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Cost: $15 per congregation

Introducing the Hybrid Church – is a Zoom Workshop being offered by the Congregational Life Committee, of the Northern Illinois Synod. It is being presented by the Rev. Dave Daubert, DMin, PhD, ELCA Pastor and founder of Day8Strategies.

The Congregational Life Committee is offering this workshop to help congregations navigate the “new normal” of congregational ministry after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic closed many of the most familiar options for the church and its work. But it also forced the church to learn to use new tools and work in new ways. The digital world was cracked wide open, in many cases to people who had never spent much time there before. There were so many new options and exciting things that we did and discovered! 
 
At the same time, there continues to be a strong need for physical presence and the church missed some significant things that happen best when we share physical space. Communion, hugs, eye contact, and more are best shared with tangible and relational connections. So, while some things worked great and expanded online, other things work best and are most meaningful on-the-ground. 

Therefore, the church of the future will be some hybrid that combines online and on-the-ground ministry. Most congregations will have many ways to physically interact and share a life of faith together. Ignore physical on-the-ground ministry to your peril! But the most effective ones will also ask about how the new tools and expanding digital world offers long-term and lasting changes. Ignore digital and online ministry to your peril as well! Both are keys to effective ministry that connects and mobilizes the church for mission and ministry. 

In this three-hour workshop we will explore what hybrid ministry is and why it is important for every congregation to be aware of. Even smaller congregations will find ways to use this well and collaboration with other ministries has never been easier than now that most of us are online!

We will also dig into: 

  • Hybrid faith formation and small groups 
  • Hybrid Worship – how on-the-ground and online worship connect 
  • Engaging people online – it takes more than just being there 
  • Technology options for the Hybrid Church 

Pastor Daubert’s book Becoming a Hybrid Church is available at the Day8Strategies website at a cost of $11.99, plus tax and shipping, with discounts for 10 or more copies. Although it is not necessary to purchase the book to benefit from the workshop, having read the book in advance may help participants to go deeper in the topics, and also to consider the questions that they may have for Pastor Daubert. 

 

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