Mobile technology has impacted culture and changed behavior in countless ways, but many churches have struggled to interact with those changes in a timely way. Some organizations have waited so long that they’ve found themselves face to face with a harsh reality: their churches are dwindling.
Recently, some of us at Faithlife had the pleasure of sitting down with Natalie Farmer, chief of staff for Church of God Ministries (Anderson, Indiana), to chat about how this phenomenon has impacted their churches. Church of God Ministries is a global movement of people seeking to fulfill God’s mission in the world: to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18–20).
Church of God at a glance
- 2,214 churches in the United States and Canada
- 7,446 churches internationally
- Over 1 million members worldwide
- Founded in 1881
- US Chapter President Jim Lyon
- Based in Anderson, Indiana
Churches in decline
The story of decline Natalie unfolded to us is not unique to the Church of God. Many churches and denominations worldwide are at the same crossroads in their ministries. Anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 churches in the United States will close their doors for good this year alone. There’s a new generation of technology natives many church leaders feel ill-equipped to reach, and the big question on everyone’s mind is: How is our organization going to survive in the digital age?
Of course, this isn’t simple. Churches that are deeply rooted in tradition, theology, and practice are rightly suspicious of changing anything too quickly. But we now live in a fast-paced, always-on, hyper-connected world. Many churches are realizing they’re in a decline that may not stop if they don’t figure out how to regularly identify changes in society and pivot their focus.
A kingdom issue
This isn’t about compromising beliefs. The Church of God wants to retain all of their distinctives, and their core mission to make disciples isn’t changing. But they’ve realized their resistance to change is a barrier to accomplishing their mission to deliver the gospel to the nations. They’ve become convicted about it and now understand that learning to operate in the digital world is a kingdom issue. It’s a matter of life or death, and they know they can no longer look the other way.
So, what are they going to do about it? Natalie has big dreams of what they’re going to be able to accomplish as they work to unify their movement on the Faithlife platform. Here are a few of the issues they’re hoping to address:
Unity and autonomy
Because the Church of God is a movement, not a denomination, all of the churches operate independently of one another. But moving forward, they know they also need to build unity in a way that will allow them to become collaborative, share encouragement and best practices, and truly lock arms for the sake of the gospel. While they do have an annual convention, having a digital home for these kinds of conversations to happen more regularly will be essential.
Collective impact
One thing that’s important to Natalie and others is that Church of God churches learn how to impact the broader communities they serve. So, beyond collaborating with one another, how can they start to work with local schools or police or government to effect change? Natalie wants to see time and effort invested in helping local churches learn how to do this well. Collaboration between churches is a critical new skill required for discipling the nations in our ever-changing world, and having a home for organizing these relationships online will be important.
Leadership pipeline
Finally, Natalie and the Church of God are looking for ways to pool all of their leadership resources into something more structured and accessible, so they can identify future leaders earlier and begin to train and equip them now. They want to shift from what looks like a bleak future to one full of optimism, with more leaders than they know what to do with. They know they need a consolidated online leadership training experience to ensure future leaders’ growth and success.
Where Faithlife Equip comes in
The Church of God Global Movement now has one Faithlife group online where people from around the world can connect. To date, there are over 4,400 members, and the group is growing daily. They are using the group to communicate to all levels of the church, sharing important announcements and prayer requests quickly and easily.
We identified Faithlife as the best partner . . . Equip is the technology package that answers technology problems at the local church level.
— Natalie Farmer, chief of staff for Church of God Ministries
Their Faithlife group may seem like a small thing, but this shared space also allows them to share files with one another, including logos, training resources, conference materials, and more.
This year, Faithlife attended the Church of God Global Convention and helped livestream the event. People from all over the world tuned in. The convention team used the Faithlife calendar for breakout sessions, posted daily discussion questions, shared pictures, and took an offering with Faithlife Giving.
At the convention, Faithlife helped run a church tech workshop so individual churches could get started with their website, giving, and presentation software.
Church of God Ministries is using Faithlife’s system to register all of their local and regional pastors, and they are talking with Faithlife now about how to store their foundational books and content for simple digital distribution.
Church of God General Director Jim Lyon says, “We’ve gone all-in on Faithlife.” They’re already starting to reap the benefits, but there’s so much more work to be done when it comes to getting all of the individual churches connected and using the platform. And Natalie has a big vision for how leadership training will evolve on the Faithlife platform.
We identified Faithlife as the best partner . . . Equip is the technology package that answers technology problems at the local church level.
— Natalie Farmer, chief of staff for Church of God Ministries
This is just the beginning of an important revitalization and unification project, and the Church of God and Faithlife are ecstatic about the potential for what they’ll be able to build together in the coming year. Together, we are building a new thing in an old place, keeping all of the rich history and theology while expanding reach and connectivity through new tools and technology, and our prayer is that God will bless our endeavors.
Learn more about Faithlife Equip.
Beka Johnson earned her MEd from Concordia University, Irvine and has a background in Christian education, theological studies, and marketing. She has been working in SaaS and church tech since 2015 and is currently the Director of Content Marketing at Faithlife.
This article will be published in the February issue of Ministry Team magazine.
The post Faithlife and Church of God: Doing a New Thing in an Old Place appeared first on Faithlife Blog.
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