Today we are going off road and online with a discussion on internet campuses with Troy Gramling from Flamingo Road.
1. Troy, you say in Multi-site Church Road Trip that you and the team at Flamingo Road treat the Internet campus as just another neighborhood that you are trying to reach. How is it like other neighborhoods you reach? How is it different?
It is like other neighborhoods in that people have needs. And that is the doorway we use to help and to gain entrance into the community. Much like the neighborhood I live in people want community and anonymity at the same time. Some hide behind closed garage doors and others behind an alias screen name. In both places there are established “clicks” and social norms, ways in which people relate to one another that are unique to that neighborhood. We have also discovered that just like in a physical neighborhood those who make the effort to become “a part” are much more successful than those who do drive-by evangelism. One of the major differences is cost; it is much less expensive to advertise to the online community than it is to a physical neighborhood. The cost of billboards, direct mail, TV, door hangers etc., are much more expensive than blogs, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. So for the cost of one billboard for one neighborhood in a physical neighborhood you would be able to advertise in multiple online neighborhoods. For example you might blog about skateboarding and put up some pictures for one neighborhood and you might twitter and follow about parenting to a different neighborhood. One of the challenging differences is the level of engagement. A physical neighborhood’s “get together” happens at a specific time in a specific place and while you can do that online, most of the interaction happens at different times depending upon when they are online. It also often happens on Facebook, blog, Twitter etc., while they are also doing something else like watching TV, driving, or talking on the phone. So you can see the challenge to get their total attention--doable just more challenging. Those are just a few of the similarities and differences.
2. What are the qualities that you feel are important for an online campus pastor to possess? How are the same/different than that of an "in person" campus or venue?
I think it's very easy when looking for an online campus pastor to seek someone technical rather than pastoral. While having some knowledge of technology, Web 2.0, and social media is important, the Internet Campus pastor's heart must beat for people. They must be pastors first and digerati second. Online pastors deal with real people with very real hearts that want to experience God in a genuine way. Technology is simply a method to help people reach their God-potential--a vehicle to carry people closer to Christ worldwide. The online pastor needs to embrace this and allow the technological side to take care of itself. Online campus pastors and physical campus pastors are identical in purpose with each seeking to connect people with God and each other through various means. I think the primary difference, albeit obvious, is that the online campus must be content with genuine community happening without physical presence. The online campus pastor must purposefully seek out ways to leverage digital means to accomplish what the pastor at a physical campus can do with a handshake or a hug. However, as the lines blur between physical friends and online friends, the differences between these types of campus pastors will continue to diminish.
3. You told me that one of the greatest challenges about an Internet campus is being able to shape the environment for the participant because they can log in from such a diverse set of locations. Is there anything new that you have developed as a part of the campus that helps to address that challenge? If so, what does that look like?
While we can't control the environment on the guest's side, we certainly help by being intentional with our own. From the minute you join the Flamingo Road Church Internet campus experience, you are immersed in who we are as a church. We have designed our Internet campus page to be simple, with fewer potential distractions, while still remaining 
informative, welcoming, and practical. In addition, we believe that the chat experience during service helps in this. Many would argue that chat during services, in fact, causes distractions. We have experienced the opposite. Having our chat operational during the service allows guests to ask questions, seek prayer, and request clarification during the teaching time. We have talked to so many people online that are grateful for the chat feature. They tell us it provides instant answers and better understanding of what they are experiencing. Thus, the environment, however chaotic or varied on the guest's end, becomes enriched and somewhat of a controllable constant from our side.
Each guest that logs in needs to feel less like they are sitting in front of a laptop and more like they are on the front row worshiping with the world. Through the use of the chat room, simple and concise page elements, and a community forum, guests quickly see themselves as attending church regardless of their particular physical location.
We have also increased our intentionality about how we communicate with the Internet campus. I will from time to time call out what they “might” be doing and ask them to turn off the TV or to stop checking email or come in out of the kitchen in an effort to TEACH them what it means to worship God. This idea came from one of our physical campuses when we were trying to TEACH them what worship was suppose to look like and we had our staff model it.
We are working on a couple of things such as an Internet campus specific pre-teaching that would help them with what it should look like. In a physical campus you might say please turn off your cell phones in the internet campus you might have the slide say, “Have a pad and pencil with you so that when you think of something you need to do you can write it down and NOT be tempted to jump up and do it.” We are also going to be adding a way for them to see others who are attending the Internet campus, while at first they may not be able to communicate with them they WILL be able to see how to worship online by modeling.
4. What is new about the multi-site ministry at Flamingo Road since we last talked?
On the multi-site front, we have started a new campus in Pensacola, Florida. The campus, which started last Easter, meets in a community college theater. The teaching is done via HD video and the campus continues to grow and develop.
We have also started life-development online. On Saturday nights, we have “iKids,” an online ministry for kids and their parents. On Wednesday nights, we have “theRush,” an online ministry for students. If we expect adults to do service online, we can expect it in their families, as well.
We are starting to have breakthrough attendance at some of our campuses and are dreaming about a larger international presence. We have a few places in mind but are waiting on a green light from God (money!) as well as relationships with future campus pastors.
We have spent some time wrestling with the differences between starting a campus small and starting big. The different ways in which you manage a campus depend on its size and the amount of time it needs from me, as the lead pastor.
Our Hallandale campus has proven to us that one of the great ways to bring renewal or rebirth to old and dying churches is through multi-site. Hallandale-FRC (formally First Baptist of Hallandale) had an attendance of 35-50 on the weekend and less than two years later there are 800. A great way for some of the older churches that have had huge impacts in the past to be a part of ministry for the next generation. We are praying for these opportunities.
5. What have I not asked that I should have?
Leadership: there is a huge difference in leading a multi-site church compared to a one-campus church.
Finance: the cost of multi-site and a financial model to have several campuses reaching unchurched people and to staff it.
Theological: there are those who believe that Internet campuses are not biblical.
Live vs. Video: while it may seem small there are huge philosophical differences between the two.
Check out the sidebar on the Multi-site Church Road Trip Blog that lists multisite churches with Internet Campuses.
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