Dear pastor or church leader,

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is called to proclaim the three angels’ message across the globe, and this message is more relevant today than ever before. However, the current state of the world makes it more challenging than ever to engage your community in any live, in-person event.

First and foremost, we want to express our sincere concern for everyone who has been impacted by the coronavirus. Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this truly difficult time.

The SermonView crew has been paying close attention to news about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, and we understand that public meetings currently in progress and those about to start are in jeopardy of seeing low returns and even possible cancellation—with the scope of the crisis worsening every hour.

Our team strives to be fleet-footed, and we are prepared to serve you in any way we can. Here are some specific ways we want to serve your ministry during this unique moment in history:

1. If you are planning to halt an upcoming meeting, please call us immediately. We will put any order on hold that is not already in print. (We will offer reprints on most print resources at a 50% discount for products already printed. Call our team to learn more.) We will not charge any cancellation fees or design costs for churches who put their meetings on hold.
2. We are ready to work with you to communicate with your guests and members. We can update messaging on any meeting website to help communicate meetings that are cancelled, on hold, or want to move to an online platform (see below).
3. If you have run a Facebook ad campaign with our team, and need to cancel or change information, we can make a comment on your ad. Even if the advertising has stopped running an ad can exist as a post, and adding a comment from the originator of the ad will help people know what comments are real.
4. We encourage churches to be proactive in their communications. Please use the email addresses you have from registrations, InterestTracker or any other interest list software to alleviate concerns and let guests know your plans. If you need help exporting your email list from our pre-registration system, please contact our team and we will send it to you.
5. If you are moving your meeting out a few weeks and have already decided on the new date, there are additional ways we can support you at no cost. Please contact your team representative to find out all the ways we are prepared to help promote your date adjustment.

How do churches preach the everlasting gospel in this new environment?

Our team is committed to the work of evangelism in any climate. In fact, we believe that now is an amazing time to communicate Advent truth in your community, and here are some recommendations for ongoing evangelism in your community:

1. Consider moving your meetings to an online platform. We recommend using a platform that can be private and requires a form of registration, such as Zoom. This will enable you to track and communicate with guests throughout the meetings, allowing for the right time to invite them to your church in the coming months. Public platforms like Facebook Live and YouTube Live miss the opportunity for you to capture specific information and limit your ability to control your content. They also make your meetings a permanent record, which may not be something you want on Facebook in the future
2. Consider sending people information upon request. If you are running a Bible study group or handling interest requests, send an email to prepare someone for your arrival and give them options to receive items in the mail. This will show a level of understanding and build relationship. But most importantly, keep your interest generation program going.
3. Use online to promote online. The advantage of online advertising and web portals are that they are very flexible. Instead of paper, consider utilizing media that can be edited to accommodate rapidly shifting environments and information as news is released. Our team is currently preparing ways to accept registrations for online meetings and webinars, so that you can continue to collect interest’s data and maintain communication with them throughout the changing environment.

Now is a Great Time for Digital Evangelism

In this environment, let's propel evangelism forward! Right now, there are worried people in your community ready to hear the biblical message of hope and wholeness.

While public gatherings have proven effective in the past—and certainly will again in the future—now is the time to build a digital evangelism strategy that can propel your church’s growth both now and tomorrow.

God will bless your efforts, and SermonView is ready to help. Our prayer is that during this unique moment in history, our joint efforts to innovate digital evangelism will result in a great harvest for God’s Kingdom.