The Sunday Church Model

Gathering on Sunday is an old tradition. It traces its roots clear back to the Sabbath (where God rested on the seventh day). The shift to Sunday came from a variety of factors. That was the “third day” when Jesus rose from the dead. It also made Christianity distinct from the traditional Saturday Sabbath of Judaism and went along with pre-established Roman religious and cultural rhythms. 

Since those early centuries of the church, Sunday has remained a central moment in the weekly rhythm of the Christian life. It gave people a reason to gather with like-minded Christians to learn, worship, and fellowship.

Sunday-Only in a Digital Age

Up until the past half century, the Sunday model was an important way for people to engage with the church. In recent decades, though, we’ve witnessed a digital revolution that has unified and connected regions, nations, and the entire world in unprecedented ways.

The dawning digital age has forced us to rethink how we do Sunday service. It doesn’t mean Sunday gatherings are over. Not by a long shot. In-person events are still a central element of a healthy church community.

The problem is that church leaders aren’t thinking big enough.

Digital engagement has become a very real part of the church experience. The COVID-19 pandemic was a particularly important catalyst that forced church leaders to rethink church — and a powerful hybrid model has emerged in the years coming out of that event.

The New Digital Church Every Day Model

The reach and connectivity of the Internet have opened the doors for church to become an everyday experience. Understand the difference here. We all operate in faith throughout the week. That’s a given, and that’s an ancient practice.

However, the church experience can now be a part of that daily walk. This is why we have developed things like our Daily Habits, Creator, and other daily discipleship tools. These are life-changing solutions that bring church communities together outside of Sunday service. They enable people to:

• Pray for one another in real-time.

• Practice gratitude through guided journaling and breathing exercises.

• Watch bullet-size reminders and clips from Sunday’s teaching.

• Read scriptures through custom and group reading plans.

• Connect, interact, share content, and otherwise practice being a community online.

We’ve seen the ability to stay connected online through things like social media. However, the secular, listless nature of social platforms has shown us the degrading and even harmful effects of that kind of application.

Instead of feeds filled with staged pictures, political arguments, and an endless stream of cat videos, we need to recognize the power and potential of this technology as a church engagement platform. 

Church leaders, hear us when we say that we can use this revolution in communication to effectively cultivate community, nurture faith, and turn every tiny online interaction into an opportunity for profound spiritual growth.

How to Engage in Everyday Engagement in Church

If you see the potential but you don’t see the path to get there, we have three tips to help.

1. Align Your Leadership

Darin Yates, Executive Pastor at Crossroads Church, joined the Church 3.0 podcast to talk about how his church integrated digital discipleship and Crossroads Church technology into effective church strategy. In the conversation, he addressed the single most important challenge that holds churches back in the digital realm. Here’s what he had to say:

“I think churches fail particularly in the digital realm, not because of poor strategy, but because of poor alignment. You have leadership teams in different places with different commitment levels, and it's hard to fight through it.”

You can watch Darin's full interview below.

You don’t want to start building a daily digital strategy for churches until you have full buy-in from your team and everyone is aligned. Working with a team like Apollos can also help. We’ve collaborated with churches of all sizes across the US to create digital strategies and white-labeled tools. Having an experienced group working alongside you can bring clarity and comfort to those struggling to shift mindsets.

2. Define Your Digital Needs

Once you have your leadership on board and your team in place, it’s time to build your digital strategy. Ask your group a few key questions:

• Why do you want an app in the first place? (Results-focused)

• What do you want that app to do? (Function-focused)

• How do you want church people to interact with an app? (Digital discipleship-focused)

• How is it going to work with the rest of the tools of your church? (Integration-focused)

Darin Yates addresses this in the podcast, too. (It really is a great episode!) 

The takeaway: don’t build a digital strategy and tools without a clear purpose, or you won’t accomplish anything.

3. Watch and Adjust

This is on every list for a reason. Don’t skip it. Don’t skimp on it, either. 

If you launch a digital app or implement an online strategy and then skip the results, you won’t know if and what is working.

Set clear metrics to measure your success. (Again, our team can help with that.)

Then, watch those metrics and see where your online initiatives are resonating and where they’re coming up short. These are critical insights that can help you make adjustments and create even better strategies in the future.

Church Engagement Outside of Sunday

We’re Christians every day of the week. But are we engaged with our church communities every day of the week? 

We live in an exciting new era when gathering on a Sunday-only model isn’t a way to spark engagement. It actually holds it back.

Look further. 

Think bigger. 

Find ways to encourage hybrid church experiences that include Sunday service while also creating impact through daily, hourly, and even minute-by-minute interactions within your church 24/7.

If you’re interested in unleashing daily growth for your church, we’d love to connect. Reach out with questions or to request a demo, and we’ll be happy to show you how our church-first technology is revolutionizing the way we do church in the 21st century.