St. Paul United Methodist Church reaching many with online approach

A member of the Rev. Shane Green’s congregation was telling him how much he enjoyed the live-streaming of the Sunday morning services at St. Paul United Methodist Church.

He told the pastor how he could easily get used to sitting at home with a cup of coffee and watching the computer instead of driving to the place of worship on Wildwood Avenue in Columbus.

“Two weeks later, he told me nothing could replace being in the sanctuary,” Green said. “If you are not at the church, you miss out on the sense of community.”

But the church leader is eager to reach people wherever they want to get the message of Jesus Christ.

“We are making it easy for people to mature in their faith,” Green said. “Ideally, what we do online is not going to replace live worship. The live worship experience is an element that unifies St. Paul. But we recognize we live in a mobile, transient society. People have jobs requiring travel. There are vacations. We want St. Paul to be a part of their life wherever they go, anywhere around the world.”

It was about four years ago the leadership at St. Paul decided to do what some other churches are doing. They went full force into the digital age with the theme “St. Paul Everywhere.”

The church’s website invites visitors to connect with St. Paul via Twitter, Facebook, iTunes, YouTube and Google.

The church has an app, spumccolumbus.com, giving people several ways to grow spiritually.

Besides live-streaming its contemporary and traditional services, St. Paul also live-streams Bible study groups.

An audio Bible and digital Bible, where passages may easily be found, are both available. The church has a podcast containing several years of previous services and studies in audio and video.

St. Paul also provides access to RightNow Media, which Green refers to as the “Netflix of Christian Bible study.” It features more than 10,000 video Bible studies on topics from marriage and relationships to books of the Bible with America’s top Bible teachers.

A digital bulletin keeps members up to date on church business.

Green said more is coming, including live online chats.

Associate pastor John Fugh Jr. said the move to increase the church’s use of technology was birthed by Green’s vision for the ministry.

Green is beginning his fifth year at the church of approximately 2,200, and Fugh is beginning his seventh. Fugh said members say they miss the church when they are away for weeks at a time.

“I wanted a way for us to connect,” Green said.

The website was revamped, and the church began taping everything.

St. Paul does not have a television show, and with its move online, it dropped its radio broadcast, which was proving costly.

“We found we could do what we want cheaper online,” Green said.

A platform for audio and video was set up.

Fugh said there was plenty of support from congregants to make the move online a reality, and Green said it was some of the older members of the congregation who were the “drivers” behind the move.

Green is most impressed by the amount of information offered by St. Paul and the ease with which people can get it.

“We want people to take the initiative to grow in their faith,” Green said. “We want them to grow on their own, and the church is helping them do that. We are making study as easy as possible.”

He likes that archives allow people to view lessons he has taught in the past.

“We have been recording for a long time,” Fugh said.

Those interested may also see a video blog describing work done at children’s homes in the Ukraine supported by St. Paul in its global mission.

Green said St. Paul gets online visitors not only from around the country, but also from overseas.

He mentioned there are people who have moved away who view the website as a way to stay connected, and there are others moving to Columbus who check out the church online to see if St. Paul is a place with which they would like to be connected.

Green said what is offered online is especially comforting to those in the later stages of their life.

Fugh mentioned there is an audience for the live-streaming of services at nursing homes. He said in the future, he would like to see several residents at those places gather together for a viewing session.

“We would like them to have that sense of community you get by coming to the church,” Fugh said.

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 10:01 PM with the headline "St. Paul United Methodist Church reaching many with online approach."