On Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, the Northeastern Conference (NEC) Executive Committee made conference history by establishing its first virtual church. Members voted The Living Manna First Online Seventh-day Adventist Church and announced that Ivor Myers will serve as pastor. Myers previously pastored the Campbell church in Campbell, California.

Abraham Jules, NEC president, is excited about the new endeavor. “The pandemic has taught all of us some lessons, one of them being that we can have church while we are at home. There are many people who we will be reaching through this virtual congregation that we would not reach otherwise.”

As a virtual church, Living Manna is intended to operate in the same manner as a church with members occupying a physical building, including having church elections and submitting tithes and offerings. “The only difference is [the members] will come from around the world,” says Jules. “They will be indoctrinated in the teachings of the Adventist Church, and we will have elections like any other church — all of the typical auxiliaries will be represented in the virtual church.” Living Manna members will utilize AdventistGiving online to return tithe and give offerings. As a virtual church, Living Manna will also operate seven days a week through varied online programming addressing daily living, finances, mental health, and more.

During the pandemic, as many churches moved services online, Myers changed the way he did things with the online audience tuning into the Campbell church’s weekly services. As he interacted with viewers during his live online presentations, he noticed a significant increase in the reach and size of his online audience. “We were communicating directly with them. We saw their comments come up and responded in real time. That ended up being a real blessing.”

Myers approached Northeastern Conference with the idea of forming a virtual church. “The difference between streaming services online and forming a virtual church is that the people online are not on the outside looking in; they are not just joining a service; they are the service,” explains Myers. “This is a novel concept,” said Jules. “I have learned in my life and my ministry that you must try some new things so you may meet and reach [other] people for Christ.”

Pastoring an online church also allows Myers and his wife, Atonte, to serve from a completely different area of the country. The Myers currently live in Huntsville, Alabama, where their ministry includes serving at Oakwood University. Atonte is a licensed family therapist and will serve as the school’s licensed mental health therapist, and Myers will serve as head dean for the freshman men’s dormitory.

When asked about possible impacts a virtual church may have on members choosing to support a virtual church and not attend their local church, Jules was not worried. “I’m not concerned about people leaving their brick-and-mortar churches to go to a virtual church,” said Jules. “I have always said that if a pastor is scared about losing members to any other congregation, any other preacher, or any other establishment in town, you should lose them. If you are doing what is right and people still leave, it is a free country. You do your best to minister.”

Nicardo Delahaye, NEC associate secretary agreed. “The online church is catering to a different audience. We are going after two different demographics.”

He added, “I don’t think [Living Manna] will be poaching members from our brick-and-mortar churches. If anything, [Myers] may supplement their religious content and religious diet, but I don’t think he will be necessarily detracting from them. I think some of our members in the brick-and-mortar churches appreciate the history of their church, the fellowship, the social structures that connect them to one another. The challenge with the virtual church will be trying to foster the congregation into seeing themselves as a system.”

“Online church isn’t for everybody, but it is for some, and that number of people is pretty big,” said Myers. “There are some people who won’t walk into a church building, but they will watch online. We don’t want to come off as competition or a threat to any church. That’s why our emphasis is not on moving Adventist members into Living Manna but on getting new members who are not already in our churches. Hopefully, we will also help fill other churches.”

— Debra Cuadro is assistant communication director, Atlantic Union Conference; this article originally appeared on the Atlantic Union Gleaner website.