BETA04: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Phygital Christmas

All right, welcome to Beta Show, Episode 4.

It's Christmastime here.

Jeff here with the Church.Digital and Stadia Church Planning,

and joining me today for the show is Reindeer de Armas.

Ho, ho, ho!

Man, listen, Halloween is past, it's done.

It's not even Turkey Day.

We don't know who the President of the United States is,

at least today when we're doing this broadcast,

but I can tell you right now

that break out your Spotify playlist,

bring out the Christmas movies,

put Die Hard on repeat over and over again,

and let's embrace this idea of a fidgetal Christmas

here on the Beta Show.

So once again, here with the Beta Show,

we answer your questions,

the questions that you guys have in ministry,

and so text us your questions,

484-324-8724.

We do this.

I feel so silly wearing this hat.

I don't think I can wear this hat the entire...

I'm going to try to wear it the entire show.

We'll see how we get.

But text us your questions on online ministry,

church online,

fidgetal church,

online discipleship,

whatever that is.

Send us those questions.

We'll answer them in future episodes

here of the Beta Show.

And for today,

in case you haven't noticed,

buy my ridiculous hat

or the T-shirt you can't see,

which is in fact Darth Vader

riding Santa's sleigh

with the at-at

being the reindeer chasing it,

heading into the moonscape

of the Death Star.

Yeah, I do own that T-shirt.

And I wore it for this.

And honestly,

I wear it regularly throughout the year,

not even during Christmas season.

It's just,

it's awesome.

So we really want to focus

on this idea of Christmas

and excited to drill into it.

You know,

even to just get into the holiday spirit,

you may be thinking to yourself,

it's beginning to look a lot

like Fidgetal Christmas.

You know,

you can hear that,

that Christmas song

just resonating out there.

I'll be home for Christmas,

assuming my Zoom account works.

You know,

this may be the Christmas for you,

kind of doing that social distancing thing,

even in the home.

You're probably sharing

that same Zoom account

with like four or five other people.

So it depends

on how that's working out for you,

right?

Definitely.

Hey,

one of my favorites

is Little Drummer Boy.

You remember that time

when Little Drummer Boy

presented that gift to Jesus

of high-speed internet,

giving him that extra boost

to allow for it.

Still waiting on that gift.

Oh my gosh.

That's the gift

that keeps giving it,

even into 2021.

Naming and claiming 5G

in the name of Jesus.

Let's go.

I'm dreaming

of a Fidgetal Christmas.

I mean,

there's so much

we can really get into.

But honestly,

I just,

I want all spotlights here

on my friend Ray

as he presents

It's the most stressful

time of the year.

Ray,

are you ready for this?

Folks,

sing along

if you know it at home.

Here we go.

It's the most stressful

time of the year.

What with COVID

still growing,

the elections now slowing

and doom seems so near.

It's the most stressful

time of the year.

Man,

we are really missing out.

We should be like

marketing that publicly.

Like,

get Tyler Sansom.

Let's do a cover of that

and put it on YouTube

and like start bankrolling

or something.

We're not utilizing

all of that.

Tyler will get a million

streams on Spotify.

No problem.

Me,

five streams.

So he's got it.

Oh,

so cool.

Well,

hey,

for us here,

we really wanted to dig

into what Christmas

looks like.

Obviously,

Christmas is going

to look different

here in 2020.

You know,

Easter was a struggle.

Easter was a lesson

for all of us

as we wrestled

with this idea

of how to do

Easter digital only.

And so really,

it was like the apex.

It was the peak

of Church Online

where so many people

came and viewed

an online service.

Now,

here in December 2020,

it's starting

to look a little different.

It's not like

it's all online.

Some of you

may be thinking physical.

Some of you

may be thinking digital.

Some of you

may be thinking

digital.

Some of you,

okay,

maybe not those of you

who are up north.

Some of you

may be thinking

outdoor venue again.

I know that was

kind of the go-to

during Easter

as a fallback

for physical

was that outdoor venue.

Some of your venues

you can use

at full capacity.

Some you can't.

And so,

it's really

a mixed bag

kind of heading

into 2020,

into this

Christmas Eve

service season.

Ray,

any thoughts on this

just kind of

right at the get-off?

Yeah,

with so many

different options

and,

you know,

we talk about

this a lot

on our shows.

You've got to

think through

strategy.

You've got to

think through

what's your

ultimate goal

and then

allow the

strategy to

meet that goal,

right?

Don't try to

force back

into physical

just because

you have the

capability of

reopening.

