The Neu, VirtuolHow OnLine Worship ls Chonging Church

Bg Jomes Long ond Lindg Lowrg

Fishing season was iust two weeks away when the April 20 explosion rockedBP's Deepwater Horizon offshore rig, and oil began rising from the floor ofthe Gulf. As the weeks dragged on and millions of gallons fouled the waters,the fishing industry was stranded, and coastal communities suffered.

Terri Goulette lives in one of those hard-hit areas-Houma, La.-wheremany families lost their livelihood in the wake of the spill. Moved by theneed, she started looking for a way t0 help and to bring encouragement tothe community. That's when she thought of a backpack and school-supplydrive. And she thought perhaps she could mobilize her "local church"-7O0miles away in Central Florida.

Goulette is one of an estimated 2,000 people who ioin the services ofNorthland, A Church Distributed through webstream each week (in addi-tion to the 12,000 who worship at their various sites). She's been part of theonline congregation since the first week of the church's webcasting in 2005.

Goulette's response to her community in need-her impulse to servein some tangible, specific way and to involve her church in the process-casts an intriguing light on the Web-based church experience and howonline worship is morphing into a new definition of "virtual."

-t Virtua[ lsn't Whot lt Used to Bearl

When churches first started streaming video of their services on theInternet, the closest metaphor was broadcast TV. For many, this is stillthe prevailing perception-iust people watching a screen. Dan Lacich,Northland's pastor for distributed sites, sees it differently.

"Television is a one-way push ofcontent with no interaction built inother than 'Send us a check, and we will send you a book,"'he says. "Theworship experience that people are having via Northland's web and ahandful of other churches is one that is fully interactive and designed asan entry point into ministry everywhere, every day."

In the new virtual, online attendees are able to connect with one anotherbefore, during and after worship via commuhity and private chats. They'reable to have immediate and direct contact with a minister who serves thatonline congregation.

Lacich also notes that online worship is not necessarily a solitaryexperience. "Growing numbers of our online worshippers are gatheringwith others and using the Web as their way to participate in worship, not

simply sitting and watching. They stand, sit, pray, greet, singand have communion along with the rest of the church thatis gathered in many other places. It really gets exciting whenthese online worshippers start working together to serve andreach out to others who do not know lesus."

\ - Opportunities GLoboL ond LocolIn addition to 28,000 who worship each week at various physicallocations and a network of more than 100 churches who usetheir free teaching resources, lifeChurch.w based in Edmond,0kla., has also experienced an explosion of growth in its onlineministries. Pastor and Innovation Leader Bobby Gruenewald, an0utreach columnist, acknowledges that their fairly robust onlinead campaign attracts drifters and seeken as well as the commit-ted. While the curious may click through to their site and linger

LifeChurch.tv's network or not," Gruenewald says.0nline worship is creating unexpected opportunities, says

Dan 0hlerking, online pastor for Healing Place Church's fourweekly services. Recently, 0hlerking received an e-mail froma man saying he suffers from severe agoraphobia, but that viathe church's online worship, he's been "coming to church."Northland's Lacich notes that the church's webstream worshiphas been used in local jails, supplemented by a physical volun-teer team who are on-site during the worship service. "Often,the men who come to the service start t0 reach out to theirwife and kids to say, 'You need to go to this church."'

"l can't tell you what it's like to have one of these guys comeup after they're out of jail and say, 'This is my first time here [atthe churchl, but I've been worshipping with you,"' Lacich says.

It is this interactivity that's driving the vision for onlineworship. While it may be some seekers' solitary pursuit, theintent is to build the church, to use online worship as anotheravenue to gather people together.

"l con't tett youwhot it's lihe to

houe one of theseguas come up oftertheg're out of joil

ond soA, This is mgfirst time here [ot

the churchl, but I'uebeen worshipping

with gou."'-Dan Locich, Northlond,

A Church Distributed

only briefly like Northland, Lifechurch.tv is finding increasingnumbers worshipping regularly online.

