About a year ago, leaders from the Church of God came to us with a need: to increase unity across their movement.
We had just begun our early access program of Faithlife Equip, an integrated platform of all our ministry tools, and we were inviting churches to pilot it. Church of God Ministries contacted us, and we began dreaming together about how Faithlife Equip could serve their entire movement.
A few weeks ago Faithlife hosted BibleTech, a two-day conference on the intersection of technology and Scripture in the Christian life.
As a co-host, I had the privilege of sitting in on at least half the talks. Topics ranged from the future of AI in Bible study to the enduring value of paper Bibles, and overall attendees were warm toward technology.
And yet there was an uneasiness in the air about it, too—fears about what technology might change, nostalgia for what’s already been lost, and concerns about whether the church will adapt technology responsibly.
I remember the days of midweek church.
We’d gather Wednesday nights for a scaled-down version of Sunday morning: a little singing, some prayer, and meatier teaching.
The kids would be dismissed for age-appropriate classes, while the adults stayed in the sanctuary for lecture- or discussion-based lessons. It was an effective way to get our whole church body growing in biblical literacy. [Read more…]
So you want to facilitate a thriving online community for your church. You understand the value of having a private place to ask big questions as a church or for small groups to share curriculum. You know your church wants to talk about the Bible more and share what they’re learning with the rest of the congregation.
Related post: Take Your Church Beyond Handshakes and Hellos
Sometimes getting your congregation to do anything new might feel like crying out in the wilderness. But it doesn’t have to. With the right perspective, and the right strategy, you can be the catalyst that helps propel your church into a vibrant online community they’ll keep coming back to—because it’s your church, online.
Here are four ways to grow your church’s Faithlife Group:
Elyse Fitzpatrick has been counseling women since 1989. She’s a retreat and conference speaker and the head of Women Helping Women Ministries. She has a certificate in biblical counseling from CCEEF in San Diego and an MA in biblical counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary.
Read more…
Faithlife.com is a superb home for your digital faith community. We’ve been adding lots of new bells and whistles over the last few months. Some of the most useful features, though, have been around for a while.
Here are four features you might have forgotten about:
Set your group’s URL so it’s easy for everyone to find. By default, the address will be your group’s name. But change it to Faithlife.com/Whatever-You-Want in group settings.
You have a lot of control over your Faithlife group’s privacy settings. You can set the overall level of visibility for your group, choosing between open, closed, and secret. And you can set permissions for each member, defining the amount of access available at each level. There are a lot of choices to make here, so I made some recommendations about privacy settings in a previous post.
Limited-time groups are common in church life. Small groups often meet weekly through the fall, disband over the holidays, and then reform after the dust settles in January. New groups start up all the time. When you form a seasonal group, you can also set an expiration date for it, saving you the trouble of deactivating it later.
If you need to create a new group much like one of your existing groups, use the “duplicate this group” button to save time. You can then change the name and group photo. Think about all the time you’ll save when you don’t have to create brand-new groups for each new Bible study series or small group that pops up.
What are your favorite Faithlife.com features? Tell us in the comments.
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Faithlife.com is the digital home for your faith community. It’s free to join and invite others. Tools like prayer lists, reading plans, Community Notes, and group newsletters make it easier than ever to communicate, collaborate, and fellowship around the Word of God. Join today at Faithlife.com.
Confrontation can create many unpleasant feelings and situations: awkwardness, irritation, and hurt. However, it can achieve much more if handled correctly—improved communication, understanding, solution to a problem, respect, and trustworthiness. The key is to do your part when faced with confrontation.
Here are three things to avoid when confrontation occurs:
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Faithlife.com serves as the digital home for your faith community. You can organize groups, plan events, and share documents—because we learn best when we learn together. Create an account and get started at Faithlife.com.
Confrontation is challenging. It’s even more challenging when it’s with someone whose relationship you highly value. When the time comes to raise a difficult subject, use these six questions to prepare:
What do you want to achieve? Be better understood? Curtail a certain behavior? Improve communication? These are valid reasons. But pointing out a problem without reasonable solution will likely just end with hurt feelings and resentment.
Could bringing up this problem sever the relationship? Could it sever other relationships as well? Are you OK with that happening?
When a problem arises, don’t dig into it until you have the chance cool off and evaluate from a less emotional perspective.
What are the most important points to bring up? Are they logical? Do they honor God?
