August 14, 2024 • 58 mins
This strategy session for congregational leaders with me, Peter Bowden, offers new energy, insight, and strategies to help you lead & grow in the year ahead! We’ll explore mission, vision, strategy, and updated approaches to growth, outreach, and community building tailored for today's world.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hey, everyone, it's Peter Bowden.
I'm glad you're here.
Welcome to this Strategy Sessionon Growing Congregations.
This is really in preparation
for the new year,the new congregational year, the fall.
I'm Peter Bowden.
I work with congregationsfrom a range of traditions,
from my Unitarian Universalist hometradition to really any congregation
(00:26):
that really appreciatesmy practical approach.
Integrating different aspectsof congregational life from welcoming
and membership to hospitality,digital strategy, small groups, video.
I really bring a lot of experiencewith different aspects
of congregational life, including more
new and emerging areas.
(00:46):
I've also worked
on looking at what's comingnext and trying to figure out how do we
learn to adapt for a changing world.
So if you're tuning in live,please say hi in the chat
and know that you can ask questionsas we go.
I have a bunch of thingsI want to cover in terms of strategies
related to helping you leadand grow your congregation this year.
(01:09):
So some of them share some strategies
that are very distinct strategiesrelated to helping newcomers connect.
But I also want to share a few thingsthat are new and emerging
that you need to have on your radarin terms of just making sense
of our changing digital landscape,how people are connecting community.
(01:30):
So I'm just thankful for youto your being here before we dove in.
Can you say hi in the chat?
Let me know where you're tuning in from.
Hi, Karen.
The people from Rockville.
Juliana, it's great to have you hereand if you're tuning in via the replay.
So once this is over, feel free to sayhi as well because I check out
(01:51):
all the comments and I answer questionsafter the streams over as well.
So I'll take questions live and then aswe go with the replay, keep connecting.
All right. Seattle, Boulder, Colorado.
Awesome.
Great Colorado turnoutexcellent. Fun fact.
When I first went to college,I went to the University of Colorado
(02:12):
in Boulder a few years there. All right.
So here's the structure of this music.
The theme, want to me grab my notes here.
I have some notesand I'll share via my email list.
I will share some notes after the fact.
So just know thatI'll take the transcript, put together
(02:34):
some summary, etc so that you can shareif you're on my email list.
Subscribe now if you aren't via the linkor on the video,
I'll share some notesI want to try and do more.
I'm I can talk for a long time,but I'm for me to sit down
and write up all the pointsexactly in advance.
I'm more organic than that,so we're going to use an after the fact,
(02:55):
get the notes togetherand share with you approach. OK,
so I want to talk about reconnecting
with the vital and critical missionof congregations today.
Touch on that, reimagine, reimagine
our strategies for today's world.
Our world has changed
and if we're going to lead, be of serviceand help bring about the change
(03:20):
we want in the world,we have to change our strategy as well.
So we're going to reconnectwith our mission, reimagine new
strategies, and reset after friends.
One of the things that we needmore than anything,
in addition to justiceand all the things we been working for
we need to help humanity reconnect
(03:43):
and really facilitate the process
of human beings coming together
in community for meaningful connectionand conversation.
And that is a critical functionI think congregations can have today.
These are things we've been doing,
but we need to take it to the next levelbecause humanity is struggling.
(04:06):
And if you notice that there are waysin which our human society
seems to be breaking down like their basicsocial conventions and the way people
tune into others around them, that whereI live, it's like, that's that's shifting.
Anyhow, some want to reach center.
For those of you who are interestedin congregational growth,
recenter on like how do we really be
(04:29):
a center for promoting connection,meaningful
conversation and associate actionin a very intentional way?
Because that is going to help youfulfill your mission.
All right.
Hello to everyone else, Pam, Roy, others,all so many people.
It's great to see our first reconnectingwith the mission of congregational life.
(04:50):
Now, I work with congregationsfrom a range of traditions,
again, raised Unitarian,Unitarian, Universalist
marriage, a ministry workwith lots of Unitarian Universalist.
Hi all my friends.
But I also I bring kind of a
how do human congregationsin general function
and how can we strengthen our
(05:11):
just humanity,human communities in general?
So for other denominations, peoplefrom other traditions, I'm happy to talk
with your your communities, denomination
domination staff, et cetera as well. So
the mission of congregations today,
I've been thinking about thisand also talking with colleagues is really
(05:33):
there's maybe the missionof your individual religion.
But as congregations as a wholethat we're really being called
to foster deep connections,cultivate shared meaning and empower
collaborative actionreally through inclusive hubs.
Or we can bring people together to explorevalues,
(05:55):
nurturing leaderships and work
to all those endsthat you care so much about.
And so much of that comes downto connection, meaning in action.
These are things I've been talking aboutfor my entire career,
working with congregationsfrom my early days,
working with youth ministry,the young adult ministry.
(06:15):
Then helping to promote our popularsmall group ministry models within
the Unitarian Universalist tradition,just continually getting back to
how do we connect peoplehow do we facilitate conversations
about meaning, purpose,and then in terms of action,
when we do a greatjob with that process, as
(06:36):
we start self-organizing, people startgetting excited.
The more we bring people togetherfor connection and meaningful
conversation,the more we can get people to say yes
to volunteering, to social justice events
and all the other thingsthat we're working on.
So that's that's really important.
I just think increasingly
(06:59):
that we as whole nations can
getting back to our center
as places where we're promotingthat connection, meaning collective action
that we can if we're very strategicwith our programs, clear
with our communicationthat we can shift away from.
(07:20):
I think the trap of having programsthat do that
in a very member oriented like if you'realready a member of my congregation
and they're used to this languageand you know what
chalices are if you're you you like if
we we do a lot with programs
that promote connectionmeaning and inspire action
(07:42):
wrapped in languagethat makes sense for our members
after they've been through the processof connecting with us.
But for the larger community,that often doesn't work.
And so I think we need to really focus onhow can we make that happen
community wide.
So we're promote a connection, meaningan action to our existing programs.
Fantastic.
(08:03):
But there are things we want to talk aboutin this session that I think
will be very beneficialin terms of your really being seen
as a center for promoting connectionmeaning action throughout your community.
And just a littlething I was just saying about
our mission on case that
in the chat,if I can hear highlights again
(08:25):
due to do
yeah, we're going to do in a few chunks
because I can only doso many characters at a time
if we go
and ask
Well, there you go.
See the chat for I was just reading.
(08:46):
All right.
Now, so
in terms of just reconnecting,I think for you as leaders here
today is thinking aboutwhat is your congregation called to do?
And there are so many things that we talkabout there, things we care about.
There's changethat we want to see in the world.
But when it comes toI like to be very practical,
(09:09):
I feel like so much of what we actually dothat gets results
is where we're actuallybringing our members, friends
and the larger community togetherthrough specific processes.
And for connecting,
for facilitating meaningful conversationand leading that transform.
That's transformationand the actions that make sense.
(09:30):
I mean, if you're with me in the chat.
All right. So
just knowingthat you want to focus on that
connection,meaning action and the processes
and programs and eventsthat can make that happen consistently
without massive planning,without racking our brains,
without burning out our volunteers,without tons of money, like
(09:52):
we can use these processes consistently.
They work, they've worked for years.
They continue to work.
People want this.
And so friends, I'm sayinglet's really zero I mean, double down on
how do we deliver for our members.
Those who are interested in connectingwith us, possibly in our larger community,
(10:15):
make sure that everyone is connected
in a meaningful way, is having meaningfulconversation and feels welcomed
into efforts, collaborative efforts
to lead change in your community.
So want now the shift to reimagine
our world is changing at lightning speed.
(10:38):
If you're watching live or on the replay,
how are you feeling aboutthe rate of change,
the rate at which technology is changing?
I just had spent a lot of this
the first part of this year doing aI forget sabbatical.
The change is mind boggling.
(11:00):
And so as our technology is changing
and people are using the technologyto explore new ways, entertainment,
all these different things
tell me in the chatif there's any kind of technology
that you're paying attention toand are particularly excited about,
or maybe you're concerned about
that we need to make sure
(11:21):
that our approach to gathering
people, promoting membership,know hospitality,
everything that that is in linewith today's world.
One of the key thingsthat I've been talking about for years now
is that there's been a shift
(11:43):
from people.
If I'm going to find a connectto your congregation,
if I want to make sure
if your congregations write for me,maybe I'm going to bring my family
or all of us.
I have I have a daughter.
I married my wife, Amy Freedman, and Iwhen we moved back to Cambridge
or to the Cambridge area,we did the church shopping
(12:05):
how do people
figure outif your congregation is right for them
or used to be you have to go visit, right?
You have to go visit.
You have to spend timeamong the congregation,
get to know the peopleand actually try and interact
and over a period of time, maybe
(12:25):
it's weeks, maybe months,maybe it's years.
Get to the point where you're like,I really feel like I belonged here
was gone.
That thatwas gone for the majority of humans
with the Internet and mobile devices.
What happens instead?
And this is as the more I talk,the more people verify
(12:48):
that this is in line with their experiencethere.
All are exceptions,but just accept that for a lot of people,
this is what happens if I'm interested in
doing something significant in my life.
Picking a congregation, or
maybe it's we're going to a restaurant,or maybe I'm buying a book,
any major decisionor even insignificant decision,
(13:12):
people grab their devices, go online,and they do a search.
As soon as you have something,you have to decide, like,
I'm going to go explore and figure out
what's the deal, what's the answer,what's the the right decision for me?
And because we are trained to have accessto information
(13:33):
from Yelp reviews, Apple maps,
all these different things,
Amazon reviews,
photos of almost any video of anythingwe might do.
Like, I was
like I grew up as a teen
I was so introverted into my twenties.
And so like as,as these technologies came on,
(13:57):
I'm like, oh my God,if I, if I'm going to go someplace new,
I can do a search engine,check out where it is in the map,
and then they start adding photosand other things
and I'm like, oh,I can see exactly what it looks like.
Oh, I'm so comforted.
And then like,
there's like on Google Maps and others,you can click around and see.
And so like, before I goand do something, I'm doing like
(14:20):
this amazing level
of research where like, I'mnot like I'm going to a new Trader Joe's.
I know not only where the parking lot is,
I've maybe we did a little virtualwalk around just in front of it,
just so I have a sense of like,oh, this is this what I'm getting into?
All right?
That's, that'slike some of us just doing average things,
buying some things cheap, going outto a restaurant, taking this or that.
