In July 2023, the Central California Conference (CCC), situated in the heart of the world's IT industry, including San Francisco and Silicon Valley, took a bold step toward digital evangelism. Recognizing the unique challenges in these regions, where the ratio of Adventists to the general population in San Francisco is roughly 1:1004, significantly higher than the global average of 1:367, the CCC collaborated with the General Conference (GC) Communication Department and the Adventist Information Ministry (AIM) of the North American Division (NAD). Together, they launched a pioneering initiative, implementing a three-step digital strategy to enhance their mission in these challenging fields.
Phase 1: Exploring Digital Evangelism Strategies
The initial phase of our digital evangelism strategy was dedicated to assessing the potential and feasibility of various digital approaches. This phase involved a thorough exploration of different methods, tools and strategies to understand what most effectively resonated with our target audience. It was a period marked by extensive testing and learning, where we gathered and analyzed data to evaluate the effectiveness of our tactics.
Central to our strategy, which began with the involvement of six churches, was the use of digital marketing to create connections within the community. We tailored our campaigns around the concept of prayer, specifically targeting local communities within a 10-mile radius of our participating churches. This approach led to a variety of prayer requests from a diverse group of individuals. In response, we dedicated ourselves to offering prayers, conducting follow-up efforts and extending invitations to these individuals to visit our local churches.
The effectiveness of this strategy became apparent within a span of two months, as evidenced by tangible results, engaging 1,358 individuals from the local community. This engagement represented a 47 percent follow-up success rate compared to the initial 2,189 clicks on our digital advertisements. Facilitated by our dedicated online pastoral care team, supported by AIM, our digital outreach effectively bridged the gap to real-world connections. This phase resulted in tangible outcomes, including 15 new individuals attending our church services and a significant milestone with the first baptism at the Milpitas Adventist Church.
Evangelistic Prayer: Key Element for the Strategy
A pivotal example from this phase is Joel's journey, a testament to the crucial role of evangelistic prayer in our digital strategy. Joel's connection with our team was facilitated through our digital outreach for two months. The ongoing support, encouragement and prayers from our team profoundly impacted him. In a move that speaks volumes about the power of our approach, Joel chose to attend church by his own initiative, without any direct invitation. His heartfelt declaration, "My life has been changed, I want to be baptized," marked a significant milestone in his spiritual journey.
Following his baptism, Joel actively participated in Bible study and discipleship programs. He now serves as a deacon in his church, embodying the transformative power of faith. His remarkable transformation can be traced back to the dedicated prayers of a young college student chaplain in AIM.
This story highlights a critical lesson learned during this phase: the immense power of prayer in the realm of digital evangelism. It underscores that every lay member, regardless of age, has the potential to be a digital missionary and prayer evangelist. Joel's story is a compelling illustration of how evangelistic prayer is not just a component but a key element in our digital evangelism strategy.
Lessons and Challenges in Phase 1
1. Localization: A Strategic Lesson in Effective Prayer Advertising
We learned a key lesson in Phase 1 about the strategy of advertising. Initially, we adopted a high-performance prayer advertisement strategy that had proven successful in Brazil. However, this approach did not resonate with the audience in Silicon Valley, located in the Central California Conference territory. Recognizing this, we shifted our approach to align more with the Silicon Valley style. This involved a greater focus on localization.
We collaborated with local church pastors, featuring them in iconic locations within their communities for our advertisements. This strategy conveyed a clear message: We are an integral part of your community—your neighbor—and we are committed to praying for this community. The localized approach proved to be significantly more effective. Initially, our cost per click for advertisements was about $90, but with these changes it continuously decreased, eventually dropping to about $7. This experience underscored the importance of localization as a critical factor for the success of our strategy.
2. Patience and Consistency: The Cornerstones of Successful Online Pastoral Care
After localizing our advertisements, we observed a more effective targeting of the community in our prayer campaign. This initial success allowed us to smoothly transition to the second step, focusing on online pastoral care. This stage of the strategy required a level of patience reminiscent of Noah's experience, where he and his family entered the ark and waited seven days without any indication of the impending flood. In a similar vein, we had to sustain our efforts and faith in our strategy, even in the absence of immediate visible outcomes.
Despite initial doubts and skepticism, we remained dedicated to our online engagement. This perseverance was crucial, mirroring the biblical narrative's patience and faith. After two months of consistent effort and patience, the fruits of our labor became apparent. People from the community started attending our church services in person on their own initiative, without any direct invitations from us.
This experience underscored a key lesson for our digital evangelism initiative: the vital importance of patience and consistency in online pastoral care. It taught us that building relationships and fostering community connections online requires time and persistent effort. These connections, once established, can lead to deeper, more meaningful engagement with the community, guiding them toward active participation in church life. This phase of our strategy has shown that consistent, patient and dedicated online pastoral care is not just a step in the process, but a cornerstone of successful digital evangelism.
