Today in the Mission Yearbook - Measuring, and understanding, online worship metrics

Data isn’t always easy to find

December 20, 2022

How can we measure who is worshiping with us?

If your online worship uses Zoom, you can simply count the faces on your screen. But if you are streaming your worship to Facebook, YouTube or through your website, interpreting the metrics is trickier.

Finding the data isn’t always obvious. To get attendance numbers, you must know how to navigate online sites. On YouTube and Facebook, when you are logged in as a page administrator, look for the “Creator Studio.” Then within the Creator Studio, on Facebook you look for “Insights,” while on YouTube it’s called “Analytics.” You then must look for your individual videos to get their statistics, or else you’ll be seeing aggregate numbers for your page or channel.

What are the meaningful metrics? Most metrics are geared toward commercial advertisers. But the number I look for is the “maximum concurrent viewers” during our livestream. During a worship service, they track how many devices are watching. The peak number is the maximum concurrent viewers. That way the number will largely be unaffected by those who come across the service, watch for a few seconds, then move on. However, this only counts who is watching during the live service.

We use it because we have volunteers monitoring and engaging in the “live chat” (on Facebook it’s commenting) during the service. A person watching live has an opportunity for interaction that is not present during a replay. This is an important aspect of community building, so it is the metric we prefer.

Others want to count after-service viewers as well. But since the count of “views” includes anyone who watches even a few seconds, a better estimate is to take the total number of minutes viewed and divide by the length of the service. If your recorded service is 60 minutes long and it was watched for a total of 1,200 minutes, counting this as 20 full views is a reasonable approximation.

How do you correlate the number of devices to the number of people? There is no sure way. Both a person watching alone and a family gathered around a computer screen register as one device. Attempts to equate the number of devices to a number of people will use a multiplier. Various studies of online church services have shown that a very popular figure is 1.7. If you multiply the number of devices by 1.7, that’s a good estimate. For example, 20 devices times 1.7 corresponds to 34 people.

What about other metrics? They give you an idea of how many people might be learning that your church exists. The two most common measures are “reach” and “impressions.” Reach is the number of unique people who were presented with your post in their feed. Impressions is the number of times your post appeared. So, if a person sees your post three times, that is one reach and three impressions.

Impressions matter. For decades, advertisers believed that a person must see an ad at least seven times before they might respond. Currently, as we are bombarded with ads, research suggests an ad would have to be seen 10–20 times before it is remembered. This is why Facebook counts “three-second views” of videos. You might think, “Three seconds? Does it matter if someone only watches three seconds?” Three seconds is enough time for the person to realize what they are watching. Even if they move on, in three seconds they’ve come to know that your church exists. Eventually, awareness can lead to connection.

Use metrics to look for trends. In my congregation, we are using metrics to look for larger trends and ignoring the weekly fluctuations. We are discovering, overall, that our online presence is slowly growing. Second, we basically know that our online attendance remains larger than our in-person attendance. Third, we watch our reach and impressions numbers to see that we’re laying the groundwork for future growth.

While the days of only counting bodies in the pews are fading, keeping track of church metrics does not have to be complicated — or overwhelming. Know what you’re measuring. Look for direction, not precision. Have strategic goals, and the data can help you know whether you’re achieving them.

Richard Hong is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Englewood, New Jersey.

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Anne Marie Mazzone, Director, Financial Operations, Finance, Board of Pensions
John McCall, Mission co-worker serving in Taiwan, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Dear God, thank you for giving us partners in ministry. Thank you for helping each of us grow and see the fruit of the Holy Spirit ripen as we pray and do your ministry together. We praise and thank you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Online worship is ‘not a show that you consume’

An Oklahoma pastor and church session make online worship work by working at it

November 21, 2020

This behind-the-scenes photo taken in March 2020 shows the initial setup for streaming live worship services from the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church in Claremore, Oklahoma. (Photo courtesy of First Presbyterian Church). INSET: Remembering a full sanctuary in a photo taken in July 2019 during the Rev. Josh Kerr’s installation at First Presbyterian, Church. (Photo courtesy First Presbyterian Church)

Social media is an engaging tool for talented extroverts like the Rev. Josh Kerr, who you can see making viral dance moves on TikTok or advising, “Don’t burp in your mask. Trust me,” on Facebook.

Kerr, 37, amuses, educates and inspires people of all ages — even those who seek pastoral care and discernment. However, what is not fit for a stage, says Kerr, is worship.

“Worship in our (denomination) is not a show that you consume,” he said from his office at First Presbyterian Church in Claremore, Oklahoma. “I think that’s why a lot of churches in our tradition have been hesitant to go online.”

A deep-thinking theologian is as much a part of Kerr’s identity as preacher, pastor, father and husband. He credits wife Tara for making possible his pandemic work schedule.

Tara Kerr is a school counselor. Their son Kellan is 9. Both are excellent foils and partners to Josh Kerr’s antics and earnestness.

“This (online worship) is a whole new thing to me,” Kerr confided to the computer on his desk on March 20, two days before the first live broadcast of a worship service. He noted that some churches have all that figured out. “But for us it’s going to be a big change,” he told those early listeners.

In the first two months of the pandemic, that video, originally seen live by a few church members, has been viewed nearly 700 times on Facebook. Big changes indeed.

Even while technical details buzzed, Kerr and the session turned their attention to those in the 160-member congregation who are less connected. They divvied up 14 unconnected households for regular phone contact. Kerr occasionally makes porch or garage visits, toting his own lawn chair.

