Village Seventh-day Adventist Church YouTube subscribers rose from from around 5,000 to over 32,000 in less than a three-year span. Furthermore, channel analytics show that Village content reaches one or more persons in over 90 different countries.
Village Seventh-day Adventist Church YouTube subscribers rose from around 5,000 to over 32,000 in less than a three-year span. Furthermore, channel analytics show that Village content reaches 1 or more persons in over 90 different countries.
For an individual church in the North American Division to reach this number of subscribers is extremely rare at this point in time. Even when a church is connected to a university or well-known evangelist, having 32,000 subscribers is a very limited attainment. What are some of the keys to this growth?
Steady growth from consistent Bible-based, Christ-centered, preaching sad been growing the channel for several years prior. Furthermore, extreme acceleration occurred during religious liberty events, health presentations, and seminars related to culturally important topics.
One doctrinally hot topic in Christianity is the LGBTQ debate. The Village Church took the approach that Jesus should be at the center of every doctrine, and that individuals personally saved by grace help give some of the most powerful and inspiring testimonies for a God who is present and working in the lives of every type of sinner. The “Jesus and Wholistic Sexuality” event has had well over 200,000 views across the various presentations on YouTube in less than half a year.
The Right Arm Revival health presentations amassed over 100,000 views in about 3 months time. The brief testimonies from various health events (such as the “Immersion Program” and the “Metabolic Mastery Method” classes) are a consistent witness to God’s simple remedies and the power of prayer. Pastor Ron Kelly’s recent series on mental health has also been well received.
However, the largest share of subscriber growth has come from religious liberty programming. According to the official Seventh-day Adventist website: “The principle behind religious freedom, or separation of church and state, is to try, as much as possible, to keep these two realms separate, or else you wind up with the government using force to compel things that should be done only out of love.” (1)
Village SDA Church has received over 600,000 views on the topic of religious liberty on just one of their social media platforms. In addition to current events shared regularly from the pulpit by Pastor Kelly, the church has expanded from holding one religious liberty weekend to holding two weekends annually. Furthermore, inviting guests who are watchmen on the wall has provided a collaborative environment where multiple minds can paint both a broad and deep perspective on present truth.
The importance of standing up for religious liberty is aptly alluded to by Ellen White in the Great Controversy. She wrote:
“The doctrine of religious freedom was termed heresy, and its upholders were hated and proscribed... To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war. Well would it be for the church and the world if the principles that actuated those steadfast souls were revived in the hearts of God's professed people.” (p. 45-46)
The social media growth has been graciously facilitated by the dedicated media volunteers at the Village church. Furthermore, Pastor Michael Kusarawana devotes a portion of his time to ensure that the channel excels in form and function. And, the church supports a media intern, Kutlo Lekwapa, who has helped with much of the uploading, editing, and graphics. Most of the growth online has been organic. However, sharing information on other social sites and advertising through SDA communication platforms has helped.
All glory be to God for anyone listening to Village-produced media. Here is a list of Bible-based principles that anyone can use to help grow their media influence: pay attention to current events (Jesus said “watch”), speak up for those without a voice, provide information that will make people healthier and happier, be a watchman on the wall, feed the sheep, collaborate when possible, and be certain to preach Christ. Perhaps most important to remember is that the Gospel can obtain a greater reach when Christ’s presence is infused into all your media presence.
Robert Rice is the Village Seventh-day Adventist Church Bible worker.
