Church Leadership

: Written by: Evan Englezos; Created: 01 March 2023

Evan Englezos (Digital Team Coach and Digital Ministry Hub) interviews Jackson king (Digital and Music Ministry Support, Robina Anglican Church)

The COVID-19 pandemic, with its associated lockdowns and meeting limits, accelerated the use of digital technology in many churches. Many of these changes were hastily implemented during 2020-2021. The challenge and focus now is to make the most of new digital technologies to invigorate the church toward revitalisation.

Jackson King from Robina Anglican Church has generously shared his experience and observations of the role of digital technology as an encouragement to his brothers and sisters in ministry.

EVAN: WHAT DID THE DIGITAL SPACE LOOK LIKE WHEN YOU JOINED IN 2020?

Jackson: The digital space for Robina Anglican was nowhere near as imperative as it is now and during COVID-19 lockdowns. Pre-COVID, we had a functioning website, a social media presence, printed bulletins and online communications with members. During COVID we needed to redesign our whole communication strategy. We also needed a live streaming system that was easy to use and produce content with. We’ve made progress through trial and error, experimenting with both software and hardware solutions. We see a need for continual change in the year ahead.

EVAN: WHAT DOES DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY LOOK LIKE NOW?

Jackson: We now have a more integrated system where Planning Center Online provides a central, online hub for member data, events, check-ins, calendar, and service planning. We have a live streaming system that is smooth and easy to run on a limited budget. We’ve settled on The Church Co to create a new look for our church’s website and integrate with Planning Center Online. All our digital functions are more integrated and streamlined.

EVAN: WHY IS DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IMPORTANT FOR THE REVITALISATION OF THE CHURCH?

Jackson: In one sense, COVID-19 was a blessing since it helped us understand how digital ministry can serve a lot of people. We have a lot of parishioners in our community who are immuno-compromised. Travelling out in a COVID-rampant world wasn't ideal for them and they still needed to be part of a spiritual community. With the revitalisation of digital space, we found that we were able to connect with people in all stages and could meet them where they were comfortable.

From a staff point of view, although it's nice to think that everyone can come here, through an online platform we can go to them where they are comfortable in their own homes. There are people in places all around the world who are wanting to receive content and find something that suits them. The digital space allows them to do that more quickly and efficiently, and do it from the comfort of their own home with their families. Digital platforms enable us to spread the good news to people who physically can’t come to us. Churches that revitalise their digital space are going to help more people. It's going to help more people feel connected to God, to the community, and to their families and it's absolutely imperative.

EVAN: HOW DO YOU MEANINGFULLY ENGAGE AND CONNECT WITH THEM AND HELP THEM HAVE A COMMUNITY WHEN THEY CAN'T PHYSICALLY CONNECT WITH YOU? HOW DO YOU OFFER THAT SENSE OF COMMUNITY WITH THEM?

Jackson: We have tried a multitude of approaches! At the moment, our key tool is called Church Online Platform which we use to livestream our services. It has chat functions, private prayer, online giving and many more features. The best thing is that it’s absolutely free.

Zoom was great during COVID-19. It helped to maintain community but there were limitations with reaching new people and moderating so many people with cameras and microphones. Church Online Platform helps to extend our reach and improves the quality of interaction by offering small and big steps for wherever people are at. Some people tune in from half an hour’s drive away, others are an hour and a half ’s drive away, and even a few from other continents. We’re thrilled at how this system brings people together and creates community.

Our previous experiences with Facebook Live and YouTube were okay. We found that there was limited communication and connection with those who joined online. By making the Church Online Platform our primary livestream platform, we could make better connections with this online community.

EVAN: HOW DO YOU HELP PEOPLE TO FIND AND ACCESS YOUR CONTENT?

Jackson: We’re continually trying to improve our communication. At the moment we're posting a lot of bible study resources on our websites. All of our sermons get edited and trimmed and republished as videos (hosted through Vimeo) on our website. We also have podcasts so content can reach people in a way that suits them. They feel spiritually connected by hearing the word and some commentary on it.

Social media is useful too. We do a lot of cross-platform promotion. We upload a sermon as a podcast or video, share that on Facebook, post an image on Instagram with all the links that they need. We promote this during the service for people and point them towards our website Resource page. On average, I spend 10 hours per week adding and monitoring content on all our social platforms. We don’t want multiple people posting content and so overwhelming viewers with mixed priorities, overlapping content or inconsistent quality. The goal is to make it as simple as possible for our viewers.

It's all about creating the simplest pathways for people to access those resources and promote it well so they can see

them.

