Premier has been working with the Bible Graduate School of Theology in Singapore to develop a short course on the Hybrid Church. Using material from Premier's video library alongside new material developed by Pete Phillips, Premier's Head of Digital Theology, the course focusses on five things to explore about the future of hybrid church:
Introduction
What is Hybrid ?
Case Studies of Hybridity in Formation
Is Online Real?
Discipleship and the Hybrid Church
Bible and Prayer: Reflections and Conclusions
Here's a short taster video of one of the subjects: Pete Phillips: Is the Online Church 'real'?
The course could be done by individuals or by church groups/housegroups wanting to explore more about hybrid engagement.
Launch Day: October 1st
On October 1st, we're having a launch webinar with a couple of digital church academics exploring why hybrid is the future. We'll then be launching the course which will cost about £25 to complete on the Theology for Life platform. We're hoping this will provide lots of opportunities across the world for people to engage with the latest teaching on Hybrid Church and explore their own understanding.
More importantly we hope the course will show people of the potential missiological implications of doing church hybrid. We know already that lots of extra people popped in to visit online church while we were in lockdown. We know already that many existing church members have not yet come back to onsite church - perhaps because of fear or anxiety about COVID or because they have lost the habit of coming to a physical church building each week.
Hybrid Church offers a real way to maintain contact with your church congregation online and onsite and also offer a window into your regular activities which gives those visitors to online church an opportunity to see what we do in church before they, perhaps, become part of our online or onsite congregations. People engaged in hybrid church for many years argue that this shop window is a crucial part of giving people confidence in joining in with church activities.
Action points:
Look out for our launch on October 1st
Sign up for the Hybrid Church Course
Let us know how the course helped you think through new approaches to church online and onsite.
What other courses should we be offering to equip your ministry?