One of the Presbytery’s pastors told me, “We are finding out how many of our people we don’t have email addresses for. So all our email updates and on-line invitations to worship were passing them by.”
With every member becoming homebound the church has pivoted to serve them with long wished for robust online services. Those that can’t or won’t follow the folk to the screened in church are the paperbound. They are the new overlooked faithful remnant of the church.
What online ramps are needed to let the paperbound enter into the church online?
Shut-in from the world wide web and even email, and denied the in-person networking which connected them with the church, the paperbound are left with the US postal mail and phone calls while in person gatherings are suspended.
What are some churches doing?
- Mailing the online eblasts to folks without email
- Tracking email opens and replies to make sure the emails are being received and read (Mailchimp, Constant Contact and other mass email services provide this tracking) and following up on the unopened or bounced emails of members
- Calling folks not only to see if they are okay but what issues they have with attending on-line worship
- Dusting off and updating a phone tree to communicate to the paperbound
- Mailing a paper copy of the sermon, bulletin or online worship aids especially when they contain prayer concerns and
- Considering installing digital ramps over the many steps to participate on-line
- Mailing a DVD with recordings of the worship videos
- Posting on YouTube that some can get on their smart TVs without a computer
- Dropping off laptops with webcams or webcams on porches of those with computers and some tech skills but without webcams and microphones
- Highlighting phone numbers for call-in participation in on-line meetings
What is your church doing for paperbound ministry? Let me know and I’ll update this article