It takes time to set up the pathways and the workflows but when we make it easier they're more inclined to come back and continue to connect and that's all we want.

EVAN: HOW CAN YOU MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND THE FRUITFULNESS OF ALL THIS DIGITAL TECH WORK?

Jackson: Raw numbers can be disappointing, but individual stories encourage us. We recently had a woman watch our service on Facebook, then she joined us on Church Online Platform and started chatting with us there, but left before the end of the service. She tuned in a couple more times then actually started to attend in person.

The digital space has largely replaced church foyers. People use online search engines to find churches near them, and preview the church experience through their online content.

Last week, a young woman from Canada moved here to study. She searched Anglican churches in our area and found us and three other churches within a 20 minutes drive. We met at our office and she is now interested in being a part of our church. That's all because we had an effective digital presence in online ministry.

We may not get the same numbers online as we do in person.

We care about fostering connection with individuals, or two or three people.

Evan: Can other churches start to replicate some of these simple pathways and workflows that you've been setting up?

Jackson: Definitely! Social media is a great tool for reaching people because that’s where many people are today. Most churches have websites. They can create resource pages and link a Word document or PDF with some reflection questions. These resources can be promoted on a Facebook page, which expands their reach.

We produce a weekly email newsletter and blog article.

There's a big button in the newsletter that takes subscribers straight to the blog. Again, we share that on Facebook, and through our website. It’s two clicks to get to the blog. For all our content, we aim to make it as easy as possible for different groups to access it. For example, how can Linda, who lives in a retirement home and gets access to the computer once a week, access the sermon?

Or how do we make it easy for Ben who is a Year 12 student, who loves listening to podcasts while he goes to the gym? Two different people in two very different scenarios, can both access our content in two clicks.

An easy and effective way for many churches to expand their digital reach is through links on social media platforms and promotion in email newsletters.

Intentionally target the types of communities you want to reach.

EVAN: IT TAKES TIME AND INTENTIONALITY TO SET UP AND MAINTAIN THESE SYSTEMS AND WORKFLOW. REALISTICALLY, WHAT IS REQUIRED TO GET THE DIGITAL MINISTRY OFF THE GROUND AND RUNNING EFFECTIVELY?

Jackson: Given the limited skills and time resources you have from both staff and volunteers, it makes sense to pay specialists for things like building and maintaining a website. We are now using a company called The Church Co for our website design and maintenance. It is tailored for churches and has features including sermons, podcasts, age-specific groups, weddings, baptisms and so on. Almost all of our media (photos and videos) for our website is taken by staff and parishioners.

The best websites I've seen are the ones that have fewer words on their homepages. Most people won’t read multiple paragraphs about everything that goes on. We like to use lots of images and big bold titles. For example, “our services are at these times, here’s the directions to our church, watch the livestream here, if you have any questions call this number or contact us here.”

If you spend the time creating the communication and being available to answer questions based on that, the best church websites are simple, easy to navigate and easy to find.

EVAN: MOST CHURCHES DON’T HAVE A PAID STAFF MEMBER WITH DIGITAL SKILLS AND EXPERTISE LIKE YOU. IF A CHURCH HAD A VOLUNTEER WITH ONLY A FEW HOURS EACH WEEK TO FOCUS ON DIGITAL OUTREACH, HOW CAN THEY HAVE THE MOST IMPACT?

Jackson: The most impact comes from good communication with your congregation. Newsletter emails, social media, and letting people know directly what is going on is a great start. When people know what's going on, they feel like they are welcome to participate and contribute. For example, small groups and Bible studies, and communicating that across multiple platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and newsletter emails. The social media platforms help to increase participation and enthusiasm, and spreads into the wider community in person and online.

To save time for posting and moderating, we use Meta Business Suite (which is free) to simultaneously work on Facebook and Instagram. There are lots of email newsletter tools. We have used subscription services including Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor and they’re both really good.

With all this, persistence and consistency is really important. We’ve had lots of roadblocks and made mistakes, but we are driven by our mission to reach people for Jesus. The digital space is a great opportunity to reach and engage people wherever they are. Work at understanding who you are trying to reach. Take the steps to make it easy for them to find you and access your content and create workflows that will make it easy for you to produce and share your content.

