An interview with Pr. Tom Schwolert
What were the pains that led you to us and what have you gotten from the program?
This isn’t the first church I’ve worked in who’s had very little knowledge of how to get the word out digitally. Most churches struggle with that. What attracted me to this type of approach was this isn’t just about creating a website–that’s part of it, but that’s not digital ministry. Digital ministry is not about a nice website. Digital ministry is about being present digitally, everywhere, ya know? And that’s the cool thing about it.
It’s helped especially the lay people that are involved with it; it’s helped them broaden their perspective about what digital ministry is–how all these pieces connect and really promote your brand, so to speak, of your church and who you are and what you’re about.
We now have three people that basically know how to use WordPress and the more we play with it the more we’ll be able to pass those skills onto other people.
What was one big win from the program?
I’m super excited about what I’m doing with my sermons. I’m having so much fun turning them into podcasts.
Why do you think digital ministry is so important?
Especially now, it’s like the front door to your church is your digital presence. It’s no longer just one of the doors, it is the door since we’re not worshipping in person.
What’s some good that’s come from this quick pivot to online worship?
I think the church is realizing we can do things without a building. And that’s huge because churches are in some way, their buildings can become an obstacle for growth because there’s so much pride in our church, in our building, and our this and that. I’m not saying its wrong to have a church building, but we realize we can do ministry in other ways and we don’t have to be in a church building to do it. And that’s been a huge bonus, I think.
Visit Gloria Dei’s website here, https://gloriadeigarland.org/