From August 6-8, churches from across Cal-Pac brought small teams to Aldersgate UMC in Tustin for two days of workshops with Jason Moore. The teams learned about hybrid hospitality and creating welcoming churches for our guests online and in person. Tuesday evening, Jason led the group on an AI adventure where they learned about using AI to help brainstorm, adapt, and support our church work. On Wednesday, Jason taught the group about creative worship design, building your best planning team, and we worked on the beginnings of a Lent 2025 series that will be released later this fall for everyone in Cal-Pac!
Getting Started: A Journey into Hybrid Hospitality
On Tuesday morning and afternoon, Jason shared practical insights on how to create a welcoming environment for both in-person and online guests. The group explored the importance of making visitors feel valued from their very first experience, including viewing your website as the front door to your ministry. Jason emphasized, “We have to work to earn someone’s second, third, and ongoing visits with you—in person AND digitally.” A key takeaway was the need to set clear expectations for guests when they arrive for worship, ensuring they feel prepared and welcomed.
He reminded us that “the people who worship online are real people who really need Jesus,” and encouraged us to make our online worshippers visible to our in-person congregants, sharing ways to connect the two modalities, such as by displaying the number of online viewers from the previous week during the service.
Discovering AI
On Tuesday evening, Jason introduced the group to the possibilities of AI in church work. He firmly believes that “church should be the most creative place you go” and showed us how AI can support that creativity. For those new to AI, Jason provided definitions, a brief history, and examples, before demonstrating tools that could be most helpful for churches.
From creating illustrative images for sermons to using AI as a brainstorming partner for sermon series, the workshop demonstrated that AI is best when used as a collaborative tool. Jason also shared tips on crafting effective prompts for AI language generators and explored various tools, such as AI voiceover software, translation services, and music-making apps.
Creative Worship Design
Wednesday’s sessions delved into creative worship design and building effective worship planning teams. Jason challenged us to think of the screen not as a canvas but as a dynamic tool for enhancing worship. We explored how to identify and nurture a great worship planning team and how to theme sermons and series through the use of metaphors.
During the afternoon, participants worked in teams to start planning a worship series for Lent 2025. Jason will be continuing to work on resources based on ideas that were shared in these sessions, and we will be making this available to all of Cal-Pac later this fall!
Join Us for More Learning Next Week!
If you missed out on this event, don’t worry! We’re hosting a series of online seminars next week where you can dive deeper into the topics of AI and Hospitality.
Monday, August 26, 6-8:30pm PDT (3-5:30pm HST): Both/And Hospitality. Led by Jason Moore, Learn how to extend radical hospitality both online and in-person, create great first impressions, and build lasting relationships within your community.
Register Here: https://calpacumc.formstack.com/forms/bothand2024
Tuesday, August 27, 6-8:30 PDT (3-5:30 HST): Using AI Tools in the Church. Led by Jason Moore. Wondering what A.I. is all about and how it can be used in the church? A little nervous about what is and isn’t legal? Concerned about ethics? Just not sure it’s for you? Those questions and more will be answered in the Using A.I. Tools in the Church seminar.
Register Here: https://calpacumc.formstack.com/forms/usingai2024
