Is online church the future?

On today's episode, Pastor Adam invites Kyle Davis on the episode to discuss a topic that deeply relates to our post-pandemic world. Is online church the future of the Church?

 

As always, thank you for listening, subscribing, and sharing with a friend. We'd love for you to share your thoughts on the Fully Delighted Podcast through a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 

 

If you'd like to connect with Kyle Davis, you can email him at Kyle.davis@smccutah.org. 

 
If you have questions, or would like to provide feedback, please email smcc@smccutah.org 

 

 

SHOW NOTES AND RESOURCES

 

Where do we do it

• Bible reading
  • Less likely to bring a Bible to church or pick up one throughout the week
• Sermons/worship
  • Not regular church attendance but have a stable of pastors to choose from
• Community
  • Working it through social media

 

Why do we do it

• Bible reading
  • Easy access and helps
• Sermons/worship
  • Easy access and quality speakers
• Community
  • Not buy in

 

Why doesn’t it work

1. Reasons it doesn't work
   1. Split attention
   2. Learning styles
      1. Most are visual learners, some are auditory, and few are kinetic (everybody is a combination of these things)
2. Brings us far but not deep
   1. Highways vs back roads

 

Why we shouldn’t

• Bible reading
  • Low retention rate
• Sermons/worship
  • Dr. Russ Moore says Your podcast is not your pastor because pastoring is more than about teaching
    • Their ability to be with you in life is directly proportional to your trustworthiness in their teaching. You’re more likely to say “yes i can agree with that” when you physically know the person
• Community
  • Community is inherently in person

Thoughts 

1. General
   1. More than two and half decades’ worth of tracking research shows that Americans are softening in their practice of Christianity. - Barna 
2. Places we do it
   1. Bible reading
      1. Low retention rate but high influx rate
      2. Those committed to the spiritual practice of Bible reading have stayed just as committed, while those who never made this a consistent part of their lives are now more likely to never open a Bible. - Barna
   2. Sermons/worship
      1. Dr. Russ Moore says Your podcast is not your pastor because pastoring is more than about teaching
         1. Their ability to be with you in life is directly proportional to your trustworthiness in their teaching. You’re more likely to say “yes i can agree with that” when you physically know the person
   3. Community
      1. Social isolation
3. Reasons it doesnt work
   1. Split attention
   2. Learning styles
4. Brings us far but not deep
   1. Highways vs back roads

 

Resources

1. Study in the Journal of Biblical literature https://www.academia.edu/40330432/Habits_and_Hermeneutics_of_Digital_Bible_Readers_Comparing_Print_and_Screen_Engagement_Comprehension_and_Behavior
2. Hermeneutical study on why the church is for in person attendance https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/is-online-church-really-church-the-church-as-gods-temple/
3. Research on decline in christianity https://www.barna.com/research/changing-state-of-the-church/
4. Learning styles https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4340450/
5. Quote from Russ Moore https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/your-podcast-is-not-your-pastor/
6. Kids getting tested online score lower than on paper https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775718305119?via%3Dihub
7. Kids learned less math while distance learning https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/learning-during-covid-19-initial-findings-on-students-reading-and-math-achievement-and-growth/
8. Teachers had to work harder to teach children via online platforms vs in person https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13158-020-00272-6
9. Biblical readers need to do more than just read the text to truly engage with it https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/dial.12130
10. How average users are handling digital and print bibles https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ZQrTDgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA101&dq=bible+app&ots=ILMsKUVXrm&sig=gG8iNi968b6C714UgESGC3aAvZQ#v=onepage&q=bible%20app&f=false
11.