I know some

churches have

already done

and you're

hoping and

praying that

we can go

to some

semblance

of last

December.

But as

we're all

already

identifying,

for those

of you

who've

opened,

you already

recognize us

and see

this.

It's not

going to be

2019.

And so,

we have to

prepare and

think through

how to

meet 2020

problems with

2020 solutions.

Totally and

completely.

And recognize

what your

venues are

capable of

space-wise and

what they're not

going to be

capable of.

having a

more distributed

approach,

either multiple

days,

multiple services,

online and

micro and

watch parties.

And we're

going to get

into all these

different options

here in a

little bit.

But it

obviously is not

going to be a

carbon copy of

what 2019 is.

And we need to

be comfortable

with it even

up front that

just like the

rest of 2020

has been a

messy year.

I mean,

look,

I'm wearing a

freaking hat

with antlers.

2020 has been

messy and it's

going to continue

to get messy

even heading into

21.

Even questions

like,

and I know

we're all

asking these

questions,

right?

Do we do a

live broadcast

of Christmas

Eve?

Do we do a

pre-recorded

of Christmas

Eve?

And honestly,

like just for

me,

my knee-jerk

would be go

with what

you're comfortable

with.

If you've

never done

a live

broadcast,

let's not

use Christmas

Eve as the

opportunity to

do something

new.

If all you

do is live

broadcast,

then you're

not comfortable

necessarily with

the workflow

of doing the

pre-recorded

service.

So maybe

evaluate if it's

really worth it.

I think the

big win of a

Christmas like

this is to

create an

experience where

you are able to

preach to people

specifically in the

room if they're in

the room.

And if you're

doing it online,

you're creating

an experience where

you're able to

preach to people

specifically online.

There are

opportunities where

you can look

straight into that

camera when you're

doing the

broadcast.

But when you're

preaching to the

room, now you're

looking in different

directions connecting

with people in that

way.

I see wins like

that in this

holiday season and

how best you can

set up that

engagement where

you're creating the

video content that

speaks, literally

speaks, to the

people in the room

versus speaking to

the people online.

That's right.

And it's so

important to remember

that if you've

determined this

strategy, that you

continue to

communicate it

clearly.

So don't do

live broadcasts for

the sake of, hey,

we're going to have

this up Christmas

Eve night at

7 o'clock.

You'll be able to

do it alongside

with folks or

whatever else.

Don't be so

consumed by that.

Last year, what

we did is we

took, here at

Christ Fellowship,

we took our

service that was

recorded at

7 o'clock and

we had a team of

editors that we

contracted out to

make sure that we

could get it up

online by 9 o'clock.

We just capped it

beginning and end and

we made sure that

the in-between was

set up in such a

format so that it

wouldn't look weird

and require a

whole lot of

editing online.

The big thing for

us has always been

the quality of mix,

especially since so

many of you are

consumed with putting

in music experiences

that don't always

play so well online,

right, Jeff?

We've talked about

that in terms of

worship online.

Christmas plays off

a little bit

differently because

families just like to

get together and

sing Christmas songs

and so that can

work a little bit

more in an online

experience, but a

poorly mixed online

experience is a rough

one either way,

whether it's

Christmas, Christmas

Eve or not.

Definitely.

And so wrestle with

those ideas and

we've created a lot

of content and

have addressed those

questions on how to

do the audio mix

and solve that

problem.

If you're still

asking those

questions, feel free

to put it into the

comment fields,

you know, ask that

or reach out to us

at the Church

Digital and we can

kind of help you

get pointed in the

right direction.

But, you know,

more than, you're

at Christmas carols,

that's a part of

doing a Christmas

Eve service or a

Christmas service.

But there's other

things that start to

get weird, like how

do you do a

digital candle

lighting?

Like, candle

lighting is a big

part, you know, for

me growing up, being

in churches, you

know, my Christmas

Eve service had the

candle lighting.

And so, you know,

you do that at the

end, you'd raise the

light up, you'd see

all the hundreds of

candles across the

room being lit.

And, well, dang

it, you know, like a

digital service doesn't

quite have that same

effect or can it.

You know, a lot of

times when we really

define the word

digital and things

like this, it's meant

to be, maybe there's

an opportunity to

draw physical objects

into what you're

doing online.

Like, I'll be honest,

here at my desk, 24

7, I have a fidget

cube, that's what you

call these things,

right?

