The tourist couple from Sweden seemed at home when they walked into the Wimbledon Seventh-day Adventist Church in England halfway through a recent service, even though it was their first time visiting. Pastor Sam Neves stopped his sermon to welcome and invite them to take the last two open seats, on the front row of the 160-seat sanctuary. He later found out they attend online and considered the congregation their own.
That result is rooted in a church board action 3 years ago, following Neves' bold request of 15,000 English pounds (roughly US$20,000 then) for a media ministry -- the exact number of the existing church budget at the time.
The board was equally divided, he said, but three meetings later it granted approval.
Now the technology is allowing members to more easily invite their un-churched friends to share experiences with their church family. Once a month, the church holds a secular-friendly service, and members share online links to videos and other resources for friends to "check out."
An online church presence isn't unique in the denomination, but Neves says the move is rare for a small church and underscores how technology is able to help connect people seeking God. The ministry also includes media-savvy members, who otherwise might not attend regularly, he says.
Neves, 29, is originally from Brazil and earned a master's degree in theology at Newbold College in England. He shared his story at last week's Global Internet Evangelism Network forum, an annual Web technology conference of the Adventist Church.
Before addressing the audience, he spoke with ANN about why messages should inspire, not just convince. He also shared what he's learned about Adventist evangelism and how he would have launched an online ministry differently.
Interview excerpts:
Adventist News Network: Why did you feel it was important to lobby your board for an online ministry?
Sam Neves: We wanted to go beyond the walls of our small church. Getting out into the community is sometimes just shooting yourself in the foot. We're in a central hub of a location, but my members live all over the place. My impact is not at the church, it's in those different locations. Yes we still keep the church open and feed the homeless, but the real impact won't occur here because members don't live there. So we wanted to bring what we have here to the environment where they are.
ANN: What's the focus of your service designed for secular people?
Neves: The key word to elders is to keep this service "entertaining." That's a dirty word in some circles, and some of my members aren't ready for that. But secular people like to be entertained -- they go to live shows and stand-up comedy, and they're no strangers to the stage. That service needs to be entertaining and inspiring and challenging because secular people want that. They expect to be challenged in regards to their indifference to the suffering that goes on in their world. So instead of "entertaining" I now tell my church that service needs to be "engaging" and I've had no problems since.
ANN: What have you learned in establishing this ministry?
Neves: This environment is a magnet for young professionals who are media specialists but have a stale faith because they have no outlet to produce media in a godly environment. Our Leandro Silva, he's a TV producer for Sky Channel 219, and now instead of on the margins of the church, he's being integrated. An app developer, Jader Feijo, when I met him, he was borderline leaving the church, but now he's happy producing media for the church.
ANN: Anything else you've learned?
Neves: We learned that evangelism works. Adventists find their guilt is released when their friends join their [church] community online and watch from home.
ANN: Guilt?
Neves: When I go from church to church we push evangelism, "bring your friends to Jesus," but in the western world, we don't really do that. We're not comfortable and some can feel guilty for that. Seems to be much easier for [the members'] street credit to invite [their friends] online.
ANN: Looking back, what might you have done differently?
Neves: I would have invested less initially and would have invested progressively as the right people joined the team and their technical ability increased. We spent about 13,000 pounds in equipment and setup.
ANN: Future plans?
Neves: It's not enough to do this once a week, so we're trying to start a Web channel. We don't have a lot of nice equipment, but we've found viewers will tolerate a cheap Web camera as long as it's live. We'll launch July 1, a Friday night, with an alternative service.
ANN: Alternative to what?
Neves: We've found that people at home are more engaged if they were mentioned [by name] and could ask questions. So Friday night we'll have that format. The sermon, I mean, the message will be 13 minutes and we'll spend 25 minutes on questions relating to that topic. We've also found the content has to be good.
ANN: How would you define "good" content?
Neves: "Inspiring." Not necessarily "convincing." Historically, Adventism has tried to convince. If we're going to have an impact in the secular world, we've got to learn to inspire.
ANN: How so?
Neves: Jesus, he had the truth, not because of the statements he said, but because of his life. It was the true life. This is why no secular person has a problem with Jesus. The true life is inspiring all by itself.