COVID-19 CHURCH RESOURCES

Below you will find a list of resources and ideas sorted by topic to assist you and your church during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have compiled these resources based on input from our churches. This in no way serves as a list of products, services, or even ideas that Acts 29 endorses, but simply a compilation of others’ suggestions that we wanted to provide to you. Please use your own research and discretion as you lead your churches, but feel free to use the below ideas as you find them helpful.

 

 

STREAMING & TECHNOLOGY

 

STREAMING SOLUTIONS

  • Launch You Online – Staff/Elders are able to engage with the church in comments
  • Church Online Platform – PDF case study of the service, created by The Well in Boulder, CO
  • Boxcast – Live video streaming solution
  • Castr – Live video broadcasting platform
  • Telestream Wirecast – Capture, Produce & Stream; free 30-day trial
  • Switcher Studio – Capture video from multiple camera angles—and edit in real time—helping you connect with your community in the most engaging way yet. Stream it live or record it for later.
  • YouTube Premieres – Pre-record your Sunday service at the time you desire, and use YouTube Premiers to allow your viewers to watch and experience your Sunday service together—at the same time—with chat features and more.
  • VimeoLive – High quality live streaming and video hosting
  • OBS Live – Stream management
  • Facebook Live
    • How to Live Stream Pre Recorded to Facebook Page for Free – Article
  • Onestream.Live – Schedule & Live Stream Recorded Videos to 40+ Social Media Platforms Simultaneously
  • OBS Project – A free solution; an encoder is needed
  • BombBomb – Allows you to embed videos in emails and send updates regularly

VIDEO PRODUCTION

EQUIPMENT

  • Mevo Pocket-sized, high quality live streaming camera
  • Atem Mini – 4 HDMI inputs and has an intuitive, easy to use design that makes it possible for anyone to live stream multi-camera productions online
  • Microphone to use with an iPhone

MUSIC STREAMING LICENSING

  • Streaming Licensing – Check your music license limitations while streaming.
  • Facebook Live Licensing – Submit CCLI Licensure to Facebook Live to avoid being kicked off for streaming music illegally

VIDEO CONFERENCING

TEXTING & COMMUNICATION SERVICES

    • Slack – Group communication, individual & team channels available
    • GroupMe – Group texting
    • Clearstream – Texting software for churches
    • Text in Church – Communication platform that includes two-way text, automated workflows,
    • FlockNote texting & e-mail platform for churches
    • Subsplash – user-friendly, custom mobile apps, digital giving, sermon delivery, communication tools, and more.
    • Band – Group Communication
    • Pony Express – Affordable group texting
    • Realm – Realm connects your church administration, accounting, and community in one place.
    • Slab – Team productivity platform
    • For those with older congregations, consider doing conference calls without video, or perhaps even purchasing mobile hotspots for congregants without internet.
    • Gloo – Online survey platform

     

 

SUNDAYS

 

WORSHIP GUIDE

  • Sunday worship guide example, Send it ahead of time via email if possible.
  • Digital Liturgy example
  • Example video sent to members in how to participate in online services

REOPENING

OTHER IDEAS

    • Start to prepare and plan for long-term solutions if churches are unable to meet until the summer or if people aren’t willing to attend a group gathering for months to come.
    • To increase engagement, you can add a live Q&A at the end of the service. People can ask questions in the comments section on Facebook Live.
    • Engage children and youth during the video; they’re watching with their family too.

     

 

PASTORAL CARE

 

MIDWEEK CONNECTION

  • Create “office hours” for those seeking prayer, guidance/counseling.  Elders & staff can help support 30-minute visitations.
  • Engage with your church and ask:  1. How are you feeling? 2. What do you need (emotional, spiritual, physical, etc)? 3. What is true (opportunity to remind one another of Jesus!)?
  • Have specific calls or Facebook Live sessions (prayer meetings on domestic abuse, marriage, finance, homeschooling, etc.). Discuss each of these, but also bring in experts to discuss ways to navigate within the home.
  • If you are a smaller church, think about collaboration with other local churches. Some churches have joined together to begin a “faith-based emergency operation center” to find resources available as this crisis continues to grow

COUNSELING

 

