These seven attributes are consistent elements of local church communities in the New Testament. I am sure there are more, but they give us a good framework to engage with. Can we achieve all seven of these by doing church online?

Of Course, We Cannot!

Unless, of course, not every one of these seven expressions can be achieved through a screen. When I think of spiritual engagement, preaching the word, worship, prayer and evangelism, I have seen examples of all of these being achieved through online church experiences. Sometimes, that is where the conversation ends. People engaged. People worshiped. People responded to the salvation prayer. These are all crucial elements of a church experience, but I am not so sure they fulfill the full spectrum of church community.

It leads me to this crucial statement:

In the midst of the digital revolution, we should boldly innovate in all areas, but we should be slow to forever replace in-person community for something on a screen for pastors, we are entering an exciting era of creativity and change.

When assessing new ideas, the object shouldn’t be to try and make everything look like it did in previous generations. A better guiding question would be: If we are using an innovative approach, how will we be intensely intentional about building community that achieves interpersonal responsibility, inconvenient hospitality and institutional physicality?

Please click on our Digital innovation for details.