(14:45):
What do you use the online resources for?
Living on a chat and everyone elsejoining in?
Laura, Jennifer, Dawn, Glenda.
So for newcomers,the congregation's potential newcomers
they are basically trite and this isn'talways explicit in their mind.
They're trying to make sure to like a highdegree of a high degree of certainty
(15:09):
that your congregation is right for them.
They're going to they know what to expect.
They know where to go.
They they know that you're leaders well.
They resonate with them.
They like your leaders, like your leaders.
They know your leadersand they know what you're about.
They've gotten a taste of it.
And they actually feel like, yes,this is the right place for me
(15:33):
before they ever visit.
How how is that going to happen?
How are you ever going to makethat happen?
Well, it's right now it's 20, 24.
Thus, the normwhere I am in the United States and across
the world, is leaders show up online
using videoand other content to communicate
exactly what they do,exactly how they can help people,
(15:56):
what they care about, storiesof how they do this, stories of why
they're doing that, testimonials of peoplewho did all these things.
And so the average human being today,if you're interacting
with a new organization, a new leader,a new community, a new nonprofit,
that the norm is
I should be able to go onlinesee all these different details
(16:20):
and get a sense of what the leadersare like to the point where my anxiety,
uncertainty questions are addressedand I have a high degree of confidence.
So our challenge is
if somebody gets
to the point of like,oh, I think I might go check out
that congregation, or I heard about thatcongregation, or I was driving by
(16:42):
and I saw not only the Black LivesMatter banner, but the Pride
Progress flag out front.
When we did the Pride Monthat the congregation I attend, not only do
we have Black Lives Matter flag and the
the progress
flag with the transgender colors
(17:03):
and all these I
so that flag, but we had this giant flag
that was for the pride parade in townthat we strung between tree to trees.
So it was like this huge
suite of giant long, 30 foot
long remove flag than the other banners.
(17:24):
And so imagine somebody seesthat I'm like, oh, who are these people?
They pull over on their car,
pull out the phone, look, where am I?
I'm here.
And so that's the map locationfor this place.
Who are they?
And so they their path
to connectingwith your congregation may start by
(17:45):
some things a catalyst
like those bannersand then they start with their map app.
And from there, what do they experience?
What do they see?
Is there anything that's compelling?
And so I shared a link in thethe chat to a free workshop.
I have one hour workshop calledBuilding a Digital Path to Membership
(18:05):
that covers all these different issues.
That's really my orientation for leaderslike you
and others in your congregation, 31 hour,just going through
how we need to use digital toolsand digital
strategy content on our website,et cetera,
and also looking at where we have
a presence online to help peoplewhen they say pull the map app
(18:29):
or something else that we actually createa nice path from them.
Easily go from there,say a map app to your website
to whatever it is that you want them to doto connect successfully.
So the real I mean, it's a huge shiftin terms of psychology that,
(18:49):
you know,
there's a wall and we had websitesand like I remember I was actively working
with congregations when the first websitestarted coming online and volunteering
for my home congregation.
And we were talking about like,but your websites like the front door
to your congregation
and like people would use that to findtheir way to your congregation on site.
(19:09):
Or nowI think it would be valuable for you
to think of your online experience
that you offer newcomers from whereverthey interact with you first.
Is it on Facebook, Instagram,is it on a map app or a Yelp review?
Or whatever it is that that experience,including going to your website
(19:30):
and looking at photos, video,
that that collective content
available online on demand, any time
that is their first experience,that is their first visit.
So when you think
is someonegoing to come back to our congregation
after their first visit, you knowhow important that first visit is, right?
(19:52):
Like if they don't feela sense of connection rapport,
I are they going to come back?
Well, today it's their interaction.
All that content online when they're doingtheir self guided independent
exploration of your congregation,that's their first experience.
And so some of the waysthat we can really help people
(20:16):
feel that sense of connection is something
I've talked about a lotis video like that.
You can and this can be very simple.
I talk about this, my training
program, video ministry academy,also known as Video Message Academy,
to tell you as my ideas for how to do thata little differently this season.
I'll tell you about that in the second
(20:37):
with that video structure.
I want to give youa little quick overview of that
just so you can get in your mind.
Oh, here's that. That makes sense.
So when we're going online as a newcomerresearching a congregation like they saw
the banners, they get to your website,like, what is it?
Where are these people?
Is it right for me and my family?
Or just me and
(20:59):
what they're looking for,whether they admit it or not or not,
and whether you like it or notis a sense of belonging.
Like if they're going to come in personor attend online live,
that there needs to bea sense of connection
and rapport and understandingin a visceral felt sense.
That that they're in the right place,that you will like them and care.
(21:24):
That's very hard to communicate.
Just in text, some of you are amazingwriters and you can use simple photos
and text to write messagesthat can start to evoke that.
But recording a simple video
so that one and you can usemultiple videos when people land
(21:45):
on your website, there's a human beingso they land on your website.
And so the three videos that I tellcongregations
are prioritize because you can use themfor a lot of benefit
as very straightforward is a welcome videoso that when people land on the website,
there's not like an expensive
(22:05):
we took ten years to producea $5,000 video.
That'slike the history of our congregation.
There's all the footage in the photosand the Ken Burns
effect and music and fanciness.
No, there's a video of a human
being recorded very much like thisor standing in front of your congregation
(22:26):
and we're on a zoom set upwhatever you want to do, but a human being
essentially like an online reader
standing at that digital front door
is able to say, Hi, I'm so-and-so,
maybe the role and say,you know, on behalf of congregation,
I want to welcome you.
(22:46):
Here we are and give them a snapshotof the congregation
and affirmwhat people are looking for today
saying connects and meaningworking together to change our world.
You know,what are the things that you value?
But a quick snapshot paragraphof your congregation,
what you're doing in terms of your
(23:07):
your mission, your focus,the kind of things your congregation
does or cares aboutand invite them to connect.
And then
where do they connect?
You send them to your visitor page.
On the visitor page,there's video number two.
All right.
That is a landing pagefor newcomers video.
What does that mean
(23:28):
when people are looking to connectto the congregation in this age
where, like, people like to knowwhat to do and want to have certainty
and also there's heightened anxiety.
So the more clarity we can have,the more likely we're going
to follow through and actually do whatyou encourage them to do encouraged.
(23:48):
The more them, the more clarity we have,
the more likely people are going to followthrough with what you recommend
as a default processfor connecting successfully.
So what I recommend on your welcome heremean your visitor landing pages.
You have someone who's like a greeterfrom your welcoming a welcome table.
And again, like this, you say, Hey,
(24:11):
I'm Peter, I'm on our welcometeam and then what, you just
reiterate that snapshot
and then you offer them
clear guidance on how to connect
and have a little form where they can get
like sign up hereto RSVP to the thing you want them to do
(24:32):
and you let them know that you're going tosend them all the details automatically.
Maybe you're using MailChimpand as soon as they submit the form
or Brees or any of the church software,
church database softwareas soon as they RSVP,
they're going to gettheir information packet.
And so you're really taking the leadso that when they follow up
and they do the thing you said to doand you have to decide what that is,
(24:57):
that they have the information,they have a path, a plan,
and that connects directly to whatever
you're offering for newcomers as like,this is the way we're helping you connect.
OK, does that make sense thatthat those videos can kind of like
really out the third video?
Sorry, the third videois Meet the minister video.
(25:18):
Why dowe need to meet the minister's video?
Because no oneis going to go to a congregation
until they've met the minister.
They want to know who the minister is.
For some people,
if you've been to a congregation for yearslike you went to that congregation,
you moved townand you're going to go to the same kind of
congregation here, you're going to go,all right, fine.
But someone who has no experiencewith religion,
(25:40):
like if they are using my example,they saw the banners.
What is this?
I didn't know there were congregationsthat care about these things
and they're looking and say, Well,that sounds really interesting,
but like there's ministers is worshipservices.
Like, what is this all about?
Are are these people I was on also?
I moved on my focus.
Are these are these people
(26:03):
like weird,
religious, freaky, freaky, like,what's it going to be like
for you to show what who your minister is
and have your minister offer a personal
introduction to who they are?
That is like a key piece in the puzzle.
Am I going to visit?
(26:24):
So if you all dothink all the people go to your website,
ever, all the people go,there's a huge chunk of them.
We're like, maybe I'll go.
But then if you don't give them a way
to really get to know your minister,maybe there's anxiety.
Well, you could say, Well, they could justwatch our worship service videos.
We have like 100 videosof old worship services
(26:46):
those tend to be kind of like longer
not optimized for short onlineattention spans, not ideal.
What we want to dois actually have your minister
or whoever your leaders are.
This works if you're a fellowship,whatever your structure is,
the leadersthat people are going to be expected
expecting to connect with whoeveris leading your congregational life
(27:09):
for them to be,oh wow, suppose I'm that person
and they get to know me on thatthat Meet the Leader page.
And in that video they're like, Oh, wow.
Peters grew up Unitarian Universalist,and now he's doing this thing at the
whatever congregation.
He seems nice and friendly,little overcaffeinated.
But man, I relate like he seems nice.
(27:30):
I feel comfortable going and then boomthere likely to be willing to go.
So welcome videooverview of Congregation Specific.
Here's how to connect on your visitor pageand then
the Meet the Minister or whatever leaders.
And you can do this for all of your keystaff, your leaders, different committees.
(27:52):
You can if you get into it,
there's no end to how we can use videoto help people connect with us.
That content is just like goldin terms of helping
people feel like,oh, I get it, I get it now.
My training Video Message Academyfor Congregations, which is also run
under the nameVideo Ministry Academy this season
(28:16):
as of now, August 20, 24.
I'm working.
I'm going to play around with doing ita little differently.
Here'swhat I ask you a question right now.
I'd love your feedback.
So that's been an on demand coursethat I've done live Q&A
sessions for kind of leading peoplethrough that program.
I find that it's very hardfor busy ministers
(28:38):
to watch in other leadersto watch on demand content.
So I'm thinking about offeringthe exact same training,
but through a series of live Zoom sessions
with the on demand contentand all like that,
you know, the template of it,I have content outline for what I think
(29:00):
you should include in the different videosand other strategies.
Would you be interested in Live Zoom
training around how to use video to engagewith potential newcomers?
And all these thingsare just talking about.
If so, let me know in the chat.
I'm going to play around with that.
And then we have kind of the traditionalon demand program
available shortly, very shortly.
(29:20):
And then I'll also be doingsome kind of live version.