Play devil’s advocate with yourself before addressing the problem out loud. What will the opposing reasons be? Do you agree with any of them? If so, let the person know. It shows humility that you’re actually striving to reach an agreement—not just clinging to your argument (and your pride).
The first priority is to have this problem addressed through voice communication. Dialogue with the other person. In-person conversation is by far the best, but if that isn’t possible, phone or Skype are the only other allowable options. Texting? No. Emailing? No. Too much is lost in translation.
The second priority is to make sure the setting is place where there will be minimal distractions and interruptions. This will not only allow the conversation to flow better, but it will also help keep emotions in check.
Remember: “Words that soak into one’s ears are whispered, not yelled.”
When disagreements arise, it’s easy to let tempers flare. Make a pact with yourself that you will not raise your voice, and that you won’t take on sarcastic or undermining tones. Addressing a problem from a platform of love, grace, and empathy will be your most successful approach.
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Faithlife.com serves as the digital home for your faith community. You can organize groups, plan events, and share documents—because we learn best when we learn together. Create an account and get started at Faithlife.com.
Last month, I wrote about the 4 Rules of Communication. Observing them can improve communication within your faith community, but roadblocks can still pop up from time to time. They hinder relationships and limit community building. Watch out for these four behaviors in your communication.
Silent treatment—Refusing to talk is not a healthy communication solution. It slows repairs, and often allows wounds to fester rather than heal.
Crying—It’s no sin to let your emotions show. But generating tears to manipulate another person is dishonest. And dishonesty is sin. You cannot assume that you know what another person’s response will be. You cannot stage the conversation in your mind, and act based on its imagined outcome. Those things are both counterproductive and sinful.
Threatening an explosion—Sometimes we get angry. When that happens, it’s wise to stop and regain our composure. But this should not become a way to avoid discussion of hard issues. It can sound like: “I can’t talk about this anymore; it’s making me too angry.”
Bottom lining—Dictating your opinion as absolute truth is quite prideful, yet many of us do it in moments full of emotional stress. We disregard all advice, regardless of its source and no matter how wise it may be. This can sound like: “All I have to say is . . .” “I don’t care what you say . . .” “. . . and that’s final.”
Community building is hard and sometimes messy. We step on each other’s feelings instead of loving and supporting one another. When problems come, don’t let these four behaviors make matters worse. When conflict does come, the four rules of communication will help keep our conflicts healthy.
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Find a digital home for your faith community at Faithlife.com. You can organize into groups, plan events, and share documents, because we learn best when we learn together. Create an account to get started at Faithlife.com.
John Wesley said, “Christianity is essentially a social religion . . . to turn it into a solitary religion, is indeed to destroy it.” But living as part of a faith community can be difficult. Differences in personality, upbringing, opinion, and belief can all lead to conflict, and unskillful communication compounds conflict exponentially. Observe these four rules to minimize miscommunication.
Ephesians 4:25 is often cited as a prohibition against lying. While it does contain a phrase about dishonesty, the verse is built around a different imperative: “Speak!” It’s not enough to refrain from lying; the truth must be spoken. The opposite of lying is openness, not silence. Problems cannot be solved unless they are expressed. Any speech that hides or distorts the truth—exaggeration, embellishment, innuendo, or passive aggression—fuels conflict rather than resolving it.
Deal with today’s problems today (Ephesians 4:26). But before you start airing your frustration or dictating terms, ask some questions. Make sure you have all the facts right. Don’t be afraid of a little silence, and don’t outrun the Holy Spirit. Allow yourself and others time to process new information. A rushed conclusion is often a faulty conclusion—taking action based on old information can compound the pain.
It doesn’t take much—just a single unflattering adjective. And it can feel really good, but cheap personal attacks end up painful and entirely unhelpful. A comment made in passing can haunt someone for a lifetime, even if you’ve long since forgotten about it. Use words that zero in on the conflict and are solution-oriented. Remember: accusations build walls, but questions build bridges.
Emotions run high in moments of conflict-induced stress, but it takes two people to argue. There’s no such thing as a one-sided fight. You cannot change anyone else’s heart, but you can change how your respond or initiate communication. You can elevate the discussion all by yourself. Refrain from lashing out emotionally, and you can keep the discussion from spiraling into an argument.
While some measure of conflict is inevitable, observing these four rules can help mitigate conflict caused by miscommunication.
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