HAVE YOU EVALUATED WHAT YOU’RE OFFERING POST-COVID-19?

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One of the practices I wrote about in 10 Practices You Need to Adopt Going Forward (post-COVID-19), is a thorough evaluation of your existing belong and become menu.

Note: When you read "belong" think connection or fellowship. When you read "become" think growth or discipleship.

Every church already has a menu of fellowship (belong) and discipleship (become) opportunities. It may help to think about your website or your calendar of programs and events, but your church already has a menu from which unconnected and unengaged adults choose what to participate in.

Although the menu varies from church to church, when you look over your menu you're probably seeing a variety of options:

Small groups (perhaps off-campus or on-campus groups)
An on-campus Bible study or two (Beth Moore or Men's Fraternity?)
Maybe a class or two (Precepts, etc.)
Mentoring
Discipleship groups
Etc

Everything needs to be evaluated post-COVID-19

The practice I mentioned in the article is that your existing belong and become menu (i.e., small groups, discipleship classes or experiences, Bible studies, mentoring, and more), all need to be evaluated and assessed for design suitability post-COVID-19.

In my mind, every program or ministry should be evaluated with an eye for the following:

Is this program or ministry a step or is it a destination?
If it is a destination, can it be redesigned to be a step?
If the program or ministry is a step, is it an easy, obvious and strategic that leads to the best next step?
Is there a missing essential step (that would make the pathway more productive)?
If the program or ministry is an essential step does a digital version exist or need to be developed?

Step vs Destination

Any existing step that is a destination (as opposed to a step that points in the direction of the preferred future) should either be retooled or replaced. Examples of destinations would be Bible studies whose sole purpose is filling in another set of blanks and completing yet another study.

Destinations usually require or produce sideways energy. For example, an on-campus Bible study may accumulate a growing number of attendees/devotees who are growing in Bible knowledge but too busy to serve in a ministry or invest in the growth of others. Or, a destination program or ministry may require regular promotion to fill seats (and that promotion comes at the expense of a program or ministry that is an important step in the engagement pathway.

Is this step easy, obvious and strategic?

Every existing step should be evaluated to determine if it provides the best way to help a particular group of people grow and prepare for their next step. The "best way" will be easy, obvious, and strategic.

Easy steps don't require Olympic skills to jump from one step to the next.
Obvious steps don't require Sherlock Holmes skills to discover them.
Strategic steps only lead to the next step in the pathway.

Every existing step should be evaluated to determine if it provides the best way to help a particular group of people grow and prepare for their next step. The best way will be easy, obvious, and strategic. Click To Tweet

Since most churches reach various groups of people, more than one option might need to exist on the pathway. However, providing more than one option that meets the same need for the same type of person almost always leads to decision paralysis.

A missing step?

Sometimes a careful evaluation reveals a missing step. That is, the jump from one step to the next is very challenging (instead of easy) or hard to find (instead of obvious).

In addition, a missing step makes a destination (instead of a step) attractive.

The identification of a missing step should lead to the development of a step that is easy, obvious and strategic.

Sometimes a careful evaluation reveals a missing step. That is, the jump from one step to the next is very challenging (instead of easy) or hard to find (instead of obvious). In addition, a missing step makes a destination (instead of… Click To Tweet

Does there need to be a digital version?

One of the most important post-COVID-19 realities to grasp is the shift to digital. Since COVID-19 has been a disruption (and not been an interruption), it stands to reason things will not revert back to the old normal. Instead, a new normal will develop. In fact, the new normal is developing all around us.

In the new normal, there will be increasing need for a digital engagement pathway, complete with easy, obvious and strategic steps that lead all the way (from the website, from social media, from the online service or digital archives) to the life of a fully engaged follower of Jesus. That means, whatever you believe will produce that maturity in an on-campus attendee will need to developed for the digital side as well.

What does this mean practically?

It's time for an audit of your belong and become menu.

Image by MIke Cohen