So those of you who want to getlike a single two hour session,
we can go through all the details with thehandouts, answer all the questions.
I think that could be very helpful.
All right, moving on. So
once if somebody
gets to the point where they actuallyare going to visit your congregation,
(29:43):
live, and this also appliesfor the visiting online,
how have you do thatzoom or something else?
But let's focus on on site for a second.
When people connect, moreare going to connect.
The thing
I want you to understand or consideris that
(30:04):
in the world, as I mentioned earlier
in the session, where we had to spend time
being among
a congregation, living on campusin their building with the people
to learn what it's like,like pre-Internet culture,
you know, back then we had to spend time
(30:25):
then like as we started marchingthrough the decades,
the nineties the 2000s, the amount of time
I find that people were willing to spend
feeling awkward and not like people knowthem is getting shorter
and shorter and shorter until today.
(30:45):
I think we're at a point where for many,
many, many, many people including thosewho've been are digital natives.
Some of that has to do withwhether you're introverted or extroverted.
The the amount of time
they're willing to spendin your congregation feeling
(31:05):
not known, awkward
is one visit
that first.
The first time they connect, they
go to your building for a worship serviceor something else.
If they're not feeling connectedby the end of that
to get a goodbye,or maybe they'll give you two tries
(31:27):
and depending on their personal city,some people just a really strong
and confident.
They know they got this long term,maybe three.
I think you should assumethat it's going to be very short.
Like if you can optimize your strategy,I'm going to tell you
what I recommend in the second more.Some ideas.
The more you can optimize your process
(31:49):
for delivering connectionin a sense of belonging.
And I've, I've moved through the awkwardnobody knows me phase two that first day
that's going to make a huge difference.
Does that do any of you have observations
around shifts in how people are feeling?
I mean, I remember the past coupleof years, I'm married to a minister.
(32:11):
I tend to gounless I'm speaking somewhere.
I go with my family to our congregationand I'm always walking around
and talking to people.
And the in September last year
and the year before, I was amazedwhen I'd say hi to a newcomer
and kind of get some conversation startedabout how they think, what brought them.
(32:33):
I have just kind of
opened the door for them to talk to meand they're like, Oh, hi, Peter.
So I need friends.
Like, I've been living in a caveand I need friends.
I mean, that was kindof coming out of the pandemic.
But I was interested that two years agoit was like, people like, I need friends.
This last year, they're still like,I need friends.
And the amount of like people comingand looking to connect
(32:56):
once they actually show up on site,
it's been really powerful.
But also the
what do I do to connect?
Like they arriveand I had lots and lots of
had lots of interaction with peoplelike, like, what's the process?
How do I do this?
How do I do that? And it's basically
I got myself here will you take over
(33:18):
and get me connected and get me throughthe this awkward I'm new here.
Nobody knows me face like right now.
OK, so I think it's
my experience supports directlythat people are looking for them.
How do you do that
if you're nowthere are so many congregations
that have like less staffthan they used to have lower
(33:39):
membership compared to pre-pandemic,whatever, whatever,
regardless of your congregationsize, you know, it all dealing with
budget issues, staffing issues,
dealing with changing culture.
What will I think is very helpful to do
is just know I haven't had a chance
(34:00):
to read all the commentsand questions yet.
But I'm going to go back in a minuteand scan
when people are on your website,
on the visitor page
and like on social, if you're startingsharing stuff on social media,
like you could share your
your welcome video, your Meetthe Minister video,
(34:24):
what any of the combat contentwe were talking about or any other video
and the link say on Facebookto your visitor visitor page.
Oh, haven't connected with us yet.
We'd love to meet you.
Here's a link on how to get connected the
so on that page, your visitor landing page
I want you to think about like this isyou're like helping them land an airplane.
(34:48):
Here's the runway.This is exactly what to do.
You're coming and not just like,hey, come whenever, but runway
two and you're going to gate forlike is like that level of precision.
So for us, words that look likeyou have to decide what works for you.
But here's some ideas. One,
I want every newcomer
that shows up at your congregationgoes to a service.
(35:12):
I want you to convince themto go to your fellowship time
after andand so that takes a little effort.
But you let them know that inand you can do this before
they even visit on that visitor pagethat in your fellowship space
where you have a welcome tableor wherever your welcome table is.
If you can set it upso that you have either a table and chairs
(35:34):
or just that half circle of chairs,
but some kind of space for human beingsto sit and talk to each other
so that as people come to yourwelcome table
you're welcoming them.
Maybe you're sitting down and talkingto them and giving them some information.
But then as somebody else comes up
to the table, you say, Oh,I'm just going to go talk to these people.
(35:58):
I'll be right back.
And then you talk to themand how have you designed it?
Or what kind of like the flow basically.
You're welcome. Table.
Everyone's coming to it.
People are being directed there.
You told them to come to onlinein that video maybe.
And then as people come
you're introducing the newcomers
(36:18):
to the other newcomers that day.
That's one of the most powerful thingsyou can do.
I do that on Sundays.
I'm just floating.
I see a newcomer,and when I see another newcomer,
it's kind of like I'm doing a likeforming a chain of people.
I'll say, Oh, there's some over there.
I haven't met yet.
You might want to come with me on it,meet them, and then we can keep talking.
(36:40):
And so I take the newcomerand we walk over to the
another newcomer and
quick intros, continue the conversation,and then I see another newcomer.
I'm like, Oh, let's, let's all gowalk over to the other newcomer.
And all of a suddenthere's three of them and may talking.
Then when the next newcomer is spotted,I said, Oh, I see someone
(37:00):
I want to gosay hi to. Well, I'll be right back.
And I leave them talkingand they start talking.
And what have I done?
You made this little tiny mini small groupwhere what's happening?
Connection, conversation
what I always encourage people to do is
ask people to share, just like the storyof how they came to be there.
Just tell us a little bit about yourself,
(37:22):
but try and get peopletalking to each other.
So imagine if as people are comingto your congregation, forget any bigger
programing, you're just actuallybringing them to your welcome table.
Inspiring them to go there
and connecting them with peoplesitting or standing nearby.
I think sitting is good.
Having a table, if you havethe space is great.
(37:43):
You recognize that.
The simplicity of thatas people come into your congregation,
you are actually you are facilitatingthen meeting other newcomers
to the point where by the time they leave,they're already like,
they'll even get away from thewelcome table without getting to the point
(38:04):
where they're known,they've shared the story,
they've heard the storyof a few other people,
and they have a sensethat when they come back
they're going to be known and just likeconnecting the newcomers like that.
I find thatif you connect, say, three or four people
the next week,
they come back and talk to those peopleand it's almost informal
newcomer class that starts navigatingcongregational life together.
(38:28):
All right,
so there's that another option,and I'm getting
these are just some very simple thingsyou can do
separate from regular like some classicthings are, oh, a monthly.
Meet the minister are the leaders
and a little Q&A after the service.
Another thing is havingjust regular newcomer classes,
(38:49):
but in terms of the simplicity, optimizeusing your
welcome table to take the newcomersin, they kind of connect them together.
That's powerful.
And then before the service,
say a half hourbefore the service have people gather
and they can RSVP for thisif you want on that page
for a tour Q&A.
And then after you do that,kind of like a walking tour
(39:12):
of of your facility
and just talking about programs,answering questions, you told them that
with whatever time is leftbetween the tour and the service,
there's coffee and some refreshments.
And so but the people go on the tour,they go on the tour,
and then maybe it's quarter of
they get to sit and talk to each otherwith coffee, whatever
(39:36):
in your fellowship space
and know that they can if they want to goto the service together.
And so you've oriented themto the congregation, answered
some questions and in like 15 minutesthey keep it real short.
You just connect to the newcomers,which is powerful, as I said,
got them oriented and they have peoplepotentially to go to the service with.
(39:58):
Amazing.So those are just two super super simple.
If you have
things that you're doing
to rapidly connect newcomersin terms of like I'm thinking
what can you do every single timeyou gather for your services?
How do you get those newcomers to connect?
What do you do?
So the more we can do that,just be like one shot,
(40:21):
boom, they show up,we're connecting them, the better.
And yeah, I think thanks, Jennifer.
That we really needto take charge of connecting people.
So I think it's helpfulto think of the process
of getting connected with peoplein the congregation meeting others
that used to happen organically over time.
(40:44):
And it would happen.
People just put in the effortand it would happen.
Some people like I had relatives are like,I'm never going to a coffee hour.
I can't stand
but think the world's changed enoughto that
that informal connecting processdoesn't happen
fast enough or at all now
(41:06):
for the majority of people.
And so that if we're not intentionallyconnecting newcomers
to in a well, how is that
through articulated spaces
thick agreed upon strategies,then you don't have a strategy
for connecting peopleand don't assume the grow.
Think about like snapping Legos togetheror something like you have to like
(41:28):
what is borrowed time. It's too little.
They snap together and build themselves.
Now you got to do it.
You have to do all right. Let's move on.
All right.
Let me
just look at some questions.
How long should I think I saw?
So how long should a minister meetthe minister, be
meet the minister video be from Meetthe minister videos.
(41:50):
It could be 3 minutes.
It could be 10 minutes.
The main thing is that when peopleare looking at that video, they're in the
the process of trying to make
an important decision one year, likeresearching something important to you.
You have focus and you're like,I want to know what the deal was.
So say they're lookingat your congressman's website.
(42:11):
They go to the meetthe minister in the staff page
and there's a Meet the Minister videolink, or it takes you to the staff page.
You know, if you're tellinga compelling story of your journey
and this and that and the other things,if it's longer, that's fine.
So it's like as short as possible,
all accomplishing the goals again in myI go into more detail
(42:34):
in some of my trainingson like exactly what we can do.
And there's a lot of little psychologyand nuance to some of that,
but ultimately it just show up onlineas your authentic human being whether it's
any of the videos I mentioned thatyou're like, try and think of yourself.
Like if someone were to show upto our website question and whether or not
(42:58):
they belong here, if they're welcome here,if we have rapport,
what would you say to them?
And just do that without going too long.
All right,
now let's see how we overcome.
All right.
That I want to movethrough our last section
I'm promotingI'm really recentering our focus
(43:20):
on facilitating connectionand conversation.
So a lot of our congregationshave small group
programs, small group ministry programs.
The and we have lots of programs
where, you know, they're very orientedtowards existing members.
