The Church Digital Podcast

Barbecue Church? Learn how Barbecue is being used to effectively connect with people that church buildings aren’t. We’ve seen lots of unique expressions of church pop up, but Barbecue Assemblies of God? Jeff sits down with Andre Anderson, serial entrepreneur and lead pastor of Barbecue Church. Where’d the idea come from?  How is barbecue being used to reach and disciple people today. Lean in...

Tis the season to get stressed out, amiright? So many departments coming together. So many volunteers serving with all their heart. The standards are set high for this year’s Christmas Services (happening on a Sunday this year BTW.) But how do you manage the creative tensions? How do you get people to work together. What does it look like to get people to focus towards an aligned direction, often...

Jeff published his book on churches in virtual reality! Download for FREE, or buy Kindle/Hard Copy from Amazon: http://thechurch.digital/vrbook  Well, the time has come. THECHURCH.DIGITAL and Leadership Network is happy to announce the publishing of VR and the Metaverse Church, Jeff’s first book. Telling the stories of the innovation (and the innovators) in virtual reality, Jeff moves beyond...

Engagement: A Digital Missionary/Volunteer Structure for He Gets Us He Gets Us sounds like an incredible idea, but it can certainly seem overwhelming. How can your church effectively set up He Gets Us to be effective for ministry? What role should Alpha play? How do we structure volunteers? Jump on this livestream where Jeff will literally whiteboard a strategy for churches like yours to engage li...

PASTOR OVER TEXT? There are plenty of ways to pastor someone digitally, through Zoom or even through Avatars in virtual reality. But text-only? Surely there’s some difficulty in that environment. Enter Jonathan Song, Director of Pastor Chat at Churchome. Churchome has leaned heavily into it’s mobile app, even to the point of pastoring people around the country via chat/text messaging. DOES IT WORK...

GET THE INSIDE SCOOP What does Digital Discipleship look like? Get the inside scoop on Sprout Digital’s 2022 Digital Discipleship Research Report with Jared & Ann Roth. ONE OF THE MOST DOWNLODED PODCASTS In one of the most-downloaded podcasts in The Church Digital Podcast history, Jared and Ann Roth shared their passion for the digital church. Retired co-pastors and denominational leaders, the...

ARE DAOS AND NFTS LEGIT? As the Church looks to Blockchain & Crypto, are DAOs and NFTs legit? Are these gimmicks, or is there a future for the church in the new technologies? Are NFTs legitimate, or is this a gimmick? In a recent Digital Church Network Roundtable we dug into the legitimacy of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Part two in the series, we’ll be exploring the idea of DAOs and NFTs....

GET YOUR CHURCH SIGNED UP FOR HE GETS US, AND GET 12 MONTHS FOR FREE... http://thechurch.digital/hegetsus One of the largest Christian Technology Companies in America, GLOO has been helping churches figure out how to better use data. Recently, GLOO has focused on a national marketing campaign called “He Gets Us.” These ads, run online as well as other ad channels, have been un-earthing spiritual e...

ARE DAOS AND NFTS LEGIT? As the Church looks to Blockchain & Crypto, are DAOs and NFTs legit? Are these gimmicks, or is there a future for the church in the new technologies? Are NFTs legitimate, or is this a gimmick? In a recent Digital Church Network Roundtable we dug into the legitimacy of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Part two in the series, we’ll be exploring the idea of DAOs and NFTs. ARE...

Christ-Centered Recovery is so important in digital and metaverse spaces, so why are churches hesitant to do Christ-Centered Recovery digitally? There is an incredible opportunity digitally to offer Christ-Centered Recovery, yet very few organizations offer recovery in digital- or metaverse- spaces. Churches are looking for the opportunity. Digital Church Network is excited to explore the topic of...

RURAL CHURCHES HAVE STRUGGLED WITH TECHNOLOGY... Is there an opportunity to do something different? Enter Michael Beck, one of the loudest voices in America towards fresh expressions. Michael is releasing a new book “Fresh Expressions of the Rural Church” where Michael and co-author Tyler Kleeberger discuss innovative ideas surrounding the Rural Church. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF DIGITAL IN A RURAL CHURC...

DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT WILL HELP US REACH DIFFERENT PEOPLE. Fortunately, God has equipped us with imagination, allowing us an opportunity to come up with different, creative ideas to connect with people. And, as a result of COVID, there is probably no better time in human history for imaginative ideas than right now. THIS IS THE HEART BEHIND MISSIONAL IMAGINATION. How can these ideas be used fo...