Evan Englezos Director of Digital Team Coach and Digital Ministry Hub - digitalteamcoach.com, digitalministryhub.com

Jackson King Digital and Music Ministry Support, Robina Anglican Church - robinaanglican.com

Resources mentioned - There is no affiliation to any of these resources;

thechurchco.com

www.planningcenter.com

churchonlineplatform.com

www.facebook.com/business/tools/meta-business-suite

mailchimp.com

www.campaignmonitor.com

: Written by: Joel Nankervis; Created: 01 March 2023

Joel Nankervis is the minister of Circular head Anglican church, Tasmania. Mark Simon spoke with him about revitalising the church.

Mark: how would you describe the state of the parish when you commenced?

Joel: The church is based in Smithton, in the far northwest of Tasmania. The town’s population is 4000 people. The main industries are farming, fishing and forestry. The town has an ‘end-of-the-road’ feel to it since there’s wilderness to the south and nothing but ocean to the north and the west. Many residents of the town and surrounding areas have historically been part of the Brethren church, and more recently, Pentecostal churches have emerged, as well as those who identify as Anglican. But many of these Christians of whatever background had become disconnected from church life.

Focusing specifically on the Anglican parish, when I began in 2017, it had been 20 years since the previous stipendiary minister. Circular Head was an Enabler Supported Ministry for those 20 years. Under this model,

a local team was raised up of leaders, including 1-2 locally ordained people, and this team was supported by a trained member of clergy called an Enabler, who covered 3-4 parishes. This model operated for around 20 years in Tasmania but has now ceased across the parishes that were using it. The local leaders had become quite tired after the years of doing ministry this way. The congregation had dwindled to around 20 people.

Mark: What were the foundations laid for revitalisation at circular head?

Joel: Among the church members when I arrived were 6-8 core people who were still enthusiastic and eager to try new things. They were happy to do the safe ministry training for children’s ministry and get clearances for that. Revitalisation started with children’s ministry. The Diocese also provided new ministry development funding to the parish for 3 years at the beginning of my time there.

Mark: Can you give some key decisions or turning points that helped revitalisation get off the ground?

Joel: Right from the start, we emphasised children’s ministry. My wife Lyn led this, drawing on her own theological training and experience as a Scripture teacher in the NSW school context. At the start it was just our own 2 year old daughter as the sole participant, but then through visitation by a member of the enabler team, another family with young children came to check out the church. There were no other churches in the town offering anything for families with young children. Word started to spread.

We also kept the framework of an Anglican Prayer Book service, but included some more contemporary elements that connected with non-Anglican visitors. Some of the trappings of a high church Anglican heritage were gradually removed to make physical space for the music group, the projector screen and for greater congregational participation in the Sunday service. For music we used a couple of hymns and introduced contemporary Christian songs, so there were both at every service.

I preach expositorily, and emphasised personal, living faith. Tasmanian Anglican churches were not historically evangelical, so word got around that something new was happening and Christians in the area were attracted.

We introduced small groups (while other churches in the area had previously had groups, there had been no history of small groups for the Anglican church here). Each year we aimed to start a new group for a new demographic. There are half a dozen groups now.

I was intentional about investing time and care in new people, and with those who are willing to be involved. A key Scripture passage is the Ephesians 3 prayer – ‘God who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.’ This has been emphasised in preaching and in setting the vision for the church. God can make it work. We prayed for this promise to become reality.

Mark: What factors do you think have been most important in the parish’s revitalisation to date?

Joel: Rural and small town ministry is more relational than urban ministry. Everyone knows each other. Giving time to nurture relationships was vital. There aren’t many young adults in the area (they move away for work or university), so we’ve got inter-generational ministry by necessity all the time.

We’ve tried some outreach activities like a Lego club (which had about 30 kids coming, but then covid happened, and it hasn’t yet resumed). In the early years (pre-covid) we took every opportunity to be present at community events (e.g. parades, festivals, public holidays) – and this raised our visibility. Most outreach is now relational and personal rather than programs. Still, we have run Alpha courses and are planning to do Christianity Explored in 2023.

Mark: What has been the financial costs to revitalise the parish and how has this been funded?

The major help was the New Ministry Development funding of $30,000 per year for 3 years. The Anglican parish of Burnie gave some occasional gifts. The local offertory had picked up enough by the end of the 3 years that my position is now funded at the local level.

Mark: What training and support has been significant for you personally to lead this parish revitalisation?

Joel: The normal formative stuff: Bachelor of Divinity from Moore College, and some professional development through Ridley College. 2 years as an assistant curate in Burnie before moving to Smithton. Bishop Richard has divided all clergy into training cohorts. New rectors are all trying to do revitalisation of some kind, and so we’re all able to support each other and share ideas. The diocese has regular training sessions. The Diocese also has a Development officer, who coordinates this training and mentors me as well as others doing this style of ministry.

