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Online Services
Net Results
You know about church planting. You may be working on a multisite strategy. But have you considered an online campus?
With the September launch of www.CentralOnlineCampus.com, Central Christian Church (Las Vegas, Nevada) joined the growing number of churches using the latest technology to reach the lost. The new site offers video broadcasts of weekend services, of course, but also features a “virtual lobby” before and after each of the eight service times; here, registered users can chat with others, read announcements, and even give their offering. And like physical campus locations, people also visit the virtual campus to connect with others throughout the week.
“Central’s vision is to be a light to the world,” says Kurt Ervin, executive pastor of church expansion. “We are reaching people in Vegas, but decided we could best accomplish the vision globally by taking Central online and capitalizing on people’s huge involvement with social networking sites.”
In fact, Central initially cultivated interest in the new campus by starting a Facebook group and building a core team of 250 people. In January, the Facebook interface will increase—the online campus will become a “connect group,” allowing Facebook members to join without having to create a separate profile on Central’s site. When these participants “attend” a service, an RSS feed can automatically update their Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter pages.
“These messages will include a link to our site,” says Ervin. “This simple step exposes 110 to 115 million people to the campus.”
This month’s “virtual mission trip” also used technology in creative ways. Participants logged into the site at 10 am PST December 6 and viewed a prerecorded video with instructions from Ervin.
“We uploaded graphics and videos and asked each person to post these items on their Facebook and MySpace pages, e-mail them to their contact lists, and invite everyone to visit our campus,” he says. “We also challenged every participant to have a spiritual conversation with someone via e-mail or chat room and to share their faith in that online setting. Afterward everyone returned to the lobby and shared their experiences.”
This mission trip even targeted Europe: people from 31 countries currently attend the online campus, and Central added its newest service time, at 1:00 am PST each Sunday, to allow European audiences to enjoy a Sunday morning worship experience.
“We also have big followings in China, India, and South America,” Ervin says. “Some folks in Barcelona started a small group!”
A software development company called 360Hubs, based in Riverside, California, worked with Central to launch the new site. Tony Ferraro, the company’s president, also serves as a leader at Sandals Church in Riverside.
“The 360 team really got our vision and were excited by the ministry side of it,” Ervin says.
This ministry will continue with new services for children and teens, plus PDF downloads of work sheets and curriculum for parents to use with younger children.
“We launched with 400 online attendees and eight weeks later had 1,200,” Ervin says. “I believe we’ll average 2,000 by the end of 2008. This growth is exciting because it means previously unreached people are discovering God and his ‘uncensored grace.’ We believe life is lived best in community and this is a community that needs Jesus.”
www.centralonlinecampus.com/
www.centralchristian.com
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD's contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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