Neither social distancing nor rain has dampened those outdoor visits. Once, an older couple under the edge of their garage urged their pastor to head home when a downpour interrupted the conversation. Instead, Kerr grabbed his umbrella, sat back down and continued visiting.

“No, we don’t feel left out,” said Andy Hogan, 80, about not participating in the church’s online community. “It’s more of a time out.”

He and his wife, Jan, are content to use their phones for calls, texts and emails, not going live on video. Hogan, who aims to be a member well into his 90s, says he is very cautious about venturing into public arena.

Dave Ashbaugh said that he and other session members call members such as the Hogans each week to stay in touch. He and his wife, Sherry, “attend” worship every week. They download the bulletin and afterwards log onto Zoom, the video meeting service, for fellowship time with up to 25 households.

“We are more than ready to go back to church,” said Sherry Ashbaugh. “But Josh has provided a more than wonderful worship setting.”

That setting was hard-earned theologically and practically “I’ve been somewhat critical of online worship as a primary means of worship,” Kerr said. “My concern has been (the congregational) context in preaching.”

As the body of Christ, incarnational theology is a guide to being and doing “church” live if not in person, he said. Since March, First Presbyterian Church in Claremore has sprouted many new and renewed connections. Even after the pandemic subsides, Kerr is a big fan of continuing live worship broadcasts for people unable, hesitant or shy about attending in person.

Shane Whisler, Special to Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Carla Sutton, Presbyterian Foundation
Joe Tackett, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Gracious God, we give thanks. Thank you for those who reach out to friends in need, demonstrating God’s gifts of hospitality and grace. Together may we be students and stewards of your Creation. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Can online worship be intimate?

Webinar panelists insist it can be, and here’s some of what they’ve learned

July 3, 2020

Easy chairs have been added to facilitate online worship at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo courtesy of Grace Presbyterian Church)

Online worship that’s intimate, meaningful, inclusive — and, at the same time, can be touching and even humorous?

 It can be done, according to a panel assembled for a webinar hosted by 1001 New Worshiping Communities Coordinator the Rev. Nikki Collins.

The panelists — the Rev. Emily Scott, leader of the Dreams and Visions church in Baltimore, a community “rooted in the faith and experiences of LGBTQ+ people” and a project of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Rev. Catherine Neelly Burton, senior pastor and head of staff at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas; and the Revs. Daniel and Jeya So, lead pastors of the Anchor City Church new worshiping community in San Diego — spoke to an online crowd of nearly 80 pastors and other church leaders during a webinar put on by 1001 New Worshiping Communities.

“This is a tricky moment to be starting new things,” Scott said about online worship and community-building efforts. “Principles work for many of us, but every context is different.”

Dreams and Visions uses the Zoom platform to put on everything from evening vesper services to Sunday worship. To get the online congregation singing, Scott uses simple call-and-response hymns. She’ll sing a line and someone else will echo the phrase, with congregants singing along with the response, though their microphones are muted.

“With online worship, we have a space to be human together,” she said. Even technical mistakes during online worship “are opportunities to offer one another grace and laugh together, which is a huge gift.”

“This is a really scary and uncertain time” is a message she has repeated often to congregants. “I am here to listen to you, and we will be community together, whatever unfolds.”

“You don’t have to have it all figured out,” she said with a smile, “to be a leader.”

Among the most popular portions of online worship has been, surprisingly, the announcements.

“It’s the most lively and wonderful part,” she said, especially when worshipers share their celebrations. “It helps to share the little moments.”

Burton has set up easy chairs in the sanctuary to make online worship feel more accessible. “People are sitting at home,” she figures. “Let’s sit with them.”

For online clergy garb, she splits the difference — a black blouse with a clergy collar and jeans. “They are sitting at home in their PJs,” she said. Dressed the way she does for online worship, “it feels more like I am with them.”

Grace Presbyterian Church uses the Facebook Live platform. For congregants who aren’t particularly tech savvy, “we tell them just to click the ‘F’ on our website and it’ll take you right to worship,” she said. “We do it live because to me it feels like are all together.”

Passing the peace involves sending a few text messages to fellow worshipers. At a certain point during worship, congregants light a candle they were given on Ash Wednesday. Most bring their Bible to worship to follow along as the day’s Scripture is being read.

The weekly affirmation is taken from “Belonging to God: A First Catechism.” “Eventually,” she said, “we’ll all know it.”

 Jeya So said the worshiping community she and her husband serve uses Zoom’s breakout rooms so that worshipers can find a community of interest, such as the youth group. “We are small,” she said, and during online worship, “we get even smaller.”

The children “love to see each other’s homes,” she said, and enjoy talking about — and even demonstrating — the toy they’ve brought to worship.

“We are a small family church with lots of kids,” Daniel So said. “They will do somersaults in the background. We let parents know they don’t need to wrangle their kids.”

“A friend of ours said this is the moment to decide in what ways we will enact permanent change, and what things are just for this moment,” Jeya So said. “How will we carry the technology forward after we can all see each other and embrace each other? That has been a driving force for us.”

Collins, the New Worshiping Communities coordinator, agreed.

“We are in this moment of what works for today, and what value will it have for the long term?” she said.

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Denise Hampton, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Jieun Kim Han, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Loving God, please bless all the ways in which we live and move and have our being. Breathe in us new life and transform us in hope. We pray for the openness of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.