CHURCH MINISTRIES 

 

ASSIMILATION

  • Ways to engage with first time guests: digital connect card, elders/staff engagement via online comments; “Text-to engage” number shared, ask them to email a specific inbox and personally reply
  • Hold a Newcomers Zoom call immediately after service
  • Invite guests to participate in virtual mid-week prayer or groups

SMALL GROUPS/COMMUNITIES

  • Engage small group leaders to make personal & regular connections (phone calls) with the rest of the body. May need to purchase multiple Zoom accounts for group leaders/elders.
  • Create Zoom communities – Discipleship, Parent Groups, Small Groups, Youth, Kids Virtual Meet Up, First Time Guests, etc.
  • Prayer meetings are possible via Zoom; Appoint a host.
  • Women’s Study on Hope from Romans 5:1-11 by Whitney Woollard

FAMILY MINISTRY

    • Ministry Grid – Provides various training courses. Maintain discipleship during difficult times.  Currently providing free digital curriculum from LifeWay; also has a training course on “Responding to Coronavirus” to help walk the church through this time and how to prepare for the future.
    • Foothill Kids Online – Resource page for family discipleship
    • Right Now Media is providing a limited library of content for free
    • LifeWay is offering use of The Gospel Project for free during this time. Register and use redemption code: VZMD4SSQ38. Go to LifeWay Kids at Home. Download your Activity Page and one Conversation Sheet to use as you watch the video session.
    • Family Ideas for Extended Times at Home
    • Free Online Homeschool Resources
    • Provide Zoom groups for parenting & marriage

     

 

FINANCES & GIVING 

 

BUDGET

  • Freeze unnecessary spending & readjust budget as needed. Consider allocating a portion of your budget towards benevolence.
  • Plan to cut your budget by at least 20%, and more if you are able.

ONLINE GIVING

 

BENEVOLENCE

 

FINANCES

  • For those financially stable, ask them to give any unneeded government support to a benevolence fund you have set up in advance to help those in need.
  • Give Community Groups monetary grants to find some way to serve in the community.
  • If you are not paying rent for your meeting space while in SIP, consider redirecting to benevolence.
  • Poll your small groups as to how many people in their groups are struggling financially related to the pandemic. Use those percentages to help determine roughly how much of your budget should be allocated to benevolence and meeting the financial needs of those in your body during this time.

SERVING YOUR CHURCH BODY

  • Sample web page of how to gather needs and how to find people who are available to fill needs
  • The Village Help Request Form
  • The Village Prayer Request Form 
  • Identify singles or those with less responsibility to help serve those in need to step in when elders and members with families may not have the bandwidth. Can help with newsletters, interviews, calls, service projects, etc.
  • Create a landing page to collect and identify the type and urgency of needs.
    • (1) Immediate help (we’ll give you a gift card today).
    • (2) Ongoing help (a dad with kids who isn’t working for weeks or more will need more than a couple gift cards).
    • (3) Clear INFORMATION (links to state and local aid resources and how to get them. Ask a volunteer to become an up-to-speed expert on this for the sake of the whole church).
  • Help your church think through available jobs in a creative way during this season, have a lawyer or expert discuss rental rights, work toward an eventual job fair with community partners post COVID-19.

SERVING YOUR COMMUNITY

    • Identify areas where your church is able to help.  Sample Crisis Team Form
    • Purchase gift cards from local restaurants (e-mail them a nice letter of prayer and thanks) and send those to police and fire departments, doctor offices, and grocery stores in the neighborhood with a letter telling them we are thankful for them and we’re praying for them.
    • Collaborate with other churches to make a larger impact; smaller churches reach out to larger churches to try to support what they are doing; create resources to support the community, like a faith-based emergency operation center.
    • The Art of Neighboring – COVID-19 Neighboring Tool Kit by RightNow Media
    • Develop a local resource list/guide
    • Restaurant Assistance Plan
    • Create a “Help Card” that church members can print and distribute to their neighbors. Ideas below.

     

 

RESOURCES & RECOMMENDED READING

 

SOUL CARE

RESOURCES SHARED BY OTHER CHURCHES

RECOMMENDED READING & LISTENING