Common

Digital
Evangelism
Mistakes
And Solutions
About
The Center for Online Evangelism is an independent
ministry that serves as a hub for online missionaries in
the Seventh-day Adventist Church. COE provides
resources and training for churches and individuals.

This Guide is designed to help you improve your online

presence by discussing the common mistakes and
solutions.

To learn more, visit our website.

Why online
evangelism?
The biggest mission field is online.

The online world is the biggest mission field.

3 Billion 52.4% 2 Billion 4 Hours

People have Of users access Social media Average time
access to the the internet accounts are spent on the
internet. through their active. internet
mobile devices. everyday.

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Mistake #1:
Poor Quality Church
Websites
Your Church
Needs a
proper online
Platform
People Google search for churches
online before visiting.
Of the following, which
door are you most likely
to walk through?
This one?
Or this one?
People will decide
Your Website is
whether to go in
based on how your
front door looks.
like your front
door.
 Stock photos

Outdated content

Church
Website No- Long bios and history

Nos Antiquated look

Poor content
 Visitor’s Section

Relevant content/Blog

Church About Us

Website Clear contact details

Must-Haves
Schedule/ Events

Links to social media

 2. What are the
1. Who is my
goals of our
website for?
website?
Questions to
4. What training
Ask
3. Who will form resources are we
the team? providing for the
team?
One Hour Website Checklist
1. Post your church bulletin by Thursday each week (2-5
minutes to post the finished document)
2. Enter any new events in the calendar (10-20 minutes)
3. Write, revise, or update a page of web copy to be
“massively useful” for your target audience (10-15
minutes)
4. Answer emails (5-10 minutes)

(Source: Heidi Baumgartner)

One Hour Website
Checklist
5. Run through a section of your maintenance log (10+ minutes)
(Check links, Update welcome message, Check statistics)

6. Review the accuracy of current content (addresses, phone

numbers, email contact, events, etc.)

7. Share and cross promote your bulletin or a preview of

Sabbath services on social media (2-5 minutes)

8. Have your A/V team upload or archive the sermon after

church (upload time)

(Source: Heidi Baumgartner)

Mistake #2:
We don’t Know our
Audience
There’s a lesson we can learn from Always’
#LikeAGirl Campaign
Watch video
here.
 90m+ views; number two viral video globally
1100+ earned-media placements and 4.4bn+ media
impressions in the first three months.
Twitter followers tripled in the first three months; YouTube
subscribers grew 4339%
177,000 #LikeAGirl tweets in the first three months,
including many celebrities.
Purchase intent grew more than 50% among our target.
In a study conducted in December 2014, almost 70% of
women and 60% of men claimed that "The video changed
my perception of the phrase 'like a girl’”.
Source: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/case-study-always-likeagirl/1366870
Always targeted the needs of their
audience

Why was this

They met those needs through blogs,
videos, and promos campaign
successful?
There is no overt promotion of their
products

They have a YouTube channel and social

media presence
They were successful
because they knew
their audience.
Who are you
creating
content for?
 Who is Jesus Sending You To?

Jesus gives us each a target

audience.
“Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city
of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel” ( Matthew 10: 5-6 NKJV).

Their target was the “lost sheep of the house of

Israel.”

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 Choose your Platform

Knowing Figure out your format

your
audience Know the best way to present your
content
helps you to:
Create relatable content
 1. Basics: Age, location, gender, ethnicity/race/language,
interests?
2. Does your audience have a Christian background?
3. Are the Seventh-day Adventists or not?
4. What’s their age range?
Questions to 5. What issues are they facing?
Answer: 6. Do they have Bible knowledge?
7. What’s the cultural background of your audience?
 1. Speaking Adventese

Failing to 2. Creating unrelatable content

know your 3. Lack of connection

audience
results in: 4. Shallow relationships

5. Lack of results
It is essential that we not only communicate
clearly, but that we also take the time to
deeply understand our audience. It doesn’t
matter if you know what you mean. Put
yourself in your audience’s shoes and speak to
them accordingly. Speak to your audience in a
way and with the words that enable them to
understand and connect with your message.
– Jamie Domm, SDA Big Data
As a digital
missionary, take
the time to
figure out who
your audience is.
Mistake #3:
We Go Live without
Prepping
The Live Button is one of the most powerful tools we
have to share our story.
 Only streaming Not monitoring Vertical orientation
divine services conversations on your phone
Common
Mistakes

Failing to promote Disorganized, Poor video/audio

the live events unplanned streaming quality
 Give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at what happens
before the service begins

Shadow your church pastor for a day

Here are some

Host a Church Q&A

creative things Answer comments from your church’s page

you can do when
going live: Pray for requests

Answer Bible questions

Interview church members

Tip: End your live streams
with a Call to Action.
Ask yourself, what action do I want my
viewers to take after watching this video?
Give them directions on how to get it done.
 Join • Join our online support group

Text • Text #### to receive Bible studies

Download • Download this free devotional

CTA
Visit • Visit our website
Examples
Listen • Listen to …. Podcast

Watch • Watch ….

