I’ll confess something. If I’d had money, I would have bet it on money.
We asked, “Choose the top three things that would most move your ministry forward.” I was sure funding would win by a mile. It didn’t. A team tied with it for first.
Out of the 52 of you who answered, picking up to three:
- A team: 54%
- Funding: 54%
- Tools: 40%
- Training: 31%
- A mentor: 27%
- Accountability: 23%
- Permission from leadership: 12%
Why that matters
Funding matters. If digital ministry is going to be anyone’s full-time calling, someone has to pay a salary. But digital work itself doesn’t need much. TCD reaches people all over the world for pennies. Money matters, but what many of you are short of is people beside you.
Two different worlds
When we split the answers between North America and everywhere else, the picture changed:
- In North America, the top need is a team. Then funding, then a mentor.
- Outside North America, the top need is funding, then tools.
Outside North America, more than half of you asked for tools, right behind funding. In North America, a mentor made the top three instead.
Very different needs. If we coach everyone the same way, we’ll serve half of you badly.
Nobody’s waiting for permission
Only 12% said permission from leadership would move them forward, and when we asked whether leadership had ever limited what you can do digitally, 67% said no. I love that. You’re not waiting for someone to sign off. You’re already out there doing it.
What we’re doing about it
- Here I Am. Tell us what you can do and where you’d serve in a digital church, so the ministries that need a team can find one: https://thechurch.digital/hereiam/
- Tools and training. You asked for both. We’re listening, and the next ones will come from what you told us, not from what we guessed.
If you need a team, the first step is saying so out loud. If you are the team someone needs, say that out loud too.
It is the heart of empowerment on the digital edge: equipping people where they are, not where we are.
What “a team” actually means online
A team doesn’t have to be a staff. In digital ministry it’s often three or four people with different gifts:
- Someone who welcomes people and notices who’s new.
- Someone who moderates and keeps the space safe.
- Someone who handles the tech: the stream, the bot, the settings nobody else wants to touch.
- Someone who prays, specifically and by name, for the people you’re reaching.
Most of those roles take a few hours a week, and most of the people who could fill them are already in your community, waiting to be asked.
What you told us about tools and training
Tools came third (40%) and training fourth (31%). In your own words, you asked us to “list tools & services it has available,” to “offer resources to locate the folks we are trying to reach digitally,” and for “comprehensive relevant trainings.” We heard you. Expect tools and training built from what you told us, not from what we assume.
If funding is your biggest need
You’re not alone, especially outside North America, where funding ranked first. Be honest about it, be specific about what it would unlock, and don’t let it stop you from doing what you can do this week with what you already have.
How to ask someone to join your team
Most people never join because nobody asked them directly. Try something this simple:
“I’ve noticed how you show up for people here. I need someone to help welcome new people on Sunday nights, about an hour a week. Would you pray about it and let me know?”
Specific role. Specific time. A real reason you thought of them. That’s it.
Use your freedom well
That freedom to act without waiting is a gift. Use it to build something that doesn’t depend on you alone.
Start with one ask
This week, write down the one role you most need filled. Then write down two names of people who could fill it. Pray for them, and ask one of them before Sunday. A team almost never starts with a launch. It starts with one person saying yes.
All the results: https://thechurch.digital/townhall/results/
