professor. You be you, boo, and that will come through. And trust me, the more you do this, the more natural it will become.
2. Think creatively about content. Especially if you are not streaming a full worship service, you should feel open to trying new formats. For instance, you can have a conversation. You might, especially as you are growing accustomed to the technology, want to have a conversation with someone as part of the service you are streaming. That makes it a bit like people are watching a talk show, and you are a little less on the hook to keep looking at the screen. Doing an interview where someone shares a significant faith story can be very compelling content. You are still sharing the Gospel, just in a slightly different way.
3. Don’t go it alone if possible. In online presenting, we say it is best to have a minimum of 2 people involved. One is the presenter. The other is the “producer.” The producer is there to do the tech management, and there to follow along on any interactions that you are experiencing through your presentation. They then bring any pertinent things to the presenter’s attention at appropriate times, or they just handle it for the presenter. It is perfectly appropriate for the producer to answer questions or acknowledge engagements while the rest of the service is going on. In fact, it is not just appropriate, it is encouraged.
4. Use the interactivity of technology to your advantage. I have advised some pastors who are livestreaming for the first time to include some interactive pieces in their service. First, invite people to share prayer requests in the comment sections. Then, if you have that “producer” I mentioned, s/he can share some representative requests as you head into pastoral prayers. If you don’t have a producer, you can take a moment to skim through the requests and lift up some prayers. Do not try to be comprehensive and share all of the requests! First of all, people can look at the thread and see them for themselves. Second, it is deeply boring to watch someone read something that anyone who is watching could see for themselves. Another interactive piece you may want to include is to invite people to share a story or picture related to a topic in your sermon, or to give the people a call to action and invite them to share what commitment they will make. For instance, maybe you challenge them to reach out to a friend or neighbor who might be isolated, and you invite them to share what they commit to do.
5. Remove all distractions. This is another advantage of having help. You need to be focused on engaging the watcher. You do not need to be worried about the tech. But also, you need to remove any distractions you have. If you have your cell phone on you and you get a text, or it starts flashing all these social media announcements, it is hard to stay focused. People on the other side of the screen will disengage if you disengage. You need to stay fully focused on that online audience for them to stay focused on you.
6. Realize you may be reaching people you have never been able to reach with the Gospel. Ok, we do need to stop and notice that this emergency situation is encouraging us to do what we should have been doing all along – expanding the reach of the Gospel through technology. I want to share three stories and statistics I have heard in the past couple of weeks to encourage you. I heard a story shared of a woman who was in prison in Florida who was listening to her sister’s church in Arkansas online, and when the prison chaplain visited, she asked to be baptized and to accept Christ. Another pastor shared how he knows a woman with autism who is so grateful that she can worship with her family now, because she can follow along at home. And then Generation Z, those who are children, teenagers, and young adults, are described as digital integratives – that their digital technology is understood as an extension of their bodies, and there is some evidence that they trust people behind screens more than they trust people face-to-face. Also, if you need help with your streaming, I guarantee many of them know exactly how to do it. So this is an opportunity to engage a generation that by and large is missing from the church. There is enormous potential for evangelism. We just need to get on board.
7. Watch copyright violations. If you are going to stream worship, particularly if you are going to stream music, you need a streaming license. The usual CCLI license won’t cut it (though they do offer a streaming license). Also, if you are just streaming your sermon, be aware that some images also have copyrights to them. You either need to use original photos (and not photos of artwork that you don’t have permission to photograph) or use a site that offers copyright-free options (like unsplash.com, where I get most of the photos for my blog).
8. Give yourself grace. Finally, this is going to be rocky, especially at first. Give yourself some grace. Learn as you go along. Be open to what this experience will teach you. And there will be tech demons to be exorcised from time to time. It happens to the best of us (and the best of systems). But be open to where the Holy Spirit will take you in this journey. You just might find yourself connected to others, and to Jesus, in new and profound ways.
My prayers are with you all as you embark on this adventure! Love to everyone!
Photo by Rachit Tank on Unsplash
