Are you ready to become a quick-connect church?

Bob Whitesel Jan. 30, 2023

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The quick connect church describes a church that is accessible via as many social and communication channels as possible. Here are three ways the future church will connect its congregants and communities with the Good News.

A quick-connect church creates networks that reach out to those in need. Meeting the needs of the disenfranchised is a priority among millennial leaders.

Expanding network access should not be limited to just Christians who attend a church, but to those outside as well. One congregation in Edmonton, Alberta started a church plant in an Internet café. Unexpectedly, the free Internet access they offered met the needs of a large Asian-American community in the neighborhood that did not have computer access. As a result, this accessible church in an Internet café created an ongoing network with a growing Asian-American community.

The quick-connect church fosters instantaneous research and feedback at teaching venues, including during the sermon.

Because Christianity is an experience- and knowledge-based faith, access to information can foster a better understanding about God. The quick-connect church can offer Internet access at teaching times such as during sermons, Sunday school, committee meetings, etc. Many modern leaders bristle at the thought of laptops and smartphones being used during church, but so did professors several years ago (only to lose the battle).

At one time sound systems, video projectors, guitars and even pipe organs were banned from many churches. Though uncomfortable at first, new ways of communication and exploration will emerge, first among these cutting-edge millennial congregations, and eventually among everyone else.

When the late Stan Toler, an elderly yet well-known author, spoke to younger audiences, he used instant messaging so attendees could ask their questions via a smartphone while he was still speaking. And this was over 15 years ago. He then displayed their questions on the screen and answered them during his lecture.

The quick-connect church provides online communities to augment its offline fellowship.

Online communities, according to researchers, "felt the connection and affinity they experienced in these groups fully justified their designations as a form of community." Online communities often enhance offline friendships. A church offering a 12-step program can create an online group in which participants can dialogue between meetings. Groups, committees, Sunday School classes and small groups can create, share and edit documents via Web-based word processors, such as Google Docs.

These online documents allow collaborative work (such as designing a Bible study) prior to face-to-face meetings. Online communities can allow those who have special needs or limited time/resources to still feel like full participants in the community.

In the same way that Robert Schuller continued a life-long ministry to drive-in worshippers because a physically-challenged lady's husband requested it, online communities can engage people who might be challenged in their ability to physically connect with a church.

Leaders having little experience with online communities may wonder about their cohesiveness, value and permanency, but those who have seen them in action know that increasing accessibility to the church community only enhances the faith experience.

This article is excerpted and adapted from Organix: Signs of Leadership in a Changing Church, Chapter 6, "Networks" by Bob Whitesel, Used by permission.

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Bob Whitesel (D.Min., Ph.D.) is a foresight coach, professor, and award-winning author of 14 books. For over 30 years, he has guided leaders and churches to pivot and engage what’s next. He holds two earned doctorates from Fuller Theological Seminary and teaches on leadership foresight, church health, and organizational change. His website is www.ChurchForesight.com. Learn More »

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