Online Host Hub

1. Contact our support team at  as soon as you notice the outage. Please include your campus name and any specific details that will help us address the problem.
2. For Facebook-specific Outages
   • If you are staff, post the following message to your Facebook page and "pin" it, as well as in-broadcast comments (where applicable):
     
     "We're currently experiencing technical difficulties with our Facebook live stream for the [INSERT SERVICE TIME] service. In the meantime, you can watch online at [INSERT CAMPUS LINK] Our Technology team is working to restore the feed as quickly as possible – thanks so much for your patience!".
     
     
   • If you are a volunteer host, someone from our staff team will post this for you.
3. For platform-wide outages:
   • If you are staff, post the following message to your Facebook page and "pin" it, as well as in-broadcast comments (where applicable):
     
     "We're currently experiencing technical difficulties with our live stream for the [INSERT SERVICE TIME] service. Our Technology team is working to restore the feed as quickly as possible – thanks so much for your patience!"
     
     
   • If you are a volunteer host, someone from our staff team will post this for you.
4. Someone from our support team will notify you that service has been restored via e-mail or Google Chat. 
5. When service is restored, it may appear as a separate broadcast. 

If a stream outage occurs mid-service:

1. Contact our support team at  or Google Chat (for staff) as soon as you notice the outage. Please include your campus name and any specific details that will help us address the problem.
2. Notify people of the outage in the live chat with this message:
    
   • "We're currently experiencing technical difficulties with our live stream. Our Technology team is working to restore the feed as quickly as possible – thanks so much for your patience!"
     
     
3. While you're waiting for service to be restored, engage people in conversation! You never know what ministry opportunities might pop up in this space.
4. Someone from our technology team will notify you that service has been restored via e-mail or Google Chat. 
5. Let everyone know that service is restored in the live chat with the following message:
   
   • The live stream is back and we are excited to continue the service! If you're having trouble seeing it, try refreshing your page and clicking the "play" button. Thanks so much for your patience!

If Church Online fails to launch a service:

This happens very rarely. Due to the inability to chat, you won't be able to notify users here, however, these types of outages are typically resolved in a matter of minutes.

1. Contact our support team at  or Google Chat (for staff) as soon as you notice the outage. Please include your campus name and any specific details that will help us address the problem.
2. Our team will address the outage as quickly as possible, and notify you via e-mail or Google Chat.

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Find Your Online Campus

Bellingham Blaine

Downtown Ferndale

Sudden Valley

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Quicklinks:

Connect: http://connect.ctk.church

Give: http://give.ctk.church

Request Prayer: http://prayer.ctk.church

Watch Live: http://live.ctk.church

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Goals of Online Hosting

• Help people feel welcomed and acknowledged
• Identify new attendees and encourage next steps 
• Cultivate engagement through comments, reactions, and links to relevant resources 
• Diffuse disruptive or hostile interactions
• Answer questions as appropriate 
• Moderate discussion

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RESPONDING TO SENSITIVE QUESTIONS:

In an attempt to limit the amount of divisive online conversations, we ask that you refrain from public conversations regarding:

• Race
• Gender
• Politics
• Theological positions
• Current Events
• Requests for financial assistance

While we do not assume negative intent on behalf of the person asking questions, we want to respond as accurately as possible and believe this is best accomplished through a private medium. We know that many questions will require a more in-depth response and pastoral follow-up. 

As a representative of CTK, we encourage you to:

• Delete or hide the original comment/question.
• Send a private message politely indicating that you've removed their comment:
  • Hi [NAME], we're glad you joined us today! I wanted to let you know that we've removed your [comment/post/chat], to minimize distraction and keep our focus on today's service. Your [feedback/question/comment] is meaningful to us, though – we'd love to follow up with you about this in a more personal, private conversation. What's the best way for someone to follow up with you? 
• Invite further conversation with a pastor, when possible.

General Engagement Tips

• Be yourself – reflect what you’re thinking or feeling, but don’t dominate the experience. 
• Feel free to use humor, but use it sparingly
• Don’t let one person dominate the conversation – message individually to encourage them to leave space for others to engage
• Understand that those most likely to engage are usually younger and/or tech-savvy. 
• It’s OK if people choose not to engage. Be careful not to take it personally or comment about the lack of engagement. 
• If you need help with handling a specific situation, reach out and call a pastor.

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Service Segments 

Pre-service

• “Welcome, everyone. My name is _____ and I’ll be your online host today.”
•  Welcome _________, so glad you’re here!”
• “Where’s everyone joining us from today?”
• “Is anyone joining us today for the first time? 
• “Looking forward to worshiping with all of you…”
• “What are you hoping to experience today? What are you looking forward to today?”

Worship

• Acknowledge and thank the worship team members
• Encourage people to engage, turn up the volume, and change their posture to whatever is most comfortable for them to worship
• Provide relevant scripture/feedback where appropriate

Announcements & Message

• Post relevant links as they are mentioned on screen
  (give.ctk.church, prayer.ctk.church, etc.)
• Reiterate encouraging or meaningful points from the sermon
  Be yourself, but be careful not to distract people from the experience
• For general positive comments, encourage commenter to be specific:
  • Them: Love that, [Pastor]! 
    Host: What stuck out to you about what [Pastor] said?

Post-service

• Thank people for joining worship
• Stick around for at least 5 minutes to answer questions or elicit feedback

Ask questions like...

• What stood out to you in today’s message?
• What was your favorite worship song today?
• What did you hear or sense God saying to you today?
• What’s one practical next step you want to take?
• If you have any prayer requests please to go to prayer.ctk.church

Church Online Platform Specifics

• “If you see a triangle play button, go ahead and click that now to start the stream!”
• "Having trouble accessing the live stream? Try refreshing your page."
• Use the “Moments” buttons to post pre-set links (Prayer, Giving, Connect, Invite, Etc.
• If multiple hosts are logged in, you can chat between yourselves in Host Chat window
• For sensitive conversations, use private chat or encourage email

Facebook

• URLs need to start with www. or https:// to be clickable
• Facebook commenting allows replies directly to a specific comment/user, but everyone sees your reply
• For sensitive conversations, message the user individually or encourage them to contact us outside of the comments area (Messenger, email, etc.)