Graphics created by The Sanctuary UMC leadership team.

How do we take key aspects of the church that typically happen on-site everywhere and move them into an online platform? That is the question that the leadership team of The Sanctuary UMC is trying to answer.

The Sanctuary is an online expression of the United Methodist Church that fosters belonging and deep discipleship among participants in our community.

What started as an Oasis congregation, welcoming those who wanted to stay UMC with open arms, is now reaching out to a wider audience.

"We started as an Oasis church, taking in members that wanted to stay United Memphis when the congregation they belonged to disaffiliated. A lot of those people very quickly moved to other United Methodist churches," said Rev. Eric Van Meter, one of the pastors on the leadership team for The Sanctuary. "Our focus now is widening the front door. We started with a private group on Facebook. We did our public launch on September 10."

Each week on Facebook and Instagram, the leadership team of 11 people offers short devotional messages, music and reflection, prayers, and mission challenges. 

"We've been trying to find bite-sized, digestible ways to introduce the gospel into people's lives in the digital sphere," said Pastor Eric. "We are not replicating the traditional Sunday worship service online. We share smaller pieces that have an impact. In a few weeks, we will start some asynchronous small groups." 

Rev. Sandee Prouty Cole will lead a small group on "Discovering Your Prayer Style." The hope is to invite interaction and community among the participants. 

"We want to invite people into a deeper expression of community—a place to ask questions. There will be resources on our website. If folks want to start a group, they can take the resources and do that. If people want to engage online, they can interact online. They can participate or partake," describes Pastor Eric. 

"Grief and the Holidays" is another small group that will be led by Rev. Denise Van Meter. "The Bible in a Year" is another group to launch. 

Teams or groups of the leadership team create content for social media five to six times a week. A studio team creates videos and visuals—memes, worship music videos, cartoon videos, and graphics. A pantry team puts together prayers, devotionals, and invitations to service or the mission field. A tech content team does the work of editing and posting. 

"We are looking for creative ways that have visual appeal to spread the Gospel," shared Pastor Eric. "We have some labyrinth videos for reflection. We are testing out the waters."

This whole project is and will be continually under construction, adapting to the fits and the needs before us at any moment.

"The goal is to keep experimenting. We have yet to figure it out. We offer consistency. We provide consistent quality, frequency, and hospitality. Research tells us growth will happen if we are consistent."

The Sanctuary UMC is inviting people to be in the mission field in unique ways. October is breast cancer awareness month; people are prompted to do something to support breast cancer awareness. 

"We are promoting things around issues or topics like October is breast cancer awareness month. We are promoting that topic for October and trying to get people engaged and connecting with things they can do around them," said Pastor Eric. 

The Sanctuary is still being built. It's designed that way. Pastor Eric keeps his focus on the vision. "Our goal is to make disciples. We are reaching people that have not connected with the traditional church."