How to Host An Online Group

Starting Your
Online Community

An online group is an excellent tool to help people connect when an in-person group is not feasible. You can encourage each other's faith, share authentically, and watch God work in ways you may not have thought possible.

The first couple of times you conduct an online meeting, it may have some hiccups – but don’t worry, you’ll get it in no time.

This page is a resource to help you choose what platform to use for your online meeting, how to conduct a meeting, and some tips to make it a powerful experience.

If you have questions, contact us HERE.

Helpful Tips

Online meetings have their own code of conduct and way of doing things.

But no stress! We’ve got you covered. Check out this guide for all the details you need to know.

Download the Guide

Tech to Use

Phew, there’s a lot to choose from! That’s why we broke it down for you, to make it as easy as possible to get started.

Frequently Asked Questions

GOOGLE HANGOUTS

Pros: Free. Unlimited time. Closed Captioning. Accessible via web browser on a computer.

Capacity: 25 Participants/Devices

How to use:

Open Google Hangouts in web browser or mobile app (apple device, android device, chrome web browser extension)
Login
Click “Video Call” button
Click “Invite People” and type in their email address
You can also schedule a meeting on your Google calendar and send an invite to join you at a specific time, including a link to your online meeting. (See Instructions)
Watch this 6-minute YouTube tutorial

ZOOM

Pros: Free. Only hosts are required to have a Zoom account. There is a phone-in option.

Cons: Limited to 40 minutes unless you have a paid account ($14.99/mo). Have to download the Zoom application to your phone or computer.

Capacity: 100 participants/Devices

How To Use:

Open Zoom in a web browser or mobile app (apple device, android device, chrome web browser extension)
Login
Click “Host a meeting with video on”
Click “Invite participants”
Select how you’d like to send an invite:
Default Email, Gmail, Yahoo to send email invite
or “copy URL”, “Copy Invitation” to copy a link and send it via a text message, email, Facebook message, etc.
You can also schedule a meeting on the Zoom website and send an invite to join you at a specific time, including a link to your online meeting. (See Instructions)
Watch t utorial videos in the Zoom video library.

FACEBOOK MESSENGER GROUPS

Pros: Free. Accessible via web browser on a computer. Can access it without a Facebook account. (If you don’t have a Facebook account you’ll need to download the app to your phone and use your phone number.)

Cons: Phone-in option not available.

Capacity (50 participants/Devices: 6 video, 44 audio)

How To Use:

Open Facebook Messenger on a web browser or mobile app
Login (with a Facebook account or phone number)
Click the “New Message” button to add Facebook friends to the group chat (see image below)
After adding contacts, click the “Video Call” button to start video chat. (see image below)
Watch this 2-minute tutorial.

FREECONFERENCE CALL.COM

Is your group not as tech-savvy? Don’t have the technology to do a video chat?

This website offers a free conference call option to phone in. Most likely, tt will be a long-distance number.

How to use: