On May 3-4, over 300 ministers attended the very first, completely virtual, Ministers Gathering 2021. Although we usually meet in beautiful Banff, Alberta, this was one for the books, as many of our international ministers were able to be in attendance this year.
Our goal was to make this a “family reunion” of sorts and feature as many of our tribe as possible. Over 120 ABNWT credential holders were featured, or participated, in this event allowing us to connect with those we haven’t seen for a long time. It was great to see, and to hear, what God is doing in our region and through the ABNWT family of ministers to spread the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, even in the midst of a pandemic.
Even though we were completely virtual, we laughed, cried and prayed together; sensing the unity of the Spirit amongst us as we continue to obey the Call of God on our lives. Below you will find some of the key decisions we made for a virtual gathering in the hopes that you may find some ideas that work for you.
We decided to use Zoom so we could “see” each other. It’s true, we could have broadcast this virtual gathering to YouTube or Facebook, but zoom allows us to be “in the room”. Our desire was for people to be able to see one another and to chat with one another. Several churches hosted watch parties as well which added to the connectivity of the event. A key part of any ministry gathering should be the connection. We need to do everything we can to ensure that those who would like to, can connect with others.
We featured as many churches and ministries as possible using low tech. When you go virtual, not everything has to be high quality. We had multiple people send us “selfie style” videos telling us what God was doing in their midst. We wanted it to be informal and personal. In your next virtual gathering, you can have people from your congregation share a scripture verse, a greeting, or a prayer using the same method. It’s personal and people will appreciate it.
We included moments of fun and levity to create connectivity. We made an intentional choice to maintain the after party and some other lighthearted moments in our gathering so that we would have a shared experience. The key learning is that we should not take ourselves so seriously. We are humans. We laugh. We poke fun. Watching Bob Gal and Phil Doroshuk face off in an accordion competition should be enough to crack a bit of a smile.
We tried to make Ministers Gathering as interactive as possible. From live games, live prayer, live Global Worker Commissioning, to live moments of reflection and interaction, we tried to make our virtual event as interactive as possible. We did this because it can be so easy to tune out and watch a broadcast, but the value of any gathering comes when there is interaction. The challenge for us is to get creative and have moments of interaction and connection when we are virtual.
How about you? What were some of your takeaways from this year’s virtual Ministers Gathering?
You can view all of the sessions of Ministers Gathering HERE.
Jeremiah works as an Effectiveness Coach with the ABNWT District of the PAOC. He is a passionate and creative leader who believes that the church is the hope of the world. He uses collaboration, innovation, and inspiration to challenge churches and their leadership to engage in the only mission Jesus ever sent his church on: making disciples.