GET MORE INFORMATION ON CHURCH IN A VR BAR - http://churchinavrbar.com A SELF-PROCLAIMED "PASTOR AT THE BAR" Joey Santos has been on The Church Digital Podcast in the past, talking about his experiences doing church at a physical bar in Ohio. A self-proclaimed “Pastor at the Bar”, I wasn’t surprised in a recent conversation when Joey said, “ Jeff, what would it look like to open a Bar in Virtual R...

TABLES ARE TURNED THIS WEEK. Jeff is getting interviewed by Pastor and Author Doug Bursch. Virtually complete strangers, Jeff and Doug meet for the first time in this podcast recording and discuss the challenges and obstacles of social media and digital church.  A FASCINATING AND HILARIOUS CONVERSATION. Doug and Jeff talk about Doug’s book - Posting Peace, Why Social Media Divides Us and What...

Seacoast gets it. To reach different people you have to do something different, and Seacoast is doing something different. What are they doing? Well, I don’t want to give it away here in the intro but... Let’s just say the South Carolina megachurch is exploring a future model of church that I believe will be very popular in the months and years to come. Vague enough for you? Dig into the podcast a...

Part Two of this Apprenticing Roundtable will happen Tuesday, August 23rd, 7pm Eastern in a Digital Church Network LIVE Roundtable on Apprenticing.  Bring questions and let's dig in. More info http://thechurch.digital/apprentice THE NEGATIVE TREND CONTINUES IN 2022, AS .... post-COVID churches are closing quicker than we can open them. In this decrease season, it is essential for our churches to m...

HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN ONE OF THOSE EMAILS WHERE... ...the prince of Nigeria is looking for some money in order to restore his kingdom? All he needs from you is $600,000 wired to one of his accounts, and once restored he will return your loan 10-fold. Well, maybe you’re brave enough to try this. I am not. That being said, there are other opportunities coming out of Africa that are worth your attenti...

It was a quick throwaway line from Lucas Pulley with Metaverse Church NEXT… "We’re even doing Dungeons & Dragons Church!"  Wait, what? Dungeons and Dragons Church? Is that allowed? Evidently, yes, it is allowed. Meet Andy Corson, a Bi-vocational minister with a unique history of creating unique expressions of Church. Preaching in a Bar? Doing bible studies for Dungeons & Dragons players in a game...

WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE IF YOUR CHURCH ACHIEVED GLOBAL REACH, DIGITALLY? This is what Casa Church Miami is wrestling with. A Hispanic Church in the heart of Miami, Casa Church Miami saw it’s ministry expand broadcasting church services on social media, but online church services is not the endgame, but the beginning, of online ministry. LET’S TALK WITH EZEQUIEL FATTORE, AND LEARN HOW CASA CHURCH M...

CAN AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHURCHES BE EFFECTIVE IN DIGITAL MINISTRY? Coming out of COVID, what is the role of digital? This is a challenge for many of today’s churches, including African-American Churches. Typically, African-American churches have struggled technologically, but having learned in the COVID season how to do digital ministry, is there an opportunity for an African-American church to conti...

Alright. This is one of these conversations where we probably won’t put our technology hat on. We’re not talking some new technique or process for digital ministry. Instead, we’re going to dive deep into microchurch. LET’S BETTER UNDERSTAND MICROCHURCH STRATEGY, AND HOW IT CAN REACH THE CITY. As we look at Decentralized Microchurches, we see an immense opportunity to reach people digitally… utiliz...

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE CHURCH LOOK LIKE? This is the question we’re asking. Post-COVID we’ve learned a lot of what a church can look like digitally, but how do these lessons help the Church moving forward. You’ve heard us talk about digital expressions of church, but are these social media churches, zoom churches, even streamers doing church… are these opportunities viable? What about the physical c...

RUDE PEOPLE! THE INTERNET IS FILLED WITH THEM. Seems like wherever you turn there are negative people, angry people. To make matters worse, they seem to be louder on the Internet. So we as digital pastors and planters strive to do ministry in an area that attracts rude people, almost enabling them by giving them a platform? Sounds about right. CHURCH, LET’S NOT RUN FROM RUDE PEOPLE. IS IT POSSIBLE...

Give to DigitalChurch. Network - http://digitalchurch.network/give SADDLEBACK IS REACHING A DIFFERENT TYPE OF PERSON THROUGH THEIR EXTENSION CAMPUSES Even some physical churches are learning that they reach a different type of person through different methods. This is the heart behind Saddleback’s Extension Campuses. Through multiple revisions in recent memory, the giga-church Saddleback has been...

DIGITAL CHURCHES ARE REACHING PEOPLE WITH HEALTH ISSUES We talk about how Digital Churches reach different types of people. This week we’re talking about Painted Prayers, a creative, digital expression of church that’s found a way to reach a different type of person. Brianna Heida planted Painted Prayers to reach creative people. As an artist, Brianna was woven many creative aspects into her churc...