(43:41):
So I come from a Unitarian Universalisttradition and
while being very open to peoplefrom different
backgrounds, traditions,a lot of the names that I see
congregations giving their small groupprograms are really insider
language, like Chow, a circle,
covenant groups
(44:03):
is just so this.
Yeah, like that for for someone who is new
and maybe not oriented towards religion
that that is such a barrier.
So first, I think that in today's worldwhere people are hungry
for connection and community,the top name that we can use
(44:25):
includes community group.
So if you're a first parish,whatever you might have, hey,
your small group ministry or whateverthe official program name is,
you might say our groups are called
such and such community groupsso that you're really trying to emphasize
that everyone in our congregation,all of our members and friends,
(44:47):
we want to our organizing in community
and we encourage people to participatemaybe not all the time,
but regular times connectingwith our community group program.
And you do the exact same thing in smalland small
group ministry, but you're not usingsuch religious language.
You just talk about community groups.
Now, there are so many peoplewho want connection, meaning
(45:10):
to be part of collective action,but are not necessarily
looking for a congregation
or don't realize that congregational lifewould be of interest to them.
What I think we need to be doing more ofand I'm going to work on
resources related to this.
I'm going to set up one of our upcomingI'm trying to get back I'm
getting back into the weekly live streamroutine for this month and into the fall.
(45:31):
One of the upcoming oneswill be dedicated to the concept
or approach of using community experienceshosted in your congregation.
And here's the Division I happens
having an event on timely topics.
It could be pop culturalthings that are happening.
(45:51):
It could be classical challengesthat your congregation is
working on, whether it's gun violence
or dealing with political divisionor, you know, aspects of
the explorationthat you're doing as a congregation.
But whatever, whatever the topics arethat we are taking topics of interest
of a larger community
and publicizing an event,inviting people to come in
(46:15):
for a community group oriented eventwhere in the event
it's not programs and speakers panelists,which we have so many of,
but that you structured the eventand I'm working on a guide for
this is you invite people in
is the gathering
(46:37):
opening where you welcome people
highlight the need for connectioncommunity and working
together to be engagewith the issues of our time
from climate changeto what artificial intelligence
is going to do to humanityand our civilization
to maybe pop culture things likehey the Barbie movie whatever it is
(46:57):
speak to some of the issues.
But then you move people into small groups
where you have
just a focused conversationusing a clear structure,
which is very similarperhaps to your ongoing
member focused community group program.
(47:17):
Small group ministry.
But basically we're having small groupsfor your entire
communityhappening in community experience.
Events for you on a focusedtheme can invite people in.
So if you think about it, you takewhat are the things that you know
your community is actively attending to
or is interested in or maybe it's just,
(47:40):
you know,you want to grow your congregation
and you have a really strong young family.
That little core of young families,pretty small, but they're all love sci fi.
And so you're going to do some kindof science
fiction focusedor maybe it's an artificial intelligence
focused event open to the whole community,but you're bringing people in
(48:02):
with the intention
and this has been articulatedof having people connect
with other people in the community,discuss that topical issue,
make some new friends snipsnot that's it done.
Now, you're not trying to get like forcingthem join our church, join our church,
get involved in this other program,but we start using more.
(48:24):
We're starting to facilitatethe connection meaning action
process for our larger communityby inviting people
in on focused themes that we knowthe larger community cares about.
So I think the more we can startdeveloping a practice of doing this,
and I'm going to start identifyingcongregations where I can help do this to
and do different testing and experimenting
(48:47):
or if like if you're interestedin what I share, we do that live stream,
let me know.
Maybe I can help you fine.
Tune your process, answer questions
that we have people coming throughthe congregation on these community
experience eventswhere it's great community group process,
and then the people who are likeand you can certainly like
explain why it isthat you care about that issue
(49:09):
and when if you have people,community groups
and if all the community groups,there's a member of your congregation
then at
the end people like this was so great.
I used to live
one shot events at congregationsto help them promote their small groups.
And every time we did a little short45 minute conversations at the end,
(49:29):
we were like, This is so great.
I wish we could keep
talking or meeting like this.
And they're like, Well,we have our small group program.
You should join it.
Like, Oh, OK, let's do it.
So having a community group
focused event that you periodically,in a strategic
way, offermakes you a service to your congregation.
(49:50):
I mean, service to your larger community.
It's totally and lot can be totally inline with what your congregation is about.
If you're doing a theme based ministries,you can tie in with that.
And that's the type of eventbecause it's a community wide invitation
you could partner withother congregations, other nonprofits,
you could have a little table fairif you wanted.
(50:11):
And a great way to get news coverage
with very little preparation.
All right.
So that's the community groupkind of experience I'm thinking about
in conjunction
with that I'mworking on taking the small group models
that I've worked with for yearswithin congregations
and making that as just a modelthat anyone can use for community groups.
(50:34):
Anywhere.
So I'm calling that the DecentralizedCommunity Project, giving away my best
insight on how humans can connectin community groups for free be released.
Not this fall, too.
Why am I someone who cares so much about
congregational life thinking about
(50:54):
how do we connect the larger community
in community groups, and how do I?
You give away a formula template
so that anyone can have connectionand community wherever they are.
Well, for me,
if you have any ideas what it comesdown to mission, if our mission
is to promote or a core aspectof our mission as congregations
(51:16):
is to promote connection and meaning
and inspire collective action
on the issues of our time, workfor justice, more compassion
to unify our broken worldto to limit it to we're going to do that
with people who are existingmembers is a very small vision.
(51:37):
But if we expand that like an art,we're going to invite people in regularly.
Maybe it's quarterly for community experiences using the community group model,
then that's, you know, all of a suddenwe can get more people
cycling through our congregationin relationship with each other.
You know, people always used to say,oh, we, you know, you need to go
(51:58):
get to know your neighborsand invite them to church.
Well, I think it's easier to invite peoplelike run a community experience
on something that's really excitingand get all your members to share it
on their social media networksand invite their friends. But
you're designing something that's awesomesingle shot event, that's relational.
And then by giving away
(52:20):
the model forhow do we connect in small groups
in a decentralized, nonhierarchical way,
we're teaching humans hopefully
how to stay in relationship and forget,like beyond social media.
Like, we need to reconnect.
And I want anyone on Earthwho wants to connect with other humans
(52:41):
to to have a proven way of doing that.
And so that's what that's about.
And the more people know it's mind,it mean it takes energy to organize
a small group.
So you get peopleexcited about meeting in groups
by giving awaythe decentralized community approach.
Well, a lot of peopleare going to think about that,
but then not organize their own group,but then they see, oh, here
(53:03):
community experiences using essentiallythe same kind of community group model.
They can go to that.
And so if we do it really welland this is not to be like
want to turn everyone into a memberof your congregation, but the more we get
people oriented towardsthe need for connection and community
that we have a clear modelfor how to do that,
we're helping the larger community do thatand we have ongoing programs.
(53:26):
I think that's a very
strategic
community focused, community groupfocused,
practical modelthat we can really get laser focused on
and it's relational.
And for me, the most important thing,and I want to end here is that
people continue to show up
(53:49):
in congregations when their friendsare in the congregation.
The number one thing you can do to growyour congregation, connect people
in authentic relationshipshave them share their stories.
The things that you're talking aboutin services, have them talk about that.
The more we can do that, you know,just so we get to a more focused
relational group
(54:11):
very quickly,let's say I'll share a video on this
sometime soon.
Social media is changing so that nowit's all going towards algorithms.
What does that mean?
Once upon a time, if someone said,I like your church, click Facebook,
they would get servedcontent from your congregation.
Well, then Facebook
realized, Oh, people watch more adsif they're in Facebook groups.
(54:35):
So they downshifted the amount of people
that your Facebook pagecontent would go to and prioritize groups.
So a few a number of years agonow it's getting closer to five years ago.
They De-prioritize Facebook pagesand made groups more of a priority.
And now they're like,forget likes and groups.
(54:55):
We know what people watch.
We're tuning into all their data.
If you stop and watch a hedgehog video,a cute hedgehog
floating in a sink, taking a bath,they know you like hedgehogs.
And cute animal videos.
I stopped in one of those videosto show my family because they
the our congregation had a group come andbring animals and there was a hedgehog.
(55:17):
So like we just seen a hedgehogs my hey,check out this cute hedgehog.
All of a suddenmy social media feeds started
Facebook, Instagram,they went cute animal, like instantly.
Instantly. And guess what?
I kind of like cute animals.
And so it's kind of stayed that way.
So I like social media technology,
(55:38):
innovation and cute animals all the time.
But the takeaway for congregationsis that increasingly
that the content people see viasocial media
is what the algorithms knowthey want to see.
And that's very hard for usbecause it means your content
unless the algorithms believethat the people like
(56:01):
your membersand the people you want to reach,
if they're not watching contentlike what you're sharing
especially video,they're not going to show your content.
So most of you are probably getting verylittle interaction on your social media
content on Facebook now and other sitesbecause I'll go with the algorithm.
So what do we do?
We can pay for advertising,we can use other strategies.
(56:23):
For me, ultimately,we have to get relation
which gets back to that, like, yeah,we still need to use social media,
but we need to get connecting.
We need to connect people,
lead awesome eventsso that people like I went to the most
amazing community experience talking aboutwhat's the new movie coming out?
Deadpool and Wolverine.
No, not that one, but you know, somethingor whatever the issue is.
(56:47):
And they're talking to their friendsabout what's this community experience
and relationally growth economy.
And I think that's the future.
All rightand wrap up there because that's our time.
If you have questions,
could youor things that I have a chance to cover,
drop them the chat now and I'mgoing to attend to that and make sure
(57:09):
that I get to answer some questionswhen I get off the livestream bone.
Am I saying thank you for your leadership?
The world needs congregations.
Your congregation has an amazing roleto play in your community.
I know that there are very challengingtimes in terms of shifting in terms
of technology, budget issues, membership
(57:32):
decline, pandemics all of these things.
But fundamentally,
people are looking for connectionand community
and all the things happening ina world are making that need even greater.
So if we really focus onbeing in that business,
not that we're businesses, butmake that our mission, we really recenter
(57:54):
our focus on like how do we facilitateconnection and community
and help spark actionin meaningful ways that
we'll see likea flywheel, we can start building momentum
and one friend makes another friendand people start talking
and we can really seeI think, amazing transformation.
(58:15):
So thank you for being here.
Let me know your questionsand I'm going to make this
my new default weekly livelivestream time on Congregational Life
Growth, other related issues, 1:00Eastern Time Tuesdays.