3. Mobilizing Our Members: Expanding Beyond Capacity
Two months into our initiative, we had established a network of approximately 1,400 regular contacts through our prayer engagement campaign. This success stretched our team to its limits, necessitating a temporary halt to our advertising efforts. News of our effective digital evangelism began to ripple through nearby churches, igniting an interest in similar campaigns. The challenge was evident: we lacked the necessary AIM teams to support these burgeoning interests.
Confronted with this situation, we received pivotal guidance, leading us to a new strategy. We embarked on recruiting and training digital missionaries from within our conference. These individuals were taught to interact with their local communities, allowing for a decentralized approach to our digital evangelism efforts. This solution addressed our issue of limited capacity and galvanized our members to engage more actively in the mission. It cultivated a deeper sense of responsibility and involvement in digital evangelism throughout our community.
4. Local Involvement: The Key to Transitioning from Digital Engagement to In-person Church
A significant challenge was transitioning individuals from an online presence to in-person church attendance. While the second step of our strategy, online pastoral care, proved effective in fostering healthy, long-term relationships online, there was a logistical hurdle. Our engagement staff, primarily based at AIM (in Michigan), found it challenging to extend direct invitations to individuals to attend church services in California. The typical invitation, "come to my church, I want to meet you in person," wasn't as straightforward due to the geographical distance.
Some individuals did transition to in-person church attendance, but for the majority this remained a challenge. We realized that local church involvement was a key factor in this transition. Among the six churches that started with us, a few stood out in their success rates.
The common denominator for these successful churches was the high level of involvement by the local church in this transition phase. For instance, local teams and pastors actively visited people who were engaged through our digital efforts over a long term. This personal touch greatly aided in encouraging these individuals to attend local church services in person. It became evident that while digital engagement is effective in initiating contact and building relationships, the involvement of the local church is crucial in successfully bridging the gap between an online presence and in-person community involvement.
Pastoral Testimonials
During Phase 1, pastors who participated in the project shared insightful reflections on their experiences, highlighting the impact of evangelistic prayer and digital outreach.
Pastor Daniel Gouveia from the Fresno Central Church shared his experience, stating, "Through this project, our church has reached over 400 individuals, many of whom are now actively part of our community. This digital approach has opened new doors for us to connect with people." His reflection emphasizes the significant reach and community engagement facilitated by the digital strategy.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Pastor Mark Ferrell from the San Francisco Central Church brought in his long-term perspective: "In my years of ministry, I've experimented with various evangelism methods. This digital and community-centric approach, however, stands out as the most effective in reaching our contemporary society." His experience underlines the effectiveness of the digital approach in the modern context.
Additionally, Pastor Joshua Mura from the Milpitas Adventist Church shared his enthusiasm through a text message: "Digital Evangelism Works!! Joel is a great guy who wants to be baptized!" His message captures the excitement in the digital evangelism strategy, as evidenced by personal stories like Joel's.
Phase 2: Deepening and Broadening Our Digital Evangelism Impact
Following the promising outcomes of Phase 1, which included the involvement of six churches, Phase 2 signifies an ambitious expansion of our digital evangelism initiative, extending it to 20 churches. This phase introduces a pivotal shift in strategy: empowering local conferences and churches to spearhead their own outreach efforts, with guidance and support from both GC and NAD. This transition aims to cultivate the capability of local entities to independently drive and sustain these initiatives in the long run.
A central element of Phase 2 is the active participation of local church digital missionaries in digital engagement activities. By equipping them with practical experience, we foresee an enhanced effectiveness in guiding individuals from online interactions to engaging in person with church communities. This strategy is anticipated to not only foster the spiritual vitality of our congregations but also to more effectively address the spiritual needs of both new and longstanding members.
As Phase 2 unfolds, we are humbly grateful to report that we have built 2,046 long-term relationships within our community, and 36 individuals have joined the local church through the combined efforts of phases 1 and 2. Phase 2 is still ongoing, and we continue to gradually add churches. Through this expanded, community-centric approach, our goal is to deepen and extend the influence of our digital evangelism efforts, making a more meaningful impact in our communities.
Lessons and Challenges in Phase 2
1. Igniting Digital Evangelism
A primary challenge was motivating church members to engage in a ministry they had never experienced. Many were unfamiliar with the concept of digital evangelism and hesitant about its efficacy. To address this, pastors and digital evangelism directors must play a pivotal role in inspiring and educating church members. It's crucial to convey a clear vision of what digital evangelism entails, its workings and its potential impact. Emphasize the importance of prayer and share inspiring success stories to help motivate members to participate actively.
2. Overcoming Technical Challenges
A significant barrier was the lack of technical expertise among many church members. The absence of social media accounts and the underutilization of church Facebook pages for outreach highlighted the need for technical guidance. Overcoming these obstacles involves the help of individuals within the church who are well-versed in technology. Combine this local support with training from the conference to bridge the technical gap, making digital evangelism more accessible to all members.
