This was a presentation given on April 24, 2021 for the Presbyteries of Grand Canyon and De Cristo.

1. CENTERED
5 DISRUPTIONS OF HYBRID CHURCH
Presbyteries of Grand Canyon and De Cristo
April 24, 2021 | 1:00

2. “Once online worship is no longer
forced upon us as the only option us
congregation, will we have the
willingness, energy, and capacity to
birth, curate, nurture, and sustain a
long-term digital space?”
Put more succinctly, “What now?”

3. BRC INTRO
● Pastor for the past 25 years:
planter, interim, called, and
Moderator of 218th GA.
● Consultant: planting, tech,
leadership, organizations...
● Coach: Convergence/Gallup
● Leading online ministries for
the past decade: FB, TW, etc.
● Pastor at First Presbyterian
Church of Palo Alto: 80%

4. SO SO MUCH
Today’s Slides
www.slideshare.net/breyeschow
Hybrid Resources
bit.ly/BRCHybridWorshipProcess
BRC Contact
@breyeschow on all the things
BRC eMail
bruce@reyes-chow.com

5. AGENDA
I / My Pandemic Journey:
This Leadership Journey.
II / Our Pandemic Journey:
How we ended up with Hybrid.
III / Pandemic Disruptions:
Five Hybrid Disruptions.
IV / Question & Response Time
Please use use the chat!

6. MY PANDEMIC
JOURNEY
Disruptions: Hybrid Worship, Hybrid Church
Grand Canyon and De Cristo
April 24, 2021 | 1:00

7. Languishing.
Lingering.

8. I GOT THIS!
Immediate action!
Deep care and concern for the
people we serve.
Trying any and all things
whether or not folks asked for
them or not.
Grace, patience, and
understanding abound.

9. DEAR GOD
We overfunction.
Get overextended.
Feel overwhelm.
Try not to panic.
We Crash.
We commit to self-care.
REPEAT

10. DREAMING
Deeply embrace this time as a
real new normal.
Reflection on how you have
modeled adaptive leadership
and practices.
Begin to reimagine and dream
about the future.

11. CHAT
How have you been?
How are you doing now?
How is your community doing?

12. OUR PANDEMIC
JOURNEY
Disruptions: Hybrid Worship, Hybrid Church
Grand Canyon and De Cristo
April 24, 2021 | 1:00

13. @FPCPaloAlto
Older.
White.
Educated.
Wealthy.
Traditional, not fancy.
Social Justice Focused.
Open to technology, just enough
to be dangerous :-)

14. Pandemic
Adjusted pretty well thank to
Tech Deacons.
Most have attended.
Attendance up: 70ish to 100ish.
Convergence of a congregation
open, and my tech capacity.
Zoom only and focused on not
making tech be a distracting.

15. Survey (80+)
● Demographics: Longevity,
Attendance, Vaccinations
● Remote Implications: What
if we didn’t have it anymore.
● Gathering Comfort Levels
● Vaccination Status
● Option Descriptions
● Ranking Options
● Impact of Options
● Most Faithful Option

16. LONGEVITY

17. ATTENDANCE

18. VACCINATIONS

19. REMOTE IMPACT

20. OPTION
DESCRIPTIONS
● In-Person Only
● Zoom Only
● Two services
● Streaming
● Hybrid

21. A hybrid service is one in which
in-person and remote participants
have essentially the same worship
experience.
WHAT IS HYBRID?

22. FAITH FORMATION

23. INWARD CONNECTIONS

24. OUTWARD ENGAGEMENT

25. FAITH FORMATION

26. FINAL AND FAITHFUL

27. We landed on
HYBRID.
PROVIDING ONE HYBRID
WORSHIP EXPERIENCE was
the overwhelming choice
— even though folks have no
idea what that might look like.

28. I do not believe people have a lack of
imagination, only that too many of us
in power done everything possible to
discourage them from trusting and
acting on it.
SO NOW WHAT?

29. 5 ASSUMPTIONS
Disruptions: Hybrid Worship, Hybrid Church
Grand Canyon and De Cristo
April 24, 2021 | 1:00

30. ASSUMPTIONS
Do not underestimate the desire
for worship to return to “what it
was before” is strong: worship,
meetings, all of it. We know what
we know and folks are tired of
the unknown.
“Church” is more than worship,
but worship still holds most
social capital and influence in
most congregations.

