Sometimes, you need to meet your congregants where they're at. That can mean through a moving, virtual service or an in-person small group meeting. Hybrid churches are growing more and more popular as people wish to have more flexibility about where they can worship. In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know about making your church hybrid.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought sweeping changes to church attendance. Suddenly, in-person worship was severely limited, and many churches turned to technology to stay in touch with their congregations.
With pandemic restrictions lifted, church leaders discovered a curious trend – people still want to attend virtual church. In fact, 44% of people prefer to worship from home. And that’s unlikely to change anytime soon, especially among Millennial and Gen Z churchgoers.
But…we also know that only 9% of people prefer online-only church service – meaning no in-person element at all.
So where does this leave you?
In this article, we’ll talk about all things hybrid church, including 8 steps for adopting a hybrid church model. We have 3 awesome examples for inspiration, and some misconceptions we’ll dispel about the hybrid church.
Let’s get started!
A hybrid church is one that offers both online and in-person services. It’s a blended approach to ministry with the goal of connecting with as many people as possible.
More than simply offering live-streamed services, a hybrid church approach means providing quality content online like recorded sermons, podcasts, blog posts, newsletters, and more.
There are a number of benefits associated with hybridizing your church to serve both in-person and online audiences.
Increasing your online offerings can help bring new life – and new members – to your church.
Since 33% of churchgoers initially find their churches online, having a solid online presence is a must for modern churches.
Pastor burnout is a huge issue coming out of the pandemic. In 2022, 42% of pastors considered quitting the full-time ministry.
A hybrid church model can help relieve some of the pressure church leaders feel when it comes to connecting with their congregations. While they will still have to preach online or offline, there will be fewer people for them to greet or pray for in person. That will help reduce stress.
According to recent church-giving statistics, nearly 50% of church giving transactions are made with a card.
Hybridizing your church capitalizes on the ease of online tithing to make it simpler for supporters to give to your church in a modern, secure way.
Pro tip: Setting up recurring tithing on your Donorbox donation form is a fantastic way to make weekly or monthly tithing a breeze. Your church members simply select “weekly” or “monthly” (or whichever interval works best for them) for their tithing interval and check out. They can also log into their own Donorbox account to update their recurring plans whenever they want. Here’s an example to help you understand what it looks like on the Donorbox donation form.
Make Tithing Easy with Donorbox
For the longest time, your church building was seen as an important piece to connecting with the community – as a place to gather and commune with neighbors.
Now, we’re lucky to have the resources to expand beyond the walls of our churches. This means we can introduce more people to the gospel in a way that’s convenient for them – and for us!
In James Emery White’s book Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church in a Post-Christian Digital Age, he writes that –
“When faced with, say, the inability to meet for a Sunday service, you are forced to ask yourself what you were trying to do through that Sunday service and then get about doing it. “ (Excerpt.)
He argues that the pandemic helped churches reconsider their mission because it helped them reimagine what service can really look like.
This is a real benefit of the hybrid church model – figuring out what’s most important and finding new ways to bring that to your community.
Your mission shapes everything you do – and it should shape the ways you connect with your community virtually.
With your church identity and mission in mind, you can decide which hybrid elements to start with. Knowing you can always add in more as you go!
First impressions are vital when establishing your church as a hybrid church. You want everything to be seamless – both to attract new church members and not to dissuade existing members from using your online offerings.
Is your website capable of hosting a variety of content, including written, audio, and video? If not, consider choosing a website builder to update or build your church website.
Whether you’re already sending out digital church newsletters or are just getting started, look for an email marketing service to help you build and send beautiful emails.
Pro tip: It’s great if your email marketing service integrates with other tools you use. For example, Donorbox integrates with MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, Campaign Monitor, and thousands more apps through Zapier. This makes it super easy to send segmented emails to make your hybrid church efforts a success. Check this short video out to learn more about our powerful integrations via Zapier –
Decide how you want to use social media. You’ll also need to decide which platforms you want to use. If you already have a social media presence, now is a great time to reevaluate to be sure it serves your mission and brand as you make the switch to a hybrid model.
Then, consider if there is a better way to use each platform to create a sense of community. For example, set up a Facebook community page where church members can ask questions and connect with each other.
Pro tip: Anytime to launch a fundraising or crowdfunding page, make sure you enable sharing on social media. Sharing is vital to your campaign’s success – in fact, campaigns that are shared fewer than 2 times have a 97% chance of failure. It’s easy to enable social sharing on your Donorbox campaigns. Check out how this church promoted sharing –
Your website should be the home to some of your hybrid church content, but sharing content through popular and easy-to-use content hosting sites will help you reach more people.
YouTube is a popular option for video content, with Vimeo coming in as a close second. Spotify and SoundCloud are good options for audio like recorded sermons and podcasts.