Mark: What advice would you give to those who want to pursue revitalisation in their own parish?

Joel: Mostly the ministry in Circular Head is bread and butter, everyday gospel ministry, centring on prayer and ministry of the word. A consistent prayer is asking the lord of the harvest to send more workers. I’ve learned that it is wise to pick the battles I fight. Prayerfully and wisely seek to discern what is worthwhile changing (if resistance is likely), and where the key thing is to love people (and therefore take a slower or different approach to change).

Making the most of growth. When we see initial signs of growth, then become even more intentional about investing time in those people, helping them grow, and find and use their spiritual gifts.

Mark: Thank you for sharing this good news story of revitalisation. Having regular attendance now in the church of over 70 people most weeks is a wonderful testimony to God’s kindness and your hard and faithful gospel work.

: Written by: Rod Morris; Created: 01 March 2023

In February 2022 I took the step of concluding 13 years of parish leadership and moved into a new role as a Church Revitalisation Consultant with City to City Australia (CTCA). Under God, it seemed like a good way to bring together the various aspects of my ministry over the past 35 years and apply them in a way that would be a blessing to the wider church.

CTCA has been active in supporting church planters in Australia over a number of years. As part of this work they have developed training resources for planting healthy churches and gained expertise in ministry coaching to support church planters as they get established. In 2022, we have had the great privilege of working alongside over 40 church planters as they have established new churches. A number of these are Anglican churches, but we happily work with anyone who can affirm an orthodox confession of faith such as the Westminster confession, the Heidelberg catechism, or our own Thirty Nine Articles and the three historic creeds of our Prayer Book.

In 2021 CTCA took the step of moving into the realm of church revitalisation, and as I write this article in late 2022, we are working alongside over 60 churches across denominations and around the country. This work involves either a full church revitalisation project, or a specific intervention such as coaching, relational evangelism training, or a ministry vision workshop.

Our highest profile revitalisation project on the Anglican stage is with Bishop Richard and the Multiply Tas program, but we have also been working with the Diocese of Canberra Goulburn, parishes within Newcastle, Adelaide, Bendigo, the Northern Territory, and Perth, and churches within the Diocese of the Southern Cross. Personally, this year I have had the great privilege of working with twenty different churches across Victoria, Tasmania, NSW, ACT, Queensland, and the Northern Territory. My projects included three specific coaching relationships with other Anglican clergy, eight church vision workshops with Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, Brethren, and Independent churches, and thirteen ongoing revitalisation projects with a range of Anglican,

Presbyterian, Church of Christ, Wesleyan Methodists and independent churches. It is exciting to see what God’s people are doing in so many different contexts to see the gospel of Christ move forward.

Revitalise Australia

The full church revitalisation program with CTCA has three phases. The first is a health check and assessment of the current state of a church’s ministry. We visit the church’s Sunday services of public worship, and we assess the church’s facilities and their suitability for purpose. We meet with parish leaders to identify the current strengths and weaknesses of the church, as well as the opportunities and threats laying ahead. There is a 360 degree review of the minister’s leadership using the Christian Leadership Framework to assess their capacity for leading change, and there is a survey of church members to gain feedback on church health and life. We also gather existing data and reports such as annual meeting reports, NCLS results, vision statements, financial reports, parish publications, ABS census data, and whatever else the church has available that helps us understand their ministry and context.

The second phase is the writing of an extensive report in which we consider the church’s mission, vision, and values; their ministry systems for engagement, integration, and maturity; the infrastructure, governance, and operating systems; their church culture; and then we make some recommendations about how the church might move forward in their ministry. Phase three is then a year long journey in which we work alongside the minister and the church to help them implement the initiatives suggested.

Emerging themes

At this stage there are a number of themes clearly emerging across the churches that we are working with. The first is the stark reality of demographics. The churches are each significantly older than the communities they serve, often with a difference of well over 15 years, and there is a clear lack of young families, youth, and children across the churches. This clearly indicates that the churches should focus on developing their ministry to families as a priority. The clock is ticking, and time is running out!

An ageing congregation, often with limited incomes, means there is a real threat of churches becoming unviable, either financially or numerically. However, there is also a common concern that emphasis on recruiting new and younger members may result in existing and older parishioners feeling either overlooked or neglected.

There are too few doing too much, with few people having the energy or capacity to step up as volunteers, and as a consequence the churches are offering limited ministry options to their communities. There is a clear risk of the church spreading themselves too thin with a small pool of volunteers struggling with tiredness, ageing, busyness, and post-Covid residual exhaustion. It may be that Covid will prove to be a blessing in that it has enabled churches to stop lots of extraneous activities, and hopefully churches will be wise in what they restart.

