Building Community Despite Social Distancing

Many children’s ministers never imagined needing to take their ministry on-line. And, for those that are technologically savvy, never would they have guessed that they would need to create an on-line ministry in a matter of days.

But, here we are with quarantines popping up around the nation and changing recommendations by the day. Ministers are scrambling.

Staying in touch with the children and families in your congregation is a high priority. Relationships encourage us to grow in our faith, to stay strong in the face of adversity, and to live a life of discipleship. Relationships give a feeling of belonging. And, through relationships, we learn to minister to one another in times of need.

I’m teaching through Acts right now in the Introduction to the New Testament course that I teach at Lubbock Christian University. And, I am always amazed at the emphasis on community that was found in the early church. You see, following the Messiah was costly – costing family, friends, and livelihood. And, meeting in community was also costly due to the persecution that the early Christians faced.

Yet, community was pursued by the early church at all costs.

In the face of our unseen threat, wisdom calls for social distancing. But, think of the tools that we have today that could not have even been imagined just a few decades ago. Ministers that choose to utilize those tools can increase their communication with their flock even when it is impossible to meet face to face.

There are many to choose from. So, in this article, I’m choosing five quick and easy solutions for communicating with the children and parents in your ministry.

Reminder: Do not communicate directly with children without their parent’s knowledge or supervision. Follow the two-adult rule, in this case at least one of their parents and you comprise the two adults.

That said, most of these tools enable group communication.

Five Free Apps For Communication During Social Distancing

1) Facebook Live/IGTV: Facebook Live and IG (Instagram) TV has grown in popularity over the last few years. Most people have one or both of these social media apps. Simply “go live” and record a message to the children and families in your ministry. Some ministries are using this to record a daily encouragement message, Bible lessons, at home devotionals, and invitations into prayer. Parents, and children with parents help, can communicate back to you as they leave comments on the video. Spice it up by adding a question to answer in the comments and then make a point to respond to their communication.

2) Voxer: I learned about Voxer from a friend a few months ago. I was invited into a group of few women and talk each day via

Voxer. Voxer is like group voicemail. Throughout the day, Voxer participants can leave messages for each other. Voice messages are 15 minutes, video messages are much shorter. Within the same group, Voxer will also allow text message and image sharing. Finally, Voxer Pro enables a feature called “Broadcast Channel.” It’s like an easy Podcast. Create a broadcast channel, add the families in the minister, and send them messages of encouragement. They can’t send anything back on a broadcast channel but they can reply in a group or in a one-to-one chat with you. (PS – I’ve created a broadcast channel on Voxer for children’s ministers and small groups for children’s ministers to share ideas. If you’d like to be added, send me an email and I’ll send you my Voxer username.)

3) Marco Polo: Marco Polo enables the ability to send video messages to your contact list. In these weird times, seeing a familiar face is comforting. Marco Polo makes that easy. In Marco Polo, create groups of people to video chat together. Does your church do small groups? Maybe this is an option. Or, with parent’s permission and watching in on the videos, create a few groups of children, maybe by age level, and send them object lessons or Bible lessons and invite their feedback. Send parents encouragement emails, many are at home with kids and learning to do homeschool all in one moment. They need to hear “YOU CAN DO THIS AND I’M HERE FOR YOU!”

4) ZOOM: Zoom is a video-conferencing app. It’s easy to use. Parents can log in through a website or through an app on their computer or phone. The free version only allows for a few people on the conference call at one time. But, the paid version is fairly cheap and will enable you to host a full class of parents and children on a phone call. Many ministers are using this for face to face communication, parenting groups, and even teaching Bible lessons. Included with Zoom is a video recording feature, so dial in and teach a group of families live, and record it at the same time for other families to watch.

5) YouTube: Finally, there is good ol’ YouTube. YouTube videos can be creative to catch the attention of your families. There is somewhat simple editing software available on most computers (iMovie for example) and plenty of videos on the internet. With YouTube, you can record and edit your video, create a channel, and drop it online. You can keep your video private and share the link or make it public for anyone to see. YouTube is well-known and has many options. This is another good option for one-way teaching, you teach a lesson that others will watch. I suggest that you include some kind of hook to prompt communication, such as leave a comment or send an email, something that creates relationships.

Well, that’s all for tonight! What are your favorite online tools? Leave it in the comments or send me an email and I’ll include those in my next post!