And so, like, for

me, this, even when

I'm on Zoom meetings

or doing broadcasts

even naturally, just

even as I'm talking

with you, I'm

interacting with this

to keep me grounded,

to keep me aware of

what's happening

physically.

And so, during your

fidgetal broadcast,

during your sermons,

maybe start to bring

in outside objects

that maybe somebody

has within the house

and use it as part

of the storytelling.

So, maybe you're

inviting people to

go get candles

and even in advance,

hey, we're going to

do a fidgetal

candle lighting

service, get your

candles, bring them

in.

You're not seeing

the massive number

of people, but people

even distributed

digitally are connecting

with it.

Maybe there's parts

of the sermon

elements where you're

talking about a

Christmas ornament

or a Christmas gift

or things that they

would have physically

within the room

that you can start

to connect

digitally, this idea

of what's in the

physical world

with what you're

teaching digitally.

And so, it's a lot

of that kind

of multi-sensory

approach that's

really going to

tie into this idea

of creating a real

fidgetal experience.

Yeah, you know,

and this is difficult.

This is going to be

hard for so many

churches, right?

Because part of our

metrics when it comes

to church online has

been in the number

of streams or the

number of views

that we receive

on the back end.

But the reality

with a fidgetal

candle lighting

experience, if the

people that we're

going to feel

most comfortable

with this holiday

season and coming

around is our

family.

And some people

may have larger

families and other

adults that they

group up with in

the season.

If you equip them

through digital

means to have a

candle lighting

service where

they're at and

hey, we'll provide

the content, you

guys provide the

candles and however

many of you are

on the table,

whether it's 12,

15, 20 in your

backyard, whatever

else, you know, do

this along with us

and you'd be

surprised at what

kind of response

you might get.

Now, will it show

up in the stream

numbers that 12 or

15 or 20 people

were there watching

it?

No.

But if you

encourage your

folks to, hey,

take a photo of

it, share it on

social media,

encourage other

folks to do the

same, you know,

put up a hashtag

for it, you know,

our church

Christmas, you

know, whatever it

is, you'd be

surprised the kind

of feedback that

you would get for

your folks because

you equip them to

have the service

where they're at.

And the other

thing is, and

this is always a

struggle for those

of us that hold

those services in

physical environments

is that we feel

like we're taking

church members away

from their families

on those days to

help enact

experiences where

we're at,

right?

Like I know in

Miami, Christmas

Eve is bigger than

Christmas Day.

And so whenever

we hold a

Christmas Eve

service, Christmas,

you know, we're

taking away

volunteers from

family events where

they could be

impacting non-believers.

This provides an

opportunity to

equip them to go

reach their

non-believing

friends where

they're at to

share the gospel

with them right

at their own

family event.

It really can be

a solid thing that

can bring the

family together

instead of seeing

the church as

something that

takes their

family member

away.

Yeah, it's a

different strategy

there, but it's

this idea of

creating this

digital service

as the glue to

connect families

together.

It's not a

separate event that

you're bringing

them to, but it's

a central piece, a

central part of

what's happening

through the holiday,

through the Christmas

Eve, the Christmas

day, experience

celebration that's

happening at the

house.

And so in

families, inviting

others to come

together, neighbors,

other family

members, whatever

social distancing

allows, huge

evangelical

opportunity, huge

opportunity for us

to reach out to

our ones, our

individual ones, and

start to connect

with them in a new

way.

Well, hey, we

reached out, and

so we asked some

churches in some

Facebook groups,

hey, what are you

guys doing for

Christmas?

And got a lot of

good feedback, because

I mean, listen, 2020

if nothing else is a

big giant experiment.

And so it's really

interesting to see

some different

approaches out here.

Justin Percy from

Connection Church,

hey, so we're

creating a

subscription box or

crate to make the

experience interactive

for our families at

home, as well as to

make it easier for our

people to invite

friends to.

The boxes are

printed like presents

with do not open

till and a QR code

for the stream.

I love, and

they're up in

Canada, so they're

Connection Church, so

they've got all

sorts of cold up

there.

Justin, hope you're

staying warm with

what you're doing.

You're welcome to

come down to Miami

anytime you want and

thaw out, but love

this idea.

Subscription, there's

pros and cons.

Yeah, it can be

inward facing, but if

you're communicating in

advance, almost looking

at it like the RSVP

for the seats.

Towards that, not

making the service

exclusive to only if

you have the box, but

as a way to, once

again, provide some

fidgetal touch

points, some physical

touch points that tie

into the service, I

think there's lots of

positives with that.