Visit • Visit your local Adventist church

Mistake #4:
We Set Vague Goals
 “I want to reach everyone.”

Common “I want people to learn about

things digital Jesus.”
missionaries “I want to have a successful
ministry.”
say:
“We want to reach people
online.”
But how will
you know if you
achieved these
goals?
 Ministry Goals
What do you want to accomplish through your ministry?

ATTAINABLE
SPECIFIC
Make sure you are being
Avoid setting vague goals that reasonable with what you want to
cannot be measured (e.g. Reach accomplish. Be careful of confusing
more souls for Christ). When a goal rashness with faith. Goals should
is specific, you will know when it is match the time and energy can
accomplished (e.g. Get 5 Bible study afford to put in, while allowing God
signups in 3 days.) to work.

RELEVANT

Why do you want to accomplish

MEASURABLE these goals? Ensure that your goals
matter to you and line up with
To help measure success, there must God’s purpose for your life.
be some physical manifestation of
the results. Because you specifically TIMELY
set out to get 5 Bible study sign up in
3 days, you will know whether your Set deadlines and stick to your timelines.
campaign was successful or if you This will greatly affect the success of
need to make improvements based your ministry.
on the results.
Answer these
Questions
❑Why does this ministry matter to me?
❑What do I want to accomplish in the next 6
months?
❑What specific prayer requests will I place
before God?
❑How many people do I want to reach in the
next 6 months?
❑How will I know that I accomplished my goals?
❑How many people do I want to refer to a local
church?
❑How much time am I able to dedicate to this
ministry every week?

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 Build an online small group of
10 women in the next 2 months

Examples of
Specific Increase engagement on our FB
page by 40% in 3 months

Goals
Gain 100 downloads for podcast
in one month through planning
& distribution
Mistake #5:
We Fight Online
Scroll through your timeline and it probably won’t be long
before you see an active, ongoing debate taking place.
While nothing is wrong in having a healthy discussion, over
the years, there has been an explosion of mean and hurtful
debates taking place, even between believers.

When there is a disagreement over a topic (political, moral,

biblical, etc.) many social media users seem to throw out
the fact that they are Christians and they turn to
mudslinging.
 We are killing the Gospel story.

People are turned away from the faith

What does because we give a bad report.
Venting your frustration about the church
online online can do more harm than good.

fighting do? It makes the fighter appear hypocritical

It hinders the work of online missionaries

 Avoid heated debates on topics that cannot be
solved under an online post

How Should Be respectful and patient toward others

You Handle an Remember that you are speaking to a human, not a

Online machine

Disagreement? Engage with the idea – do not attack the person

Don’t take comments from strangers personally

 Control your temper before responding – don’t
respond out of emotion

Stand to be corrected

How Should Do not mislabel, judge, name call individuals who

You Handle an disagree with you

Online Consider whether you have the time to engage in

online debates
Disagreement?
If you wouldn’t say it to their face, don’t post it

Show grace toward leaders, even if you don’t agree

 Try to determine the person’s attitude

How do we Send a personal message

manage Hide comments

negative
comments? Ban the person from your page

Leave the comment and follow the engagement

Mistake #6:
We Don’t Want to Pay
for Quality Work
It takes Time &
Money to
Create Quality
Online Content
 ➢ Creating graphics
➢ Editing audio or video
➢ Recording audio or video
➢ Stock photos or videos
These cost ➢ Storage
money ➢ Software & Hardware
➢ Training
➢ Digital Advertising
➢ SEO
➢ Living
3 Ways to Fund Online Mission Work
1. Proper budgeting
2. Patreon
3. Offer products and services for donations
Mistake #7:
Not Using Digital Ads
 Digital advertisement is a great way to reach more
people to let them know about your church or
ministry.

Use Digital Many digital missionaries do very well creating

content but spend little time distributing or
Ads promoting that content.

Make sure your work receives as much coverage as

possible.
Benefits of Digital Ads
1. Budget friendly
2. That is where the masses are
3. You can target your exact audience
4. Increases traffic to your website
5. Measurable
 ➢Include digital strategies in short- and long-term
Bonus Tip visions and goals.
➢Dedicate funds for social media promotions.
How to Build ➢Dedicate time for training you and your staff.
a Strong ➢Identify staff who could take on social media as part
of their job duties
Digital ➢Invest in young people; give them space to utilize
Foundation their skills in this area for the Church.

(Source: SDAdata.org)
Learn More
As a digital missionary, it’s important to stay up to date with ways to
improve your ministry.

Subscribe to our online missionary newsletter to find out about upcoming

webinars.
How can Storytelling & Digital Evangelism

Grow Your Ministry?

About

This guide is made available to you so that you can

have a foundational understanding of online
evangelism.

Whether you are building your church’s online

presence, you run an independent ministry, or you
are an online missionary in your spare time, you can
apply these principles to your work.