All right. Thanks for being hereand I'll talk to you all very soon.
Now for the questions.
It's Say
(58:35):
Yes now.
Hi there. Scary, right?
Hey, everyone, it's Peter Bowden.
I'm glad you're here.
Welcome to this Strategy Sessionon Growing Congregations.
This is really in preparation
for the new year,the new congregational year, the fall.
I'm Peter Bowden.
I work with congregationsfrom a range of traditions,
from my Unitarian Universalist hometradition to really any congregation
(00:26):
that really appreciatesmy practical approach.
Integrating different aspectsof congregational life from welcoming
and membership to hospitality,digital strategy, small groups, video.
I really bring a lot of experiencewith different aspects
of congregational life, including more
new and emerging areas.
(00:46):
I've also worked
on looking at what's comingnext and trying to figure out how do we
learn to adapt for a changing world.
So if you're tuning in live,please say hi in the chat
and know that you can ask questionsas we go.
I have a bunch of thingsI want to cover in terms of strategies
related to helping you leadand grow your congregation this year.
(01:09):
So some of them share some strategies
that are very distinct strategiesrelated to helping newcomers connect.
But I also want to share a few thingsthat are new and emerging
that you need to have on your radarin terms of just making sense
of our changing digital landscape,how people are connecting community.
(01:30):
So I'm just thankful for youto your being here before we dove in.
Can you say hi in the chat?
Let me know where you're tuning in from.
Hi, Karen.
The people from Rockville.
Juliana, it's great to have you hereand if you're tuning in via the replay.
So once this is over, feel free to sayhi as well because I check out
(01:51):
all the comments and I answer questionsafter the streams over as well.
So I'll take questions live and then aswe go with the replay, keep connecting.
All right. Seattle, Boulder, Colorado.
Awesome.
Great Colorado turnoutexcellent. Fun fact.
When I first went to college,I went to the University of Colorado
(02:12):
in Boulder a few years there. All right.
So here's the structure of this music.
The theme, want to me grab my notes here.
I have some notesand I'll share via my email list.
I will share some notes after the fact.
So just know thatI'll take the transcript, put together
(02:34):
some summary, etc so that you can shareif you're on my email list.
Subscribe now if you aren't via the linkor on the video,
I'll share some notesI want to try and do more.
I'm I can talk for a long time,but I'm for me to sit down
and write up all the pointsexactly in advance.
I'm more organic than that,so we're going to use an after the fact,
(02:55):
get the notes togetherand share with you approach. OK,
so I want to talk about reconnecting
with the vital and critical missionof congregations today.
Touch on that, reimagine, reimagine
our strategies for today's world.
Our world has changed
and if we're going to lead, be of serviceand help bring about the change
(03:20):
we want in the world,we have to change our strategy as well.
So we're going to reconnectwith our mission, reimagine new
strategies, and reset after friends.
One of the things that we needmore than anything,
in addition to justiceand all the things we been working for
we need to help humanity reconnect
(03:43):
and really facilitate the process
of human beings coming together
in community for meaningful connectionand conversation.
And that is a critical functionI think congregations can have today.
These are things we've been doing,
but we need to take it to the next levelbecause humanity is struggling.
(04:06):
And if you notice that there are waysin which our human society
seems to be breaking down like their basicsocial conventions and the way people
tune into others around them, that whereI live, it's like, that's that's shifting.
Anyhow, some want to reach center.
For those of you who are interestedin congregational growth,
recenter on like how do we really be
(04:29):
a center for promoting connection,meaningful
conversation and associate actionin a very intentional way?
Because that is going to help youfulfill your mission.
All right.
Hello to everyone else, Pam, Roy, others,all so many people.
It's great to see our first reconnectingwith the mission of congregational life.
(04:50):
Now, I work with congregationsfrom a range of traditions,
again, raised Unitarian,Unitarian, Universalist
marriage, a ministry workwith lots of Unitarian Universalist.
Hi all my friends.
But I also I bring kind of a
how do human congregationsin general function
and how can we strengthen our
(05:11):
just humanity,human communities in general?
So for other denominations, peoplefrom other traditions, I'm happy to talk
with your your communities, denomination
domination staff, et cetera as well. So
the mission of congregations today,
I've been thinking about thisand also talking with colleagues is really
(05:33):
there's maybe the missionof your individual religion.
But as congregations as a wholethat we're really being called
to foster deep connections,cultivate shared meaning and empower
collaborative actionreally through inclusive hubs.
Or we can bring people together to explorevalues,
(05:55):
nurturing leaderships and work
to all those endsthat you care so much about.
And so much of that comes downto connection, meaning in action.
These are things I've been talking aboutfor my entire career,
working with congregationsfrom my early days,
working with youth ministry,the young adult ministry.
(06:15):
Then helping to promote our popularsmall group ministry models within
the Unitarian Universalist tradition,just continually getting back to
how do we connect peoplehow do we facilitate conversations
about meaning, purpose,and then in terms of action,
when we do a greatjob with that process, as
(06:36):
we start self-organizing, people startgetting excited.
The more we bring people togetherfor connection and meaningful
conversation,the more we can get people to say yes
to volunteering, to social justice events
and all the other thingsthat we're working on.
So that's that's really important.
I just think increasingly
(06:59):
that we as whole nations can
getting back to our center
as places where we're promotingthat connection, meaning collective action
that we can if we're very strategicwith our programs, clear
with our communicationthat we can shift away from.
(07:20):
I think the trap of having programsthat do that
in a very member oriented like if you'realready a member of my congregation
and they're used to this languageand you know what
chalices are if you're you you like if
we we do a lot with programs
that promote connectionmeaning and inspire action
(07:42):
wrapped in languagethat makes sense for our members
after they've been through the processof connecting with us.
But for the larger community,that often doesn't work.
And so I think we need to really focus onhow can we make that happen
community wide.
So we're promote a connection, meaningan action to our existing programs.
Fantastic.
(08:03):
But there are things we want to talk aboutin this session that I think
will be very beneficialin terms of your really being seen
as a center for promoting connectionmeaning action throughout your community.
And just a littlething I was just saying about
our mission on case that
in the chat,if I can hear highlights again
(08:25):
due to do
yeah, we're going to do in a few chunks
because I can only doso many characters at a time
if we go
and ask
Well, there you go.
See the chat for I was just reading.
(08:46):
All right.
Now, so
in terms of just reconnecting,I think for you as leaders here
today is thinking aboutwhat is your congregation called to do?
And there are so many things that we talkabout there, things we care about.
There's changethat we want to see in the world.
But when it comes toI like to be very practical,
(09:09):
I feel like so much of what we actually dothat gets results
is where we're actuallybringing our members, friends
and the larger community togetherthrough specific processes.
And for connecting,
for facilitating meaningful conversationand leading that transform.
That's transformationand the actions that make sense.
(09:30):
I mean, if you're with me in the chat.
All right. So
just knowingthat you want to focus on that
connection,meaning action and the processes
and programs and eventsthat can make that happen consistently
without massive planning,without racking our brains,
without burning out our volunteers,without tons of money, like
(09:52):
we can use these processes consistently.
They work, they've worked for years.
They continue to work.
People want this.
And so friends, I'm sayinglet's really zero I mean, double down on
how do we deliver for our members.
Those who are interested in connectingwith us, possibly in our larger community,
(10:15):
make sure that everyone is connected
in a meaningful way, is having meaningfulconversation and feels welcomed
into efforts, collaborative efforts
to lead change in your community.
So want now the shift to reimagine
our world is changing at lightning speed.
(10:38):
If you're watching live or on the replay,
how are you feeling aboutthe rate of change,
the rate at which technology is changing?
I just had spent a lot of this
the first part of this year doing aI forget sabbatical.
The change is mind boggling.
(11:00):
And so as our technology is changing
and people are using the technologyto explore new ways, entertainment,
all these different things
tell me in the chatif there's any kind of technology
that you're paying attention toand are particularly excited about,
or maybe you're concerned about
that we need to make sure
(11:21):
that our approach to gathering
people, promoting membership,know hospitality,
everything that that is in linewith today's world.
One of the key thingsthat I've been talking about for years now
is that there's been a shift
(11:43):
from people.
If I'm going to find a connectto your congregation,
if I want to make sure
if your congregations write for me,maybe I'm going to bring my family
or all of us.
I have I have a daughter.
I married my wife, Amy Freedman, and Iwhen we moved back to Cambridge
or to the Cambridge area,we did the church shopping
(12:05):
how do people
figure outif your congregation is right for them
or used to be you have to go visit, right?
You have to go visit.
You have to spend timeamong the congregation,
get to know the peopleand actually try and interact
and over a period of time, maybe
(12:25):
it's weeks, maybe months,maybe it's years.
Get to the point where you're like,I really feel like I belonged here
was gone.
That thatwas gone for the majority of humans
with the Internet and mobile devices.
What happens instead?
And this is as the more I talk,the more people verify
(12:48):
that this is in line with their experiencethere.
All are exceptions,but just accept that for a lot of people,
this is what happens if I'm interested in
doing something significant in my life.
Picking a congregation, or
maybe it's we're going to a restaurant,or maybe I'm buying a book,
any major decisionor even insignificant decision,
(13:12):
people grab their devices, go online,and they do a search.
As soon as you have something,you have to decide, like,
I'm going to go explore and figure out
what's the deal, what's the answer,what's the the right decision for me?
And because we are trained to have accessto information
(13:33):
from Yelp reviews, Apple maps,
all these different things,
Amazon reviews,
photos of almost any video of anythingwe might do.
Like, I was
like I grew up as a teen
I was so introverted into my twenties.
And so like as,as these technologies came on,
(13:57):
I'm like, oh my God,if I, if I'm going to go someplace new,
I can do a search engine,check out where it is in the map,
and then they start adding photosand other things
and I'm like, oh,I can see exactly what it looks like.
Oh, I'm so comforted.
And then like,
there's like on Google Maps and others,you can click around and see.
And so like, before I goand do something, I'm doing like
(14:20):
this amazing level
of research where like, I'mnot like I'm going to a new Trader Joe's.
I know not only where the parking lot is,
I've maybe we did a little virtualwalk around just in front of it,
just so I have a sense of like,oh, this is this what I'm getting into?
All right?
That's, that'slike some of us just doing average things,
buying some things cheap, going outto a restaurant, taking this or that.
(14:45):
What do you use the online resources for?
Living on a chat and everyone elsejoining in?
Laura, Jennifer, Dawn, Glenda.
