Hosts: Scheduling and Onboarding

If you think about your online ministry like your physical building, Hosts are like your welcome, next steps, and prayer teams—all in one. They play the important role of greeting attenders in the chat, answering questions, sharing helpful links and resources, and praying for people through one-on-one prayer.

Hosts can be members of your church staff or volunteers, and the number you need each service depends on whether you use features like Chat, Moments, and Live Prayer, as well as how many attenders are in your service.

View this support article to learn more about the functions hosts have access to in the Platform. 

Scheduling Hosts to Serve

Scheduling is not built into the Church Online Platform. Many churches incorporate online ministry roles into tools like Planning Center.

Leading Hosts

Just like any volunteer role at your church, you’ll want to provide clear expectations and equip your team to serve. Below are a few best practices for leading your online hosts.

Before Your Service

• Check in with your hosts to see how they’re doing—this can be via email, social media, or a mini-huddle using video software.
• Remind them about the important role they play in ministry.
• Share important information with them via the Host Chat.
• Pray over your team and the experience.

During Your Service

• Lead by example through chat and/or Live Prayer.
• Encourage your hosts as they do a great job serving. 
• Have a plan in place for hosts to report major technical issues they encounter, and equip your hosts on how to respond to attenders.

After Your Service

• Debrief with your hosts. How did the experience go? 
• Thank each host for serving.
• Build and nurture relationships with hosts throughout the week.

Equipping Hosts to Serve

Train Your Hosts

• Make sure first-time Hosts understand how to use the Church Online Platform. You can invite them to attend your service first or record a video of you engaging with attenders during an experience. 

Equip Them to Respond

• Many situations can come up via church online—equip your hosts on how to respond and whom they can turn to for

Resource Them With Prayers

• Help your Hosts engage with attenders through prayer. This link provides helpful prayer starters and scriptures to reference for specific needs.