You’ll need a quick, secure, and easy way to collect online tithes and offerings.
Thousands of churches trust Donorbox for their digital fundraising. We offer the following features to help rocket boost your church’s fundraising –
Additionally, we have several integrations that enable you to manage your donor, campaign, and donation data more effectively via leading CRM tools. You can also connect with 2000+ other platforms to enable marketing and communication for your church.
Ready to get started? Watch the below video to know how Donorbox helps increase tithes and offerings for churches through a dedicated pillar, Donorbox MinistryMomentum. Read our step-by-step guide to start fundraising in 4 simple steps.
Donorbox MinistryMomentum - Learn More!
Although you’ll want to post recordings of your services as well, live-streaming is a fantastic way to connect with your members in the moment.
Zoom is a good choice for churches with official 501(c)(3) status, since they provide discounts. Airmeet is another great choice for churches because it’s easy to use, looks great, and integrates with Donorbox so you can collect donations during your service – even from people at home. Here’s what it looks like –
This integration makes giving during virtual services seamless.
This one is important – be ready to try new things. You may find that something that works for other churches doesn’t work for yours, and that’s okay! Just be willing to experiment and find the best solutions for your church.
The Church of Life and Praise is a fantastic example of a hybrid church that uses all available resources.
In addition to live streaming all their services, they started their YouTube channel at the beginning of the pandemic and continue to update it regularly. Their popular “In the Study” series features their reverend discussing ideologies of the church.
On Spotify, they have hundreds of episodes of their podcast, which started in 2019. Each podcast focuses on a specific message and lasts about an hour long. All of their online offerings are shared on their Instagram and Facebook, making it easy for their community to find.
These are excellent resources for members of their church who want to enrich their lives virtually. They also provide community outreach and small groups for in-person enrichment and community building.
Church of Life and Praise uses Donorbox to collect online tithes, offerings, mortgage pledges, missions, and more.
Lighthouse Baptist Church started live streaming and recording its services in 2021. They have their entire library of recorded services on their YouTube channel, which means newcomers have an ample sense of what this church is like.
They also have regular radio broadcasts that you can listen to on their website featuring key members of church leadership.
In addition to these online offerings, they have a strong in-person community that includes two services on Sundays and weeknight Bible study for kids and adults.
We love how the “Watch Live” button is so prominent on their website – newcomers can easily find videos to watch!
Lighthouse collects donations for a variety of designations. They customized their Donorbox donation form so donors can fill in their own custom amount for each type of giving. They also include the option of one-time, weekly, or monthly recurring donations.
The Gathering Church has a very clear hybrid model that includes welcoming people to participate however they’d like. This includes live-streamed services and other video content available on YouTube, their website, and through a variety of video apps.
Their website is very welcoming, with ample information about all their offerings. Their Instagram features both inspirational Bible passages and pictures from their services and events, meaning anyone can get a sense of what their community is like – even virtually.
They also host a variety of conferences that are available for both virtual and in-person attendance, along with regular outreach and children’s ministries.
On their Donate page, they offer both Donorbox text-to-give options and an online donation form – so their donors have a way to give that’s easiest for them. Text-to-Give is a fantastic option, especially for encouraging tithes from your live-stream audience!
This goes back to your strategy for transitioning to a hybrid church model. If you feel like you don’t have enough staff or support for all you want to do, you need to pare down your strategy.
But don’t fret! Most actions that make your church hybrid – like adding a virtual meeting component to an in-person Bible group – take less than 15 minutes to set up.
The online church can still provide community and meaningful, transformative worship. Plus, it can provide even more value to help churchgoers reflect on the weekly service all week long.
Your relationship with your online church members doesn’t have to be sparse. In fact, with a more effective communication plan, you’ll likely feel more connected to your church members.
With online tithing, email newsletters, social media interactions, and more, you’ll be more plugged into your membership than you were when you only saw them once a week.
Virtual church service used to seem like part of a distant future. Now, it’s not only available – in some cases, it’s preferred.
Modernizing your church can look like many different actions, but a hybrid church model is a great step toward spreading the gospel to as many people as you can. Plus, it makes connecting with your church members through tithing much easier in a cashless world.
When you’re ready to become a church of the future, Donorbox is here to help you fundraise. Simply set up a campaign and launch it in minutes. When you’re ready to grow, we’re here to grow with you with comprehensive tools and powerful features.
Sign up to start fundraising today!
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Lindsey spent years wearing many hats in the nonprofit world. Whether she was helping arts nonprofits with their messaging and content, planning a fundraising gala, writing an NEA grant proposal, or running a membership program with over 400 members, she learned how to navigate – and appreciate! – the fast-paced world of fundraising. Now, she loves sharing those hard-earned lessons with the Donorbox community.
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Lindsey Baker Bower