Ray, are you

thinking anything?

Yeah, there's a

couple things, right?

Like, Insider can

actually be so cool that

you can make a kind of

FOMO to something to

where even outsiders

will want to be part

of it, and they may

want a box as well.

So I think if you can,

Justin, just make sure

that you got your boxes

ready early enough so

that for those who

aren't part of the

church that want to

take part in this

experience that may or

may not be believers

might want to actually

get a box and that

their friend can hook

them up with a box.

Like, man, I can't go

over to your house or

maybe I don't feel

comfortable with that

right now, but do you

think I could get a

box for my family?

Absolutely.

You know, or even

there's just, and we

all recognize this, there's

a lot of churches that

aren't offering any

experiences right now.

And it's not that

you're trying to steal

help out a brother in

Christ in this season

just by providing a

digital experience for

them and their family

at home, why not do

it?

So kudos to you,

Justin.

Sounds very creative.

Sounds a lot of fun.

Love, love that.

Love what's happening

up at Conexus.

Hey, we've got Nathan

Martin here.

We're doing a totally

digital approach.

Now, applause with

that, just one sentence

right there.

A totally digital

approach.

We're producing a

30-minute Christmas

Eve service that will

premiere on Facebook

and the YouTube page.

We're asking our

entire congregation

to make sure to

share the experience

with someone in

their life.

And so very

outward-facing,

very evangelical

with that.

We're making it

clear that they

should not just

simply share the

link to these

people's profiles,

but to share the

experience with the

other person.

Now, what you're

hearing is like a

physical invite,

come watch this with

me, that type of

thing where it's

either been doing,

it's happening in

physical space, let

me invite you over to

my house, let me

invite you into a

watch party and do

this experience

through Facebook or

a number of

platforms that are

doing it at this

point.

I love the

intentionality, Nathan,

towards the evangelism,

towards using this

digital content to

connect with people

through the

Christmas service

season to create

an experience to

dialogue, to have

conversations.

And so the

ability to not just

create that 30-minute

piece, but to also

maybe have some

prep questions,

follow-up questions,

dialogue questions.

Hey, so I just

shared this service

with my friend, what

do I need to talk

about afterwards?

Do I, as the

person who's sharing

the service with

someone else, am I

equipped to kind of

even take that next

level?

Those would be some

questions that I would

dig into.

Don't just create the

experience, but help

me as the person

who's sharing it.

Help me with some

wisdom to facilitate

the conversation

towards it.

Wisdom, and I'm

wearing an antler

hat.

Anyway, what do

you got, Ray?

What are you

thinking about?

No, I think that's

great.

Some of the things, and

I know we're going to

cover this in a little

bit, Jeff, but even

thinking through, so

what is that next

step for the person

who's watching that

isn't so connected to

church, right?

That's kind of the

big thing that I always

wonder is, all right,

so now how do I

interact with you, and

what is that going to

mean for me as a

non-believer if I'm

watching your broadcast

and I loved it and I

want to take that next

step?

Just making sure

that that's very

clear, that it's

baked into the

message, that it's

even baked into the

hosting ahead of time,

having one clear next

step for the entire

broadcast of, hey,

listen, this is your

next step.

Go to this website,

you know, click on

this form, fill it

out, let us know that

you watched it, let us

know what questions you

have, et cetera, but

give a way to get

feedback from those

folks, and then

encouraging those

church members that

are going to be

sharing this to

encourage others to

fill out that form.

Like, hey, you

watched it?

Awesome.

Did you fill out the

form?

No, man, here, let

me go ahead and send

you a link, you

know, following up to

make sure that that

took place, because

that next step form,

really, it's so much

for those of us who

do church online.

It really is.

It's the way that

people move from

anonymity to being

part of the church, and

so they have to take

that next step.

So if you're

designing this, you

got, you know, six,

seven weeks, right

now is the time to

make sure that it's

baked in as best as

possible and have it

clear as day.

And one, one, please,

one next step.

Yes, and so a lot

of that really comes

into, like, just the

clarity of the service

where there is one

thing I want these

people to do and try

to get that, judge

that business term,

conversion rate, judge

the successfulness off

of that one thing.

You know, I tell the

story of Easter 2020

where a church that's a

friend of mine had

500,000 views online

and on TV, but they

only had 11 connection

cards filled out.

And some of that

really comes down to

there's so much

others going, other

things going on, they

didn't clearly

communicate the

connection card, or

it just got lost in

the shuffle of

everything else, a

number of issues.

