Hitting the Road: Join us on our Digital Ministry Road Trip This August
Rev. Breanna Illéné, Director of Ecumenical Innovation and Justice Initiatives
Three years ago, local churches jumped from being in-person gatherings to completely digital ministries almost overnight. At the WCC, on March 10, 2020, we offered a webinar on “Creating Live Streamed Worship” as most churches that had never dreamed of a digital ministry scrambled to livestream their worship, connect with members, and jump feet first into a new world of ministry. Three years later, after many experiments, lots of learning, our fair share of frustration (remember when Zoom always seemed to plan its updates on Sunday mornings?), and transitioning back into in-person activities, the landscape has changed. Where are we now? What does digital ministry look like in 2023? What does digital ministry look like in Wisconsin?
These are some the questions we are asking at the WCC this August. As a part of the State of Wisconsin’s Internet for All campaign to implement broadband across the state, the WCC has partnered with United Way of WI to host 15 community conversations in churches about internet access. We have already learned so much and we’ve barely started. For example, did you know that many hearing aids require broadband to work? Or did you know that every cow in WI requires broadband? Farmers mark individual cows with internet-connected tags so they can track feeding, illness, milking, and more.
We will be spending August in cities around Hudson, Barron County, Wausau, and the south shore of Lake Superior talking about internet. We would love to have you join us! Click here to see a list of upcoming community conversations. If you can’t make a WCC-hosted event, we encourage you to check with your local United Way about an event they may be hosting and share it with your church members. This is an important opportunity to give feedback to the broadband office as they plan where to allocate the over $1 billion dollars the state is receiving to do this work.
We at the WCC are excited to do this work and are also using it to lift up a wider conversation about digital ministry. There are many churches that are wondering where they should be putting their resources and if it is even worth it when they only have a small number of people tuning in.
We recently spoke about this with Annette Smith of the Public Service Commission. She shared the immense amount of loneliness that exists in our state and how important broadband is to connect individuals to local organizations like churches and VFWs. We discussed the fact that many small churches don’t need an extensive staff or fancy equipment because it might just be “Bev” [or insert name of a homebound member here] who is able to connect to the livestream broadcast of her church through a phone set on a stand. It’s the relationship that matters, not the fancy broadcast system.
And so, our goal this August is to think about what digital ministry looks like in Wisconsin and how we can help our churches continue to be in relationship with their communities. Along with our 15 community conversations, we will also be hosting 4 coffee meet-ups for people to drop in and chat with us about digital and just regular ministry. Join us here:
- August 10th, 1:00pm Raw Deal – Menomonie
- August 16th, 2:00pm Tucknee Coffee Company – 610 Washington St, Wausau
- August 24th, 9:00am at 4:30am Coffee – 608 N Bridge St, Chippewa Falls
- August 31st, 3:30pm Black Cat Coffeehouse – 211 Chapple Ave, Ashland Note new time
As we journey throughout the state in August, we invite you to join us! We will be traveling with our ecumenical boat (follow our social media to learn about what that means). Come to a community conversation, drink a cup of coffee with us, or follow us online (we will post more frequently on Instagram but will do weekly wrap-ups on Facebook). Share what your church is doing by tagging us and using the hashtag #DigitalMinistryRoadTrip and #InternetForAllWI.
Digital ministry is here to stay and it will only grow as internet access increases across our state. It will look different in each context and we are excited to learn about what churches are doing.