31. ASSUMPTIONS
Technology breeds competition.
Numbers are a measurement,
but engagement is most
important and must be evaluated
differently in every space.
There is a spectrum of options,
context matters, and leadership
must assess and translate for
their particular spaces.

32. HYBRID
In-person or remote, all
participants have essentially the
same experience.
“Hybrid” anything requires much
more energy, resources, and
commitment than many
congregations have, so there may
be more effective options than
hybrid worship for these
congregations.

33. Hold in tension two things,
“Don't make major decisions during a
pandemic” and “The pandemic has
magnified what may or may not be
important in life/ministry, which may
require major decisions to be made.
What has pandemic stirred up?

34. FIVE DISRUPTIONS
Disruptions: Hybrid Worship, Hybrid Church
Grand Canyon and De Cristo
April 24, 2021 | 1:00

35. DISRUPTION 1:
REIMAGINE RATHER
THAN REPLICATE.
How the best of each
platform be used to
create a holy experience?
Question?
If you changed
sanctuary seating from
pews to chairs what
would change?
How does your space
impact how you
worship in person or
online?

36. REIMAGINED
● What is central and what is
not: communion, meetings?
● Simplified bulletin/paper.
● Increased ability to engage
different learning styles.
● Increased connections to
outside relationships use for
in-person gatherings
● Reconfigure physical space.
● Think DJ station and curator.

37. DISRUPTION 2:
DECENTERED
PLACE
Question?
How do you talk about
the “space” in which
you gather? Do you
infer that digital space
is not as “real” as the
physical one or simply
another place where
you happen to gather
in community?

38. DECENTERED
● Resist desire and inertia to
center on physical location.
● Physical location MUST be
disrupted and changed.
● Leadership can now come
from various locations.
● Language about space must
change: local assumptions,
land acknowledgement, local
flavor, global reach.

39. DISRUPTION 3:
LEADERSHIP
Who must we now invite
more fully into the life of the
church and community?
Question?
Are we creating a “you
can attend and give,
but not serve” culture?
What talents, gifts,
passions are being left
off the table of service
and leadership?

40. INVITED IN
● Not just attenders and
givers, but participants it the
full life of the community.
● A broader experience of the
community and world are
valued and engaged.
● Expand teams: Tech
Deacons, onsite, etc.

41. DISRUPTION #4
ENGAGEMENT
How can we fight the “one
congregation” myth?
Question
Can you create
enough community
connection points
where having
someone solely
in-person will cause
pause because some
may be left out.

42. ENGAGED
● Create, nurture, and name
hybrid lived community so
that when the desire to “go
back” gains strength, people
have no choice but to
remember those who have
not been and will never be
physically present.

43. ENGAGE
● In-person, Remote, Hybrid
● Honor affinities: lifestages,
curiosities, and locations.
● Curate organic spaces.
● Create intimate interactions.
● Run meetings well, honor
time, give clear expectations.
● Social media and electronic
interactions must be valued;
no more an afterthought.

44. DISRUPTION #4
TECHNOLOGICAL
What is realistic?
Question?
More than zoom, do
you have the staffing
or lay capacity to
handle streaming,
video, Customer
Relations Management
(CRM), and other tech
needs?

45. INVEST
Technology is only a means of
interaction, but the ways we
treat it indicate it’ value and
acceptance.
● Equipment
● Staff
● Training
● Practice
Technology should not distract.

46. DISRUPTION #5
DISRUPTION
How do we embrace this
time as a time to embrace
change and grow?
Question?
Is this an opportunity
to do something bold
when folks are not
stretched out in their
experience?
What were once taboo
topics for change?

47. DISRUPTION
Time to take on the taboo:
● Time
● Style
● Order
A change to remind folks of their
capacity for adapting.
See this as expanding what you
do, not as completely new.
Hybrid is in the air.

48. EXHALE
Today’s Slides
www.slideshare.net/breyeschow
Hybrid Resources
bit.ly/BRCHybridWorshipProcess
BRC Contact
@breyeschow on all the things
BRC eMail
bruce@reyes-chow.com

49. QUESTION &
RESPONSE