Celebrating our third year of sharing God’s Word online 

Marketing March 23, 2023

Our Jesus Cares Ministries (JCM) team is always thinking and working on new effective ways to share God’s Word. We had been working on the idea of sharing Worship at the Cross services online for a few years before the idea came to fruition. In November 2019, we had partnered with St. Mark Ministries with the idea of launching it the next year. When planning, we selected Easter 2020 as our launch date.  

Little did we know that the Covid-19 pandemic would be taking place at the same time, meaning more people were spending time at home with in-person worship was declining. 

“Looking back, we understand the pandemic had created less than ideal situations for everyone. We were so grateful that we had this new tool in place. God’s timing was perfect,” explained Pastor Joel Gaertner, National Director of JCM.  

Easter 2023 marks our three-year anniversary of launching live Worship at the Cross online services. Since the beginning, we have shared:  

  • 44 Worship at the Cross online videos. [You can re-watch any of the services whenever you want on your YouTube channel.]
  • Our services average between 400 to 500 views a month.  
  • Between October 2021 to April 2022, we used Facebook and YouTube ads to promote our online content. In that time frame, the JCM YouTube channel had nearly 90,000 views and 2,300 hours of digital content viewed in 30 countries around the world. 

“It’s been a fun ride and it’s not over yet,” said Pastor Gaertner. “We are so happy to see all the neat ways different programs have utilized the services.” 

Here’s a few of those ways:  

  • When the pastor who worked with the JCM program at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Citrus Heights, Calif. was called to a different church, program leaders used the online services to continue meeting each month.  
  • Shepherd Lutheran School, a K-8 school based in Albuquerque, N.W. selected JCM as the receipt of its mission offering for a semester. To provide students with a real-life example, the students watched a streamed service. 

In honor of our anniversary, and the Easter holiday, we are pleased to share our 2023 Easter Worship at the Cross ONLINE service. Pastor Joel Gaertner and Pastor Patrick Feldhus will share “Don’t be afraid.” The video premiere will be at 1 p.m. March 26 on the Jesus Cares Ministries YouTube channel. The service video is shared early to allow JCM programs to watch the service together to celebrate Easter.