But for y'all who

are starting and doing

this out, make sure

the connection card

is clear, that it's

very simple to fill

out.

It's not overly

evasive.

And judge the

successfulness of the

service based on your

ability to get people

connected into something

else.

Maybe if it's whatever

that next step is for

your church and your

engagement pathway.

Whatever you want to

drive them to, I would

suggest your Christmas

Eve service for 2020

is only successful as

whatever it drives

those people to at the

next level.

Right.

And then the last

thing with that is

being realistic about

what the expectations

are of that.

your church is only

so large, and

especially during the

season where so many

of us are unsure as

far as who's still

part of the core, the

committed, the

congregation, and the

crowd, right?

And so make sure that

your expectations are

right for whatever that

experience is going to

look like and what

next steps that you're

communicating towards.

Definitely, definitely

there.

Hey, so even though

we're as late in the

year as we are,

normally, you know,

most, some churches

will start talking

Christmas, like June,

July, there were

seasons as creative

director was like,

if I'm not talking

about Christmas in

August, there's

something wrong.

Well, 2020 is weird.

Like, we know that

coming in.

And I guarantee you

probably weren't

talking about it in

August.

But even as late as

we are in the year,

there's still time to

plan and prepare for

something to be done

creative in this

holiday season heading

into Christmas to

connect with it.

So take the time,

talk with your teams,

develop a strategy

that envelops, I

mean, all the things

that we talked about,

how to be digital,

how to reach out and

really utilize this as

an opportunity to

connect with ones and

create a very powerful

evangelical tool for

your people and make

sure that they

understand how to do

these things.

So lots of wisdom

here in this broadcast.

And oh, by the way,

don't forget about

December 26th and 27th,

that literal next week.

You know, I know

Ray, Christ Fellowship

Miami, like you guys

aren't doing any

physical services that

week.

You're shutting down

and only doing online.

You want to talk a

little bit about that?

Yeah, much like other

churches have done in

the past.

I mean, we learned a

whole lot from COVID

and especially in a

year where our max

capacity right now

down here in South

Florida is 25% of our

physical venues.

That's the maximum

amount of people that

we're allowed to hit.

And so the reality of

it is, is many of our

staff are going to be

putting in a lot of

work that week,

Christmas week, even

leading into the 24th.

We're going to do a

physical experience on

Christmas Eve, but

because of that, because

of there's so much

expectation, we want

them to give as much

as they can to those

services, but also

understanding that

staff, volunteer staff

and volunteers are

going to have a

weekend where they can

spend time with their

families and

especially Christmas

day.

You know, we don't

want them worrying

about Christmas that

weekend in the sense of

church.

We want them

experiencing it and

then also sharing

that experience, that

special online digital

experience, sharing that

with their unbelieving

friends, you know, or

experiencing it together

with them after they've

unwrapped their

PlayStation 5.

why not stop by CF

Miami.org and that

terrible Sony web

browser and watch a

service, you know?

So if they have the

case, we don't have a

PS5 app yet.

You guys, we're not

that cool.

So anyways, you know, if

they've got the capability

of doing that, then why

not leveraging that

weekend, especially a

weekend which typically

pre-COVID was a poorly

attended weekend for us.

We can leverage it as an

opportunity to maximize our

results on digital.

And when I say poorly

attended, I meant

physically, digitally, it's

always been off the charts.

So.

Yeah.

So there's an opportunity

here to rethink some

things, you know, like

evaluate how those

services post Christmas

works.

Is it worth the effort?

Is it worth the stress

that it puts on the

staff?

And so wrestle with some

of these things where you

may not have considered

digital being an option

2018, 2019.

Digital certainly is an

option in 2020.

To help maybe spread the

stress or put it more on

the Christmas instead of

what's happening there the

week after.

So, hey, love conversations

like this and love what

we're doing here with

beta helping churches like

yours answer some of these

questions.

Once again, text your

questions that you have to

for the church, 44-324-8724.

And we'll most likely

address them in a future

episode here at the beta

show with the church

digital.

And, hey, we're going to

wrap with this.

We may talk about

Christmas again.

We may, we've got other

questions that we want to

hit that are getting

texted in as well.

So text us your stuff.

And thanks for jumping on

here with the beta show.

For Ray, this is, excuse

me, for Reindeer Day

Armas, this is Jeff, who's

evidently lighting up the

holiday with the church.digital

and Stated Church Planning.

Thanks for being here for the

show.

We'll see you next time here

at beta.

Y'all have a good day.