Be sure to check the other resources made available

to you by the Center for Online Evangelism.
 Explain the link between Storytelling
Explain and Digital Evangelism

By the end of
this
Name the three important pillars of
presentation, Name Digital Evangelism
you should be
able to:

List 2 practical ways to implement the

List pillars in your ministry

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What is Digital Evangelism?
The methodical use of online platforms to help individuals online learn more
about Jesus Christ.

Websites, blogs, social media sites, podcasts, chatrooms, discussion boards, and
video sharing platforms are a few methods used.

Digital Evangelism also boosts the presence of the Seventh-day Adventist church
so that seekers will be correctly informed about our faith.

There is a discipleship aspect that focuses on making disciples of followers.

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Most Important Aspects of Digital Evangelism

Storytelling Sharing The Gospel

Building Community
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Pillar 1:
Storytelling

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 7

Stories we consume shape us

profoundly. Stories change people’s
beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes
because whatever is happening to
the character is also happening to us.

– Jonathan Gottschall
Why is Storytelling
so Powerful?

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Your brain can’t tell the
difference between story and
real life. Its activity is the same
as the character’s.

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When we hear or read a story,
the same part of the brain that
would physically do something
is activated.

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People remember information
embedded in a story rather
than cold facts.

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What does this have to do
with Digital Evangelism?

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The success of your online
ministry depends on how
well you tell a story.

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 14

Jesus’ Ministry
centered on telling
heart-transforming
stories.
• To relate to His listeners
• To help his believers understand
• To conceal the mystery from others
• He created us as storytelling beings

Jesus Spoke in Parables

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The Enemy has a counterfeit
for everything God created –
even Storytelling.

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3 Ways to Grow Your
Ministry Using
Storytelling

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 18

1. Instead of sharing only

cold facts and scripture (w/o
context), share stories of
how the Gospel changes
lives.
(Photo credit: Hacksaw Ridge)
 19

2. Share Your
Personal Story
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3. Consider the action you

want your audience to
take and craft stories
showing characters taking
that action.
 Blog Podcast

Common
Online
Methods You Facebook YouTube

Can Use to
Tell a Story
Online small
Articles
group

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Pillar 2:
Community

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Social Media Ministry is NOT
Broadcast Media

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 Connecting your online audience with a physical
Connecting community is important
Build an
Online
Community
through Your
Ministry Creating
Creating an online mission station or community hub with
help people connect

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This video gives an idea
of what an online digital
community of faith is
like…
 Engage with your
Engage audience

How to Build Start

Start a Facebook
Groups
Community in
a Digital Launch online small
Environment Launch groups (video)

Create Create an Email list

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 Can start Page followers
conversations become participants
Why Create a
Facebook
Group? You can learn more
This increases your
reach through
about your audience
Facebook’s algorithm

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 10 Tips to Maintain a Group
Welcome people to the group

Create posts that will engage your audience

List rules of engagement

Remember you are a Group Leader as well as a member

Affirm group members when post

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 10 Tips to Maintain a Group
Remind group members that it’s ok to disagree, but
Remind
in a Christlike way

Use the mentorship option to pair people in your

Use
group

Pray Pray for your group members

Treat Treat your group as a community of faith

Encourage your group members to visit their local

Encourage
Adventist church

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Launch
Online
Small
Groups

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Your church or ministry can use video
conferencing apps such as Zoom to create
online meetings.

If visitors to your website or social media

page are interested in studying the Bible
or joining a support group, but are not
physically able to attend your church, an
online meeting can help bridge this gap.

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Ideas for Online Video Groups

Support group Online youth

Bible study
for single moms group meeting

Live cooking Overcoming

Vesper worship
demos addictions

Q&A sessions Christian Book Marriage

with your pastor Club Counseling
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 Pray for direction and guidance

Download Zoom and create a free account

How to Plan and Schedule your meetings

launch an Promote your online meeting

online video
group Ask those interested to submit their email

Send out invitations via email

Launch your meeting

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Key Points about
Online Bible Studies
Be Creative
Leading an online group has its perks and
challenges.
Use Attractive Slides
Technology can be tricky, especially when trying
to connect with people in different parts of the
world. Engage Your Contacts
Consider applying the following tips to ensure
your contacts enjoy meeting with you.
Keep Groups Small

Repurpose Content

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Important Points to Remember
• Value your online community as you would a physical church
• Choose the leader of your online groups carefully
• Be consistent with meeting times
• Remember the goal is to connect your followers with a local
church
Pillar 3:
Sharing the Gospel

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What’s the End Goal?
Online Ministries are a means to an end; they are
not the end.

The end is introducing the online community to

Jesus Christ.

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 Whatever platform you choose to use or
whatever topic forms the basis of your
online ministry, ensure that you give your
audience a clear opportunity to hear the
Gospel.
This might mean, writing the Gospel
Sharing the Gospel invitation at the end of your blog or
inviting them to have a saving relationship
with Jesus at the end of a video.
As the Spirit leads you, you will know the
best time and way to extend the
invitation.
How can we do this?

Specific Calls-to-Actions (CTAs)

Clearly presenting the Gospel

Follow up with your audience

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Get Free Resources to Strengthen Your Online
Ministry
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Contact Us!