What a ton of things that are happening these days with this shut down. I know we are scrambling and figuring out how we can be the church that does not meet in a building. What a concept right?

I know people are adjusting to shifting towards online and I have been asked by a bunch of people about what we are doing in this season of uncertainty and ministry. I finally was able to sit down and plan something out with our team and leadership and have a good plan in place.

I figured I would just share what email we sent out to our volunteers because it lays out what are planning on doing and practical ways to make it happen. So in the spirit of not having to write something again, here it is. I hope it can be helpful as you communicate with your teams.

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Hey all! First, please watch this video from me to you!

https://youtu.be/eYW8Iin3YZw

(I have to note, my friend Derry Prenkert posted the 5 things for leaders in a group text and I 100% stole it because it was perfect for what we were doing. Got to give credit where credit is due)

Lots of things happening since we are not meeting in person for a bit so this is a longer email with details so we would love for you to read through it as it talks through Wednesday night online service and small groups after.

In a nutshell, Sandals Church Youth is still happening but it’s all online. We want to have a service and small groups with discussion. We want you and your small groups to tune into sandalschurch.tv as we will be broadcasting live with a special service for our students and then breaking out into digital small groups for discussion. Basically a “normal” Wednesday night format but from the comfort of your own homes.

This is the plan for this Wednesday and on until further notice.

Like I mentioned in the video attached to this email, you are more crucial in the ministry than ever before. How we engage and interact with our youth to make sure that even though we are in isolation, they are not alone but loved, seen and known.

So what does that look like?

  • This Wednesday night we want you to get your small group to log onto sandalschurch.tv to watch the service.
  • Get you and your group to be live in the group chat because during service we will be interacting with who is watching online. Get interactive!
  • Watch the sermon and encourage your group to take notes.
  • When the service is over, this is where group times would happen digitally.
    • With technology, there are multiple ways for you to all see each other and have conversations about the message you just heard.
    • We want you to check out the following ways to meet digitally and pick one that works best for you and your group and then meet accordingly.
      • Apps to check out:
      • Zoom. Its an app or a website. Video conferencing.
      • Google hangouts
      • FaceTime on iPhone. It holds up to 32 people.
      • House Party App
      • Again, check them out, pick one and make sure all your group is one it.
  • You will be getting small group questions to go through with your groups to continue the discussion and community. We want you to run the groups like you normally would on a Wednesday.
  • Plan on meeting and having groups for 40-60 minutes, just like you normally would.
  • On the weekend, we will be doing some Instagram Live content, so we want you to drive your youth (and you) to watch there and then connect with them about the content we just went through. We will be doing devotional type things on the weekend to keep students engaged all week.
  • If you or your students don’t follow your youth lead on social media or Sandals Church Youth, this would be the best time and way to get a bunch of info out about what is happening in our ministry.

I know this is a lot but there is a lot we can do as leaders to lead out and engage our students in a very unique (and potentially scary) time for many. This is a time for us to be more relational than we ever have been in order to make sure our students know and feel the love of God through us.

Let us make this Wednesday night the biggest attended youth event Sandals Church Youth has ever seen!

If you have any specific questions about this Wednesday or how groups should roll, please reach out to your youth lead at your campus.

Thank you for all you do and I am excited to see how God will continue to work in the lives of our students at this time.

@justinknowles3