Much of the load falls onto the minister, and church members are generally content with the clergy and staff they have serving. Whilst the ministers each have their own strengths and weaknesses, together with their corresponding professional development needs, they are generally suitable for the ministries they lead.

There is an identifiable sense of dissatisfaction with the support offered within most dioceses as it does not seem to clearly facilitate and enable ministry to flourish. People are feeling swamped by the legal and administrative requirements for ministry, and whilst these are recognised as necessary, they seem secondary to core ministry tasks.

Whilst the Sunday services conducted in various churches differ according to their liturgical and theological traditions, they are generally appropriate to their context and the existing congregation so there does not seem to be a great need to change existing services. But at the same time, there is the glaring problem that these services fail to engage with younger members of the community.

There is a pressing need to initiate new services that are more accessible for families and non-churched people. Consequently, almost every church needs to focus on initiating these new services. Whilst some churches have specific legacy issues related to historical abuse which clearly undermine their reputation within their community, people are generally cautious about doing church things following the Royal Commission and there needs to be deliberate attention in restoring the church’s reputation as a safe place.

A common theme is a lack of vision and the absence of a clear sense of where the church might be in five years and the steps needed to get there. I have already decided that this lack of vision and the consequent sense of being stuck in maintenance mode is actually definitional to church stagnation. Consequently, developing an easily shared vision and defining ministry pathways seems to be a priority with each parish. Churches are in maintenance mode rather than missional mode and none of the churches have an easily communicated vision of where they believe God is taking them over the next five to ten years. CTCA are addressing this issue using a vision workshop which helps the church identify where they think God is taking them and the steps needed to make that vision a reality. It is an effective tool and I think the power of the workshop is that it gets the key leaders within the church to develop an agreed sense of what they should be doing, and where they are going.

Similarly, churches do not have well-developed systems for engagement with the community, integration into the life of the church, or for producing spiritual maturity. They are generally just doing what they always have done, and there is little sense of intentionality within the church’s practice. Sadly, amongst the churches needing revitalisation there is real enthusiasm and openness to exploring new ways of using facilities to generate income, but not an equal enthusiasm for exploring new ways to use facilities to initiate ministry. Churches are running midweek ministry programs for families and engaged with community support programs such as op shops, food banks, and emergency relief, but there are few functioning pathways between these ministries and the worshipping community. Consequently, they each need to explore and define the way in which they engage with their community in outreach, integrate contacts and new members into the worshipping life of the church, and to a lesser degree, how they help people grow to spiritual maturity.

There is a general expectation that outsiders need to take the initiative in connecting with the church and there seems to be a degree of spiritual passivity, introversion, introspection, and a cultural cringe about evangelism across the churches. Most communities would not notice if their local parish closed down. There is a clear opportunity to grow the church’s profile within the community by owning our identity and developing clearer strategies for community engagement. CTCA is addressing this specific need with the ‘Ripple Effect’. Julie-Anne Laird, who is a Lay Canon for Church Planting in the Diocese of Melbourne, has developed this material together with Sam Chan and we are seeing churches enthusiastically embracing this combination of whole church training workshop, small group resources, and assistance with developing an understanding of the local community.

Ten steps to help revitalise your church

Check the pumping heart of gospel clarity within your church. It doesn’t matter how slick your ministry is if you’re not proclaiming Christ and helping people grow to Christian maturity.
Rally the troops to pray. It is God’s church, and He is the one who brings about church revitalisation.
Develop clarity of your vision and identify the steps for moving forward over the next 5 years.
Audit the existing core ministry systems of your church and check their effectiveness in engaging the community, integrating people into the life of the church, and growing to maturity as disciple making disciples of Jesus. Especially check your Sunday services and their effectiveness as the shop front for your ministry.
Conduct a local community study in order to develop a community profile and understand your ministry context and how you might engage meaningfully with those you serve.
Create a disciple-making culture and work on equipping people to effectively share the gospel.
Mobilise your members for ministry by helping them identify their gifting and find areas for ministry service.
Develop a leadership pipeline that helps people be disciple-making disciples.
Identify and deal with any specific problems, the skeletons in the cupboards and elephants in the room, which may be having a detrimental impact on your church.
Ensure there is ongoing support and encouragement for the Senior Minister.

Rod Morris is a Lead Consultant within the Revitalise Australia program with City to City Australia.

: Written by: Rod Morris; Created: 01 March 2023