So for newcomers,the congregation's potential newcomers
they are basically trite and this isn'talways explicit in their mind.
They're trying to make sure to like a highdegree of a high degree of certainty
(15:09):
that your congregation is right for them.
They're going to they know what to expect.
They know where to go.
They they know that you're leaders well.
They resonate with them.
They like your leaders, like your leaders.
They know your leadersand they know what you're about.
They've gotten a taste of it.
And they actually feel like, yes,this is the right place for me
(15:33):
before they ever visit.
How how is that going to happen?
How are you ever going to makethat happen?
Well, it's right now it's 20, 24.
Thus, the normwhere I am in the United States and across
the world, is leaders show up online
using videoand other content to communicate
exactly what they do,exactly how they can help people,
(15:56):
what they care about, storiesof how they do this, stories of why
they're doing that, testimonials of peoplewho did all these things.
And so the average human being today,if you're interacting
with a new organization, a new leader,a new community, a new nonprofit,
that the norm is
I should be able to go onlinesee all these different details
(16:20):
and get a sense of what the leadersare like to the point where my anxiety,
uncertainty questions are addressedand I have a high degree of confidence.
So our challenge is
if somebody gets
to the point of like,oh, I think I might go check out
that congregation, or I heard about thatcongregation, or I was driving by
(16:42):
and I saw not only the Black LivesMatter banner, but the Pride
Progress flag out front.
When we did the Pride Monthat the congregation I attend, not only do
we have Black Lives Matter flag and the
the progress
flag with the transgender colors
(17:03):
and all these I
so that flag, but we had this giant flag
that was for the pride parade in townthat we strung between tree to trees.
So it was like this huge
suite of giant long, 30 foot
long remove flag than the other banners.
(17:24):
And so imagine somebody seesthat I'm like, oh, who are these people?
They pull over on their car,
pull out the phone, look, where am I?
I'm here.
And so that's the map locationfor this place.
Who are they?
And so they their path
to connectingwith your congregation may start by
(17:45):
some things a catalyst
like those bannersand then they start with their map app.
And from there, what do they experience?
What do they see?
Is there anything that's compelling?
And so I shared a link in thethe chat to a free workshop.
I have one hour workshop calledBuilding a Digital Path to Membership
(18:05):
that covers all these different issues.
That's really my orientation for leaderslike you
and others in your congregation, 31 hour,just going through
how we need to use digital toolsand digital
strategy content on our website,et cetera,
and also looking at where we have
a presence online to help peoplewhen they say pull the map app
(18:29):
or something else that we actually createa nice path from them.
Easily go from there,say a map app to your website
to whatever it is that you want them to doto connect successfully.
So the real I mean, it's a huge shiftin terms of psychology that,
(18:49):
you know,
there's a wall and we had websitesand like I remember I was actively working
with congregations when the first websitestarted coming online and volunteering
for my home congregation.
And we were talking about like,but your websites like the front door
to your congregation
and like people would use that to findtheir way to your congregation on site.
(19:09):
Or nowI think it would be valuable for you
to think of your online experience
that you offer newcomers from whereverthey interact with you first.
Is it on Facebook, Instagram,is it on a map app or a Yelp review?
Or whatever it is that that experience,including going to your website
(19:30):
and looking at photos, video,
that that collective content
available online on demand, any time
that is their first experience,that is their first visit.
So when you think
is someonegoing to come back to our congregation
after their first visit, you knowhow important that first visit is, right?
(19:52):
Like if they don't feela sense of connection rapport,
I are they going to come back?
Well, today it's their interaction.
All that content online when they're doingtheir self guided independent
exploration of your congregation,that's their first experience.
And so some of the waysthat we can really help people
(20:16):
feel that sense of connection is something
I've talked about a lotis video like that.
You can and this can be very simple.
I talk about this, my training
program, video ministry academy,also known as Video Message Academy,
to tell you as my ideas for how to do thata little differently this season.
I'll tell you about that in the second
(20:37):
with that video structure.
I want to give youa little quick overview of that
just so you can get in your mind.
Oh, here's that. That makes sense.
So when we're going online as a newcomerresearching a congregation like they saw
the banners, they get to your website,like, what is it?
Where are these people?
Is it right for me and my family?
Or just me and
(20:59):
what they're looking for,whether they admit it or not or not,
and whether you like it or notis a sense of belonging.
Like if they're going to come in personor attend online live,
that there needs to bea sense of connection
and rapport and understandingin a visceral felt sense.
That that they're in the right place,that you will like them and care.
(21:24):
That's very hard to communicate.
Just in text, some of you are amazingwriters and you can use simple photos
and text to write messagesthat can start to evoke that.
But recording a simple video
so that one and you can usemultiple videos when people land
(21:45):
on your website, there's a human beingso they land on your website.
And so the three videos that I tellcongregations
are prioritize because you can use themfor a lot of benefit
as very straightforward is a welcome videoso that when people land on the website,
there's not like an expensive
(22:05):
we took ten years to producea $5,000 video.
That'slike the history of our congregation.
There's all the footage in the photosand the Ken Burns
effect and music and fanciness.
No, there's a video of a human
being recorded very much like thisor standing in front of your congregation
(22:26):
and we're on a zoom set upwhatever you want to do, but a human being
essentially like an online reader
standing at that digital front door
is able to say, Hi, I'm so-and-so,
maybe the role and say,you know, on behalf of congregation,
I want to welcome you.
(22:46):
Here we are and give them a snapshotof the congregation
and affirmwhat people are looking for today
saying connects and meaningworking together to change our world.
You know,what are the things that you value?
But a quick snapshot paragraphof your congregation,
what you're doing in terms of your
(23:07):
your mission, your focus,the kind of things your congregation
does or cares aboutand invite them to connect.
And then
where do they connect?
You send them to your visitor page.
On the visitor page,there's video number two.
All right.
That is a landing pagefor newcomers video.
What does that mean
(23:28):
when people are looking to connectto the congregation in this age
where, like, people like to knowwhat to do and want to have certainty
and also there's heightened anxiety.
So the more clarity we can have,the more likely we're going
to follow through and actually do whatyou encourage them to do encouraged.
(23:48):
The more them, the more clarity we have,
the more likely people are going to followthrough with what you recommend
as a default processfor connecting successfully.
So what I recommend on your welcome heremean your visitor landing pages.
You have someone who's like a greeterfrom your welcoming a welcome table.
And again, like this, you say, Hey,
(24:11):
I'm Peter, I'm on our welcometeam and then what, you just
reiterate that snapshot
and then you offer them
clear guidance on how to connect
and have a little form where they can get
like sign up hereto RSVP to the thing you want them to do
(24:32):
and you let them know that you're going tosend them all the details automatically.
Maybe you're using MailChimpand as soon as they submit the form
or Brees or any of the church software,
church database softwareas soon as they RSVP,
they're going to gettheir information packet.
And so you're really taking the leadso that when they follow up
and they do the thing you said to doand you have to decide what that is,
(24:57):
that they have the information,they have a path, a plan,
and that connects directly to whatever
you're offering for newcomers as like,this is the way we're helping you connect.
OK, does that make sense thatthat those videos can kind of like
really out the third video?
Sorry, the third videois Meet the minister video.
(25:18):
Why dowe need to meet the minister's video?
Because no oneis going to go to a congregation
until they've met the minister.
They want to know who the minister is.
For some people,
if you've been to a congregation for yearslike you went to that congregation,
you moved townand you're going to go to the same kind of
congregation here, you're going to go,all right, fine.
But someone who has no experiencewith religion,
(25:40):
like if they are using my example,they saw the banners.
What is this?
I didn't know there were congregationsthat care about these things
and they're looking and say, Well,that sounds really interesting,
but like there's ministers is worshipservices.
Like, what is this all about?
Are are these people I was on also?
I moved on my focus.
Are these are these people
(26:03):
like weird,
religious, freaky, freaky, like,what's it going to be like
for you to show what who your minister is
and have your minister offer a personal
introduction to who they are?
That is like a key piece in the puzzle.
Am I going to visit?
(26:24):
So if you all dothink all the people go to your website,
ever, all the people go,there's a huge chunk of them.
We're like, maybe I'll go.
But then if you don't give them a way
to really get to know your minister,maybe there's anxiety.
Well, you could say, Well, they could justwatch our worship service videos.
We have like 100 videosof old worship services
(26:46):
those tend to be kind of like longer
not optimized for short onlineattention spans, not ideal.
What we want to dois actually have your minister
or whoever your leaders are.
This works if you're a fellowship,whatever your structure is,
the leadersthat people are going to be expected
expecting to connect with whoeveris leading your congregational life
(27:09):
for them to be,oh wow, suppose I'm that person
and they get to know me on thatthat Meet the Leader page.
And in that video they're like, Oh, wow.
Peters grew up Unitarian Universalist,and now he's doing this thing at the
whatever congregation.
He seems nice and friendly,little overcaffeinated.
But man, I relate like he seems nice.
(27:30):
I feel comfortable going and then boomthere likely to be willing to go.
So welcome videooverview of Congregation Specific.
Here's how to connect on your visitor pageand then
the Meet the Minister or whatever leaders.
And you can do this for all of your keystaff, your leaders, different committees.
(27:52):
You can if you get into it,
there's no end to how we can use videoto help people connect with us.
That content is just like goldin terms of helping
people feel like,oh, I get it, I get it now.
My training Video Message Academyfor Congregations, which is also run
under the nameVideo Ministry Academy this season
(28:16):
as of now, August 20, 24.
I'm working.
I'm going to play around with doing ita little differently.
Here'swhat I ask you a question right now.
I'd love your feedback.
So that's been an on demand coursethat I've done live Q&A
sessions for kind of leading peoplethrough that program.
I find that it's very hardfor busy ministers
(28:38):
to watch in other leadersto watch on demand content.
So I'm thinking about offeringthe exact same training,
but through a series of live Zoom sessions
with the on demand contentand all like that,
you know, the template of it,I have content outline for what I think
(29:00):
you should include in the different videosand other strategies.
Would you be interested in Live Zoom
training around how to use video to engagewith potential newcomers?
And all these thingsare just talking about.
If so, let me know in the chat.
I'm going to play around with that.
And then we have kind of the traditionalon demand program
available shortly, very shortly.
(29:20):
And then I'll also be doingsome kind of live version.
So those of you who want to getlike a single two hour session,
we can go through all the details with thehandouts, answer all the questions.
I think that could be very helpful.
