An Expanded and Generous Table: Is Hybrid Worship in Your Future? While there is no single, best way for people to gather for worship, as the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel begins to shine and the conversation about “going back” begins in earnest, the question for many congregations is this, “Once online worship is no longer the only option for you and your congregation, will you all have the willingness, energy, and capacity to birth, curate, nurture, and sustain a long-term digital space?” or more succinctly put, “What now?” The decisions that are made about worship in the coming months must not be taken lightly but must be approached with communal discernment, reflective honesty, and faithful practicality. For those with inklings and dreams about hybrid worship, it is my hope that the questions I offer will help you and your leadership to understand different options, assess congregational willingness, energy, and capacity, and make faithful choices that will best equip you for the future.

1. Is Hybrid Worship in Your Future?
Presbyteries of Missouri Union and Northern Kansas
January 28, 2021 | 1:00-2:30 CST

2. ● 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+
● Pastor at First Presbyterian
Church of Palo Alto

3. Todays Slides
www.slideshare.net/breyeschow
Hybrid Process and Survey
bit.ly/BRCHybridWorshipProcess
BRC Contact
@breyeschow on all the things
breyeschow@gmail.com

4. I / From Enduring to Embracing:
This COVID19 Pastoral
Leadership Journey
II / Post-Pandemic Discernment:
Discerning options for our
communal life together.
III / From “Here” to “Hybrid”:
Possible practices for possible
success.
Question and Response Time

5. This COVID19 Pastoral
Leadership Journey
Presbyteries of Missouri Union and Northern Kansas
January 28, 2021 | 1:00-2:30 CST

7. 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.

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

9. 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.

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

11. Discerning options for our
communal life together.
Presbyteries of Missouri Union and Northern Kansas
January 28, 2021 | 1:00-2:30 CST

12. “Once online worship is no longer the
only option for you and your
congregation, will you all have the
willingness, energy, and capacity to
birth, curate, nurture, and sustain a
long-term digital space?”
or more succinctly put, “What now?”

13. How congregations meet for
committee meetings and other
small gatherings will be forever
changed, but the desire for
worship to return to “what it was
before” is strong.
“Church” is more than worship,
but worship is still central to
most congregations.

14. Worship is not a competition,
numbers are only a
measurement, and engagement
will be evaluated differently in
every space.
Context matters and every
leader must assess and translate
for their particular spaces.

15. “Hybrid Worship” requires much
more energy and resources than
many congregations have, so
there may be more effective
options than hybrid worship for
these congregations.

16. ● In-Person Only
● Zoom/Remote Only
● Streaming
● In-Person and Zoom
● Hybrid

17. IN-PERSON ONLY
What most churches
did before the
pandemic, only
meeting in person at a
geographic location.
Why Yes?
“We get to see one
another
face-to-face again!”
Why Not?
“Because I do not
live in the area, I
won’t be able to
worship with you
anymore.”

18. REMOTE ONLY
Worship on Zoom,
Meet, etc.: a remote,
interactive, and
in-the-moment online
worship experience.
Why Yes?
“Yes, my kids, my
mother, and I can
still worship
together.”
Why Not?
“It’s been hard not
to see people every
Sunday and I will
miss that.”

19. STREAMING
Sanctuary centered
where remote
participants watch
others worship. Some
online interaction.
Why Yes?
“Wow, so many
more people are
watching.” and “I get
to watch worship
whenever I want to.”
Why Not?
“I miss being able to
interact with
everyone else at
worship.”

20. TWO SERVICES
Two completely
separate services,
each able to focus
on and leverage its
own unique setting.
Why Yes?
“We already do
both services really
well, so this will give
us a chance to
reach more people.”
Why Not?
“But I want to be
able to get to know
everyone.”

21. HYBRID
In-person or remote,
a service where
people have
essentially the same
worship experience.
Why Yes?
“We are all still
around the same
table!”
Why Not?
“Whoa, this is a ton
of work.” “How will
we create a space
where everyone has
essentially the
same experience?

22. ● In-Person Only
● Zoom/Remote Only
● Streaming
● In-Person and Zoom
● Hybrid

23. Congregational desire?
Opportunities and Gains?
Obstacles and Losses?
Congregational/Staff capacity?
Technological/Resource needs?
Most faithful decision for the
future of the community.

28. https://bit.ly/BRCHybridWorshi
pProcess

29. ● Your initial reactions?
● Your congregations desire?
● Congregational capacity?
● Where is the Spirit leading?

31. Possible practices for
possible success.
Presbyteries of Missouri Union and Northern Kansas
January 28, 2021 | 1:00-2:30 CST

32. REIMAGINING OVER
REPLICATION
Take advantage of
the platform to
enhance worship.
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?

33. ● What is central and what is
not: communion, offering...
● Simplified bulletin.
● Increased use of visual and
video content.
● Change seating.
● Reconfigure physical space.
● Think DJ station and curator.

34. DECENTERING OF
GEOGRAPHIC PLACE
Place is defined by
theological, cultural
expression and
belief.
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?

35. ● Resist desire and inertia to
center on physical location.
● Worship leadership should
come from various locations.
● Language: “space,” land
acknowledgement, local
flavor, global reach.

36. INVITATION TO
LEADERSHIP
Leadership pool
opens up when
boundaries are let
go.
Question?
Are there recent grads
or relocated seniors
who would be asked
to be part of
leadership if they were
still geographically
connected?

37. ● Value voices of remote and
new voices.
● Engage what it means to be a
“member” if remote.
● Invite remote people to
service on committees,
ministry teams, etc.
● Expand teams: Tech
Deacons, onsite, etc.

38. ENGAGEMENT OF
THE COMMUNITY
Connect by
theology and/or
geography creating
community.
Question
Can you create
enough community
connection points
where having
someone solely
in-person will cause
pause because some
may be left out.

39. ● Create and support such a
lived community so that
when you do gather
in-person, people have no
choice but to remember
those who are gathering
online.

40. ● Honor affinities: lifestages,
curiosities, and locations
● Curate shared spaces.
● Create intimate interactions.
● Create opportunities of for
casual interactions.
● www.altarlive.com

41. TECHNOLOGICAL
CAPACITY
Determine realistic
ability to handle the
technological load.
Question?
More than zoom, do
you have the staffing
or lay capacity to
handle streaming,
video, Customer
Relations Management
(CRM), and other tech
needs?

42. ● Equipment
● Staff
● Training
● Practice

43. Slides
www.slideshare.net/breyeschow
Hybrid Process and Survey
bit.ly/BRCHybridWorshipProcess
BRC Contact
@breyeschow on all the things
breyeschow@gmail.com