And like Northland, Flamingo Road Church in Cooper City, Fla.,Newsong Community Church in lrvine, Calif., Granger Com-munity Church in Granger, Ind., Healing Place Church in BatonRouge, La., and other churches with an aggressive online strategy,lifeChurch.w is finding that opportunities for spiritual influenceonline are as far-rcaching as the Web itself. Even in countries notparticulady hospitable to missionaries, online ministries arc tak-ing hold. Gruenewald singles out India as one area where peoplean punuing answers to faith questions they might otherwise havelittle opportunity to express.

And from the casually curious to persistent seekers, LifeChurch.tv is tracking those who make the first move to stepout of anonymity, seeking discussion, counsel or one-0n-oneprayer. "We're noting where online worshippers are clusteredand offering opportunities to gather in small groups 0r con-nect with a local congregation, whether that church is part of

1 fhe CholLenge of the MetricsAs these and other new ministry opportunities continue toemerge from the virtual experience, churches investing re-sources into this new vision are searching for ways to stewardthat investment. They're studying the metrics-number ofunique visitors, amount of time users stay on the website,number of people participating at a virtual site, etc.

Those numbers, Healing Place Church's 0hlerking says,help him gauge the health ofthe online campus he pastors. Hehas followed lifeChurch.tv's lead, measuring online atten-dance of a service by the maximum number of simultaneousviewers for that experience. Additionally, LifeChurch.tv tracksthe total number of unique computers that connect and thetime on the site, Gruenewald says, adding that he also looksat how many people are volunteering, giving and are involvedin live prayer conversations as ways t0 measure engagement.Because Northland gives users the option to sign in and par-ticipate or remain quietly anonymous, attendance is trackedin two ways, and users must be on the site a minimum of 20minutes t0 constitute "attendance," lacich explains.

Currently, no standard of measurement exists for online at-tendance and isn't likely to emerge in an area of such divenity."Because so many churches approach online ministry differ-ently, it's difficult t0 arrive at a standard for measurementi ' saysLifeChurch.tv's Gruenewald. "A church's goals for their onlineministry will determine their penpective on what's important t0evaluate. So some churches might pay attention to the number ofregistered users while othen might track site hits."

Regardless of who counts what, online worship and thepeople who participate are fast becoming part of a church'soverall equation.

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"As our church is being transformed frommost of our people mainlv assembling at build-ings accommodating large numbers to most ofour people being gathered in smaller venues andindividuals connecting with particular others foran online experience, n'e are being challenged toclarifv not onlv the vision, but the measurementsof those participating with us directll;' sa,vsNorthland Senior Pastor Joel Hunter.

As the church continues to think creatirelr'and grow be1'ond traditional parameters, perhapsthe greater, orerarching question and challengecomes down to: How do ue measure ministrveffectiveness? Along with thousands of churchesaround the countr]', Northland and lifeChurch.tv are wrestling with that question. "V'e're pas-sionate about changing how ue measure ministryeffectileness," Gruenewald sa,vs. adding that LifeChurch.tv is in the process of dereloping softwareto help churches in this process.

As weeks turned to months and the Gulfoil spill persisted, Terri Goulette's backpackdrive had taken shape and gained momentum,mostlv through word of mouth and informalnetworking. It uasn't until she contactedNorthland to invite the involvement of herchurch that she remembered the churchdoes an annual school suppl,v drive to benefithomeless and other needv children in CentralFlorida. Goulette and Northland combinedtheir efforts, and the contributions poured in.

Vhen Aug. 7 arriled, the da1'to distribute thebackpacks in the area around Houma, La.. North-land was on hand to assist Goulette. Because ofone person's impulse to help and the communitl'she mobilized, nearl.v 800 kids receiltd a newbackpack and school supplies. The ministrv she'sreceiving online, she sa.vs, is teaching her "howto continue to walk with Jesus and look at othersthrough God's eres, to make m,v world more likeHearen on Earth." z

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