All right, moving on. So
once if somebody
gets to the point where they actuallyare going to visit your congregation,
(29:43):
live, and this also appliesfor the visiting online,
how have you do thatzoom or something else?
But let's focus on on site for a second.
When people connect, moreare going to connect.
The thing
I want you to understand or consideris that
(30:04):
in the world, as I mentioned earlier
in the session, where we had to spend time
being among
a congregation, living on campusin their building with the people
to learn what it's like,like pre-Internet culture,
you know, back then we had to spend time
(30:25):
then like as we started marchingthrough the decades,
the nineties the 2000s, the amount of time
I find that people were willing to spend
feeling awkward and not like people knowthem is getting shorter
and shorter and shorter until today.
(30:45):
I think we're at a point where for many,
many, many, many people including thosewho've been are digital natives.
Some of that has to do withwhether you're introverted or extroverted.
The the amount of time
they're willing to spendin your congregation feeling
(31:05):
not known, awkward
is one visit
that first.
The first time they connect, they
go to your building for a worship serviceor something else.
If they're not feeling connectedby the end of that
to get a goodbye,or maybe they'll give you two tries
(31:27):
and depending on their personal city,some people just a really strong
and confident.
They know they got this long term,maybe three.
I think you should assumethat it's going to be very short.
Like if you can optimize your strategy,I'm going to tell you
what I recommend in the second more.Some ideas.
The more you can optimize your process
(31:49):
for delivering connectionin a sense of belonging.
And I've, I've moved through the awkwardnobody knows me phase two that first day
that's going to make a huge difference.
Does that do any of you have observations
around shifts in how people are feeling?
I mean, I remember the past coupleof years, I'm married to a minister.
(32:11):
I tend to gounless I'm speaking somewhere.
I go with my family to our congregationand I'm always walking around
and talking to people.
And the in September last year
and the year before, I was amazedwhen I'd say hi to a newcomer
and kind of get some conversation startedabout how they think, what brought them.
(32:33):
I have just kind of
opened the door for them to talk to meand they're like, Oh, hi, Peter.
So I need friends.
Like, I've been living in a caveand I need friends.
I mean, that was kindof coming out of the pandemic.
But I was interested that two years agoit was like, people like, I need friends.
This last year, they're still like,I need friends.
And the amount of like people comingand looking to connect
(32:56):
once they actually show up on site,
it's been really powerful.
But also the
what do I do to connect?
Like they arriveand I had lots and lots of
had lots of interaction with peoplelike, like, what's the process?
How do I do this?
How do I do that? And it's basically
I got myself here will you take over
(33:18):
and get me connected and get me throughthe this awkward I'm new here.
Nobody knows me face like right now.
OK, so I think it's
my experience supports directlythat people are looking for them.
How do you do that
if you're nowthere are so many congregations
that have like less staffthan they used to have lower
(33:39):
membership compared to pre-pandemic,whatever, whatever,
regardless of your congregationsize, you know, it all dealing with
budget issues, staffing issues,
dealing with changing culture.
What will I think is very helpful to do
is just know I haven't had a chance
(34:00):
to read all the commentsand questions yet.
But I'm going to go back in a minuteand scan
when people are on your website,
on the visitor page
and like on social, if you're startingsharing stuff on social media,
like you could share your
your welcome video, your Meetthe Minister video,
(34:24):
what any of the combat contentwe were talking about or any other video
and the link say on Facebookto your visitor visitor page.
Oh, haven't connected with us yet.
We'd love to meet you.
Here's a link on how to get connected the
so on that page, your visitor landing page
I want you to think about like this isyou're like helping them land an airplane.
(34:48):
Here's the runway.This is exactly what to do.
You're coming and not just like,hey, come whenever, but runway
two and you're going to gate forlike is like that level of precision.
So for us, words that look likeyou have to decide what works for you.
But here's some ideas. One,
I want every newcomer
that shows up at your congregationgoes to a service.
(35:12):
I want you to convince themto go to your fellowship time
after andand so that takes a little effort.
But you let them know that inand you can do this before
they even visit on that visitor pagethat in your fellowship space
where you have a welcome tableor wherever your welcome table is.
If you can set it upso that you have either a table and chairs
(35:34):
or just that half circle of chairs,
but some kind of space for human beingsto sit and talk to each other
so that as people come to yourwelcome table
you're welcoming them.
Maybe you're sitting down and talkingto them and giving them some information.
But then as somebody else comes up
to the table, you say, Oh,I'm just going to go talk to these people.
(35:58):
I'll be right back.
And then you talk to themand how have you designed it?
Or what kind of like the flow basically.
You're welcome. Table.
Everyone's coming to it.
People are being directed there.
You told them to come to onlinein that video maybe.
And then as people come
you're introducing the newcomers
(36:18):
to the other newcomers that day.
That's one of the most powerful thingsyou can do.
I do that on Sundays.
I'm just floating.
I see a newcomer,and when I see another newcomer,
it's kind of like I'm doing a likeforming a chain of people.
I'll say, Oh, there's some over there.
I haven't met yet.
You might want to come with me on it,meet them, and then we can keep talking.
(36:40):
And so I take the newcomerand we walk over to the
another newcomer and
quick intros, continue the conversation,and then I see another newcomer.
I'm like, Oh, let's, let's all gowalk over to the other newcomer.
And all of a suddenthere's three of them and may talking.
Then when the next newcomer is spotted,I said, Oh, I see someone
(37:00):
I want to gosay hi to. Well, I'll be right back.
And I leave them talkingand they start talking.
And what have I done?
You made this little tiny mini small groupwhere what's happening?
Connection, conversation
what I always encourage people to do is
ask people to share, just like the storyof how they came to be there.
Just tell us a little bit about yourself,
(37:22):
but try and get peopletalking to each other.
So imagine if as people are comingto your congregation, forget any bigger
programing, you're just actuallybringing them to your welcome table.
Inspiring them to go there
and connecting them with peoplesitting or standing nearby.
I think sitting is good.
Having a table, if you havethe space is great.
(37:43):
You recognize that.
The simplicity of thatas people come into your congregation,
you are actually you are facilitatingthen meeting other newcomers
to the point where by the time they leave,they're already like,
they'll even get away from thewelcome table without getting to the point
(38:04):
where they're known,they've shared the story,
they've heard the storyof a few other people,
and they have a sensethat when they come back
they're going to be known and just likeconnecting the newcomers like that.
I find thatif you connect, say, three or four people
the next week,
they come back and talk to those peopleand it's almost informal
newcomer class that starts navigatingcongregational life together.
(38:28):
All right,
so there's that another option,and I'm getting
these are just some very simple thingsyou can do
separate from regular like some classicthings are, oh, a monthly.
Meet the minister are the leaders
and a little Q&A after the service.
Another thing is havingjust regular newcomer classes,
(38:49):
but in terms of the simplicity, optimizeusing your
welcome table to take the newcomersin, they kind of connect them together.
That's powerful.
And then before the service,
say a half hourbefore the service have people gather
and they can RSVP for thisif you want on that page
for a tour Q&A.
And then after you do that,kind of like a walking tour
(39:12):
of of your facility
and just talking about programs,answering questions, you told them that
with whatever time is leftbetween the tour and the service,
there's coffee and some refreshments.
And so but the people go on the tour,they go on the tour,
and then maybe it's quarter of
they get to sit and talk to each otherwith coffee, whatever
(39:36):
in your fellowship space
and know that they can if they want to goto the service together.
And so you've oriented themto the congregation, answered
some questions and in like 15 minutesthey keep it real short.
You just connect to the newcomers,which is powerful, as I said,
got them oriented and they have peoplepotentially to go to the service with.
(39:58):
Amazing.So those are just two super super simple.
If you have
things that you're doing
to rapidly connect newcomersin terms of like I'm thinking
what can you do every single timeyou gather for your services?
How do you get those newcomers to connect?
What do you do?
So the more we can do that,just be like one shot,
(40:21):
boom, they show up,we're connecting them, the better.
And yeah, I think thanks, Jennifer.
That we really needto take charge of connecting people.
So I think it's helpfulto think of the process
of getting connected with peoplein the congregation meeting others
that used to happen organically over time.
(40:44):
And it would happen.
People just put in the effortand it would happen.
Some people like I had relatives are like,I'm never going to a coffee hour.
I can't stand
but think the world's changed enoughto that
that informal connecting processdoesn't happen
fast enough or at all now
(41:06):
for the majority of people.
And so that if we're not intentionallyconnecting newcomers
to in a well, how is that
through articulated spaces
thick agreed upon strategies,then you don't have a strategy
for connecting peopleand don't assume the grow.
Think about like snapping Legos togetheror something like you have to like
(41:28):
what is borrowed time. It's too little.
They snap together and build themselves.
Now you got to do it.
You have to do all right. Let's move on.
All right.
Let me
just look at some questions.
How long should I think I saw?
So how long should a minister meetthe minister, be
meet the minister video be from Meetthe minister videos.
(41:50):
It could be 3 minutes.
It could be 10 minutes.
The main thing is that when peopleare looking at that video, they're in the
the process of trying to make
an important decision one year, likeresearching something important to you.
You have focus and you're like,I want to know what the deal was.
So say they're lookingat your congressman's website.
(42:11):
They go to the meetthe minister in the staff page
and there's a Meet the Minister videolink, or it takes you to the staff page.
You know, if you're tellinga compelling story of your journey
and this and that and the other things,if it's longer, that's fine.
So it's like as short as possible,
all accomplishing the goals again in myI go into more detail
(42:34):
in some of my trainingson like exactly what we can do.
And there's a lot of little psychologyand nuance to some of that,
but ultimately it just show up onlineas your authentic human being whether it's
any of the videos I mentioned thatyou're like, try and think of yourself.
Like if someone were to show upto our website question and whether or not
(42:58):
they belong here, if they're welcome here,if we have rapport,
what would you say to them?
And just do that without going too long.
All right,
now let's see how we overcome.
All right.
That I want to movethrough our last section
I'm promotingI'm really recentering our focus
(43:20):
on facilitating connectionand conversation.
So a lot of our congregationshave small group
programs, small group ministry programs.
The and we have lots of programs
where, you know, they're very orientedtowards existing members.
(43:41):
So I come from a Unitarian Universalisttradition and
while being very open to peoplefrom different
backgrounds, traditions,a lot of the names that I see
congregations giving their small groupprograms are really insider
language, like Chow, a circle,
covenant groups
(44:03):
is just so this.