3. Training for Effective Online Pastoral Care
The varied educational backgrounds of church members made it challenging to standardize training for online pastoral care. Given the diverse socioeconomic and educational profiles within the church, creating a comprehensive, adaptable training manual is essential. This manual should cater to different learning styles, allowing for both in-depth study and quick comprehension of the basics. Despite limited training, many members naturally excel in online pastoral care, which revolves around empathetic and caring conversations. A well-designed training manual plays a crucial role in making online pastoral care more accessible and effective for all church members.
4. Initiating Prayer Campaigns on a Modest Budget
One significant challenge in Phase 2 was the limited number of volunteer digital missionaries available to local churches. Many local churches do not have professional teams for digital evangelism, necessitating a more modest approach. To support this, we allocated a daily budget of $20-$30 for each local church, based on its size. This budgeting strategy, considering our average cost per contact is around $7, allows for 3-5 contacts daily within this budget range.
This scale is manageable even with limited resources. For example, if a church engages with five contacts daily, and if at least one dedicated member spares a couple of hours for follow-up and prayer, it becomes feasible. The impact of this approach accumulates over time. With five people making five contacts each day on a $30 budget, the church will reach 35 individuals in a week, and 70 in two weeks. This continuous effort requires daily prayer for each of these contacts, maintaining and gradually increasing the outreach volume.
As this process unfolds, more church members see its effectiveness and are encouraged to participate. Sharing experiences and successes among digital missionaries fosters greater involvement within the church community. Start with a small volume of advertisements, demonstrate how the process works and its benefits and then aim for long-term, sustainable engagement. This gradual build-up is an important lesson from Phase 2, helping expand the pool of volunteer digital missionaries in local churches.
5. Streamlining the Transition to In-person Engagement
In the second phase, digital missionaries, as integral members of their communities, formed more efficient and swift connections with other community members. Their shared experiences and status as neighbors greatly facilitated these connections. This ease in digital communication led to a more seamless and rapid shift to in-person interactions. Contrasting sharply with the first phase, where it took two months for the first in-person meeting, the second phase achieved this milestone in just two weeks. This swift response brought five new visitors to local churches within two weeks, demonstrating the effectiveness of this strategy.
6. Local Church Digital Missionaries: Strengthening Community Bonds
A key takeaway from this phase is the profound personal commitment of local church digital missionaries to their church's growth. Their direct involvement in evangelism adds a deeply personal element to their mission, significantly enhancing the impact and meaningfulness of their efforts. This personal stake is a major factor in the success of digital evangelism.
Crucially, as members of their own church community, these digital missionaries are more effectively positioned to extend personal invitations. They can reach out to individuals with a heartfelt invitation: "Come to my church. I want to see you."
This approach is especially meaningful for prayer seekers who have interacted with the church online, submitting prayer requests. When these individuals visit the church, they have the unique opportunity to meet their digital missionaries—the very people who serve as their prayer warriors and evangelists—in person. This in-person meeting is not only emotionally significant but also plays a pivotal role in boosting the retention rate of church visitors. The established online connection, now realized in a physical setting, creates a sense of familiarity and community, ensuring that newcomers feel welcomed and integrated from their very first visit.
Phase 3: Digital Strategies for Adventist Schools and Community Growth
In the third phase of our digital evangelism campaign, we are concentrating on boosting school enrollment by building spiritual relationships within our communities. Our strategy is designed to fortify community bonds and strengthen spirituality, making Adventist educational institutions an appealing option for families.
This phase is in harmony with our commitment to encourage spiritual development and addresses key challenges faced by families, especially in areas of school enrollment and parenting. Through fostering a network of trust and support, we aim to inspire more families to choose our schools for their children, thereby achieving our spiritual objectives and creating a tighter-knit community.
Sample Prayer Advertisement for Phase 3:
Broadening and Elevating Digital Evangelism
As we progress through our digital evangelism project, we are currently transitioning into Phase 3, focusing on school-based initiatives. Following this, Phase 4 is set to bring an exciting development as we aim to engage with Spanish-speaking churches. Given the large Spanish-speaking congregation, second only to the English-speaking community, this phase will mark our first foray into multilingual digital evangelism.
The Central California Conference, being a hub of ethnic diversity, has churches serving various language groups. In alignment with this diversity, we intend to expand our digital strategy to encompass multiple languages, further broadening our outreach in Phase 5.
Looking ahead to Phase 6, our ambition is to collaborate with Hope Channel and other media ministries to produce short-form content. This content will integrate prayer requests and calls to action, inviting people to connect with us through prayer. We're eager to explore how this format resonates with our audience and its effectiveness in our digital strategy.
Our approach is to continuously try various methods and refine our strategies. Through this dynamic process, we anticipate learning and evolving, even in the face of potential setbacks. Each step is seen as an opportunity to develop more effective digital strategies for reaching and saving souls. This journey is not just about immediate success; it's about learning, adapting and persistently working toward our goal of effective digital evangelism.