BE THE BRANCH Continued from page 15
Visiting speaker Albert Tate and Associate Pastor Matt Reagan engage with the SE Online community.
months, the digital team further honed their
As the church moved online and away from
craft, adding more platforms and incorporating
meeting in person, SE Online emerged on the
new technology to improve the user experience.
frontlines of that transition. Online viewership
More important than the technological advancements, however, were the relational lessons the team learned. Connecting with people isn’t always easy. It’s even more of a challenge when you’re doing it across a computer
jumped more than tenfold overnight. A ministry that might have seemed like a luxury suddenly became a necessity. Though the church never changed, the way we approached church had to be adapted.
screen. Still, the SE Online team made it a point
The transition to online ministry came with its
to keep relationship as their number one priority.
fair share of challenges, but also brought some
SE Online Pastor Stephen Puricelli remembered,
amazing opportunities. For Stephen, the greatest
“We learned a lot in those early days about what
of these is how this season has refocused the
it looks like to engage people online and value
church on mission. “Following Jesus is more than
them one at a time.”
worshipping together in a building. Following Jesus has so much to do with what we do while
Church Online Over the course of nine months, the SE Online team learned about doing ministry across
we are on our own, what we think, how we respond, and the wells we draw from to engage in our life.”
digital environments. The arrival of COVID-19
This renewed sense of mission has sparked
gave them a crash course in getting it done. “No
connections in unexpected places. Stephen
one was prepared for the pandemic,” Stephen
points to the story of Mark and Marina Bromley,
said, “but by God’s grace, we were able to not be
a couple from Alabama who began watching SE
caught scrambling.”
Online in the midst of the pandemic. Though they struggled to connect with the online experiences
16
