Are you building a stationary bike or a Peloton?

Are you building a stationary bike or a Peloton?

According to a Pew Research Center August 2020 survey, “one-third of U.S. adults had watched religious services online or on television in the past month, and a little over half of them – or 18% of all adults – say they began doing this for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic.”

Regardless of its flaws, church online has served our congregants and broadened the reach of the church to people who could not or would not attend an in-person gathering prior to Covid-19.
The challenge church online leaders face now is retention.

Let’s look at Peloton as an example.

Peloton is no ordinary stationary bike that sits in the corner of your bedroom, doubling as a coat rack. Instead, it has a 3.1 million-member phenomenon (CNBC, 2020). How did they do it?
Exceptional Equipment ✅
Convenience ✅
Motivating Instructors ✅
Supportive and Competitive Community ✅
What is the secret sauce?

The founders of Peloton will tell you it is their instructors. And Peloton instructors will tell you, it is their community. Take instruct0r Robin Arzon who recognizes the power of what online community can be: “We’ve built a socially engaging platform…So whether you’re getting a shout out on your first run…there’s an intimacy there that doesn’t exist most place, certainly not in a space you are interacting digitally…That’s really powerful stuff” (UpStart, 2019). Without this “real powerful stuff”, Peloton would just be an expensive stationary bike.
The idea of connecting to a supportive community is one of the biggest advantages Peloton has over other bike manufactories. The “leaderboard” that displays who is riding is more than a competitive tool. If you are part of the Peloton community, you will hear stories of friendships build and goals achieved.
Peloton’s Instagram account – @onepeloton bio reads, inspire, empower, unite. Together we go far. It is a place for members to post pictures and accomplishments.

If you are asking how this is relevant to doing church online, let me tell you.

Peloton shows us how transformation can happen through online community.

Most churches, (with a great amount of effort, time, and money) are now streaming services to a social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram… This is great for advertising your church but falls short of how the church was designed to function. Our online churches are largely like stationary bikes waiting for someone to hop on; instead of socially engaging communities. We are missing the real opportunity social media gives us – the opportunity to invite people to know Jesus, build a community, and disciple daily.
Our job as Christian leaders is to be personal trainers of the faith, not engineers of programs and fancy video streams.

Challenge yourself with this question today: Are you spending all your time building the bike, or are you spending your time building people.

To move forward, we must build the church on people, not programs.

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