Yeah, like that for for someone who is new
and maybe not oriented towards religion
that that is such a barrier.
So first, I think that in today's worldwhere people are hungry
for connection and community,the top name that we can use
(44:25):
includes community group.
So if you're a first parish,whatever you might have, hey,
your small group ministry or whateverthe official program name is,
you might say our groups are called
such and such community groupsso that you're really trying to emphasize
that everyone in our congregation,all of our members and friends,
(44:47):
we want to our organizing in community
and we encourage people to participatemaybe not all the time,
but regular times connectingwith our community group program.
And you do the exact same thing in smalland small
group ministry, but you're not usingsuch religious language.
You just talk about community groups.
Now, there are so many peoplewho want connection, meaning
(45:10):
to be part of collective action,but are not necessarily
looking for a congregation
or don't realize that congregational lifewould be of interest to them.
What I think we need to be doing more ofand I'm going to work on
resources related to this.
I'm going to set up one of our upcomingI'm trying to get back I'm
getting back into the weekly live streamroutine for this month and into the fall.
(45:31):
One of the upcoming oneswill be dedicated to the concept
or approach of using community experienceshosted in your congregation.
And here's the Division I happens
having an event on timely topics.
It could be pop culturalthings that are happening.
(45:51):
It could be classical challengesthat your congregation is
working on, whether it's gun violence
or dealing with political divisionor, you know, aspects of
the explorationthat you're doing as a congregation.
But whatever, whatever the topics arethat we are taking topics of interest
of a larger community
and publicizing an event,inviting people to come in
(46:15):
for a community group oriented eventwhere in the event
it's not programs and speakers panelists,which we have so many of,
but that you structured the eventand I'm working on a guide for
this is you invite people in
is the gathering
(46:37):
opening where you welcome people
highlight the need for connectioncommunity and working
together to be engagewith the issues of our time
from climate changeto what artificial intelligence
is going to do to humanityand our civilization
to maybe pop culture things likehey the Barbie movie whatever it is
(46:57):
speak to some of the issues.
But then you move people into small groups
where you have
just a focused conversationusing a clear structure,
which is very similarperhaps to your ongoing
member focused community group program.
(47:17):
Small group ministry.
But basically we're having small groupsfor your entire
communityhappening in community experience.
Events for you on a focusedtheme can invite people in.
So if you think about it, you takewhat are the things that you know
your community is actively attending to
or is interested in or maybe it's just,
(47:40):
you know,you want to grow your congregation
and you have a really strong young family.
That little core of young families,pretty small, but they're all love sci fi.
And so you're going to do some kindof science
fiction focusedor maybe it's an artificial intelligence
focused event open to the whole community,but you're bringing people in
(48:02):
with the intention
and this has been articulatedof having people connect
with other people in the community,discuss that topical issue,
make some new friends snipsnot that's it done.
Now, you're not trying to get like forcingthem join our church, join our church,
get involved in this other program,but we start using more.
(48:24):
We're starting to facilitatethe connection meaning action
process for our larger communityby inviting people
in on focused themes that we knowthe larger community cares about.
So I think the more we can startdeveloping a practice of doing this,
and I'm going to start identifyingcongregations where I can help do this to
and do different testing and experimenting
(48:47):
or if like if you're interestedin what I share, we do that live stream,
let me know.
Maybe I can help you fine.
Tune your process, answer questions
that we have people coming throughthe congregation on these community
experience eventswhere it's great community group process,
and then the people who are likeand you can certainly like
explain why it isthat you care about that issue
(49:09):
and when if you have people,community groups
and if all the community groups,there's a member of your congregation
then at
the end people like this was so great.
I used to live
one shot events at congregationsto help them promote their small groups.
And every time we did a little short45 minute conversations at the end,
(49:29):
we were like, This is so great.
I wish we could keep
talking or meeting like this.
And they're like, Well,we have our small group program.
You should join it.
Like, Oh, OK, let's do it.
So having a community group
focused event that you periodically,in a strategic
way, offermakes you a service to your congregation.
(49:50):
I mean, service to your larger community.
It's totally and lot can be totally inline with what your congregation is about.
If you're doing a theme based ministries,you can tie in with that.
And that's the type of eventbecause it's a community wide invitation
you could partner withother congregations, other nonprofits,
you could have a little table fairif you wanted.
(50:11):
And a great way to get news coverage
with very little preparation.
All right.
So that's the community groupkind of experience I'm thinking about
in conjunction
with that I'mworking on taking the small group models
that I've worked with for yearswithin congregations
and making that as just a modelthat anyone can use for community groups.
(50:34):
Anywhere.
So I'm calling that the DecentralizedCommunity Project, giving away my best
insight on how humans can connectin community groups for free be released.
Not this fall, too.
Why am I someone who cares so much about
congregational life thinking about
(50:54):
how do we connect the larger community
in community groups, and how do I?
You give away a formula template
so that anyone can have connectionand community wherever they are.
Well, for me,
if you have any ideas what it comesdown to mission, if our mission
is to promote or a core aspectof our mission as congregations
(51:16):
is to promote connection and meaning
and inspire collective action
on the issues of our time, workfor justice, more compassion
to unify our broken worldto to limit it to we're going to do that
with people who are existingmembers is a very small vision.
(51:37):
But if we expand that like an art,we're going to invite people in regularly.
Maybe it's quarterly for community experiences using the community group model,
then that's, you know, all of a suddenwe can get more people
cycling through our congregationin relationship with each other.
You know, people always used to say,oh, we, you know, you need to go
(51:58):
get to know your neighborsand invite them to church.
Well, I think it's easier to invite peoplelike run a community experience
on something that's really excitingand get all your members to share it
on their social media networksand invite their friends. But
you're designing something that's awesomesingle shot event, that's relational.
And then by giving away
(52:20):
the model forhow do we connect in small groups
in a decentralized, nonhierarchical way,
we're teaching humans hopefully
how to stay in relationship and forget,like beyond social media.
Like, we need to reconnect.
And I want anyone on Earthwho wants to connect with other humans
(52:41):
to to have a proven way of doing that.
And so that's what that's about.
And the more people know it's mind,it mean it takes energy to organize
a small group.
So you get peopleexcited about meeting in groups
by giving awaythe decentralized community approach.
Well, a lot of peopleare going to think about that,
but then not organize their own group,but then they see, oh, here
(53:03):
community experiences using essentiallythe same kind of community group model.
They can go to that.
And so if we do it really welland this is not to be like
want to turn everyone into a memberof your congregation, but the more we get
people oriented towardsthe need for connection and community
that we have a clear modelfor how to do that,
we're helping the larger community do thatand we have ongoing programs.
(53:26):
I think that's a very
strategic
community focused, community groupfocused,
practical modelthat we can really get laser focused on
and it's relational.
And for me, the most important thing,and I want to end here is that
people continue to show up
(53:49):
in congregations when their friendsare in the congregation.
The number one thing you can do to growyour congregation, connect people
in authentic relationshipshave them share their stories.
The things that you're talking aboutin services, have them talk about that.
The more we can do that, you know,just so we get to a more focused
relational group
(54:11):
very quickly,let's say I'll share a video on this
sometime soon.
Social media is changing so that nowit's all going towards algorithms.
What does that mean?
Once upon a time, if someone said,I like your church, click Facebook,
they would get servedcontent from your congregation.
Well, then Facebook
realized, Oh, people watch more adsif they're in Facebook groups.
(54:35):
So they downshifted the amount of people
that your Facebook pagecontent would go to and prioritize groups.
So a few a number of years agonow it's getting closer to five years ago.
They De-prioritize Facebook pagesand made groups more of a priority.
And now they're like,forget likes and groups.
(54:55):
We know what people watch.
We're tuning into all their data.
If you stop and watch a hedgehog video,a cute hedgehog
floating in a sink, taking a bath,they know you like hedgehogs.
And cute animal videos.
I stopped in one of those videosto show my family because they
the our congregation had a group come andbring animals and there was a hedgehog.
(55:17):
So like we just seen a hedgehogs my hey,check out this cute hedgehog.
All of a suddenmy social media feeds started
Facebook, Instagram,they went cute animal, like instantly.
Instantly. And guess what?
I kind of like cute animals.
And so it's kind of stayed that way.
So I like social media technology,
(55:38):
innovation and cute animals all the time.
But the takeaway for congregationsis that increasingly
that the content people see viasocial media
is what the algorithms knowthey want to see.
And that's very hard for usbecause it means your content
unless the algorithms believethat the people like
(56:01):
your membersand the people you want to reach,
if they're not watching contentlike what you're sharing
especially video,they're not going to show your content.
So most of you are probably getting verylittle interaction on your social media
content on Facebook now and other sitesbecause I'll go with the algorithm.
So what do we do?
We can pay for advertising,we can use other strategies.
(56:23):
For me, ultimately,we have to get relation
which gets back to that, like, yeah,we still need to use social media,
but we need to get connecting.
We need to connect people,
lead awesome eventsso that people like I went to the most
amazing community experience talking aboutwhat's the new movie coming out?
Deadpool and Wolverine.
No, not that one, but you know, somethingor whatever the issue is.
(56:47):
And they're talking to their friendsabout what's this community experience
and relationally growth economy.
And I think that's the future.
All rightand wrap up there because that's our time.
If you have questions,
could youor things that I have a chance to cover,
drop them the chat now and I'mgoing to attend to that and make sure
(57:09):
that I get to answer some questionswhen I get off the livestream bone.
Am I saying thank you for your leadership?
The world needs congregations.
Your congregation has an amazing roleto play in your community.
I know that there are very challengingtimes in terms of shifting in terms
of technology, budget issues, membership
(57:32):
decline, pandemics all of these things.
But fundamentally,
people are looking for connectionand community
and all the things happening ina world are making that need even greater.
So if we really focus onbeing in that business,
not that we're businesses, butmake that our mission, we really recenter
(57:54):
our focus on like how do we facilitateconnection and community
and help spark actionin meaningful ways that
we'll see likea flywheel, we can start building momentum
and one friend makes another friendand people start talking
and we can really seeI think, amazing transformation.
(58:15):
So thank you for being here.
Let me know your questionsand I'm going to make this
my new default weekly livelivestream time on Congregational Life
Growth, other related issues, 1:00Eastern Time Tuesdays.
All right. Thanks for being hereand I'll talk to you all very soon.
Now for the questions.
It's Say
(58:35):
Yes now.
Hi there. Scary, right?
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