We’re so glad you’re ready to partner with Seedbed at your church. In a time where we’re all grappling with how to do church differently, we believe that Seedbed’s rich library of small-group resources with videos will be a huge blessing to your church—both in this time of COVID-19 and long beyond. We have an unprecedented opportunity to respond in this time by focusing our energies on awakening and disciple-making. This is the moment for meaning. If we can pursue the deep meaning of life and faith, the Spirit will lead us in developing models and structure to advance the awakening. Our prayer is that these tools help with that.

All of Seedbed’s video studies have a streaming option, and when you or another member of your staff purchases the digital videos, they’re automatically made available to anyone who is connected to your church in our system here at Seedbed. The more study videos you purchase, the wider the selection you provide for your small group leaders and attendees to choose from in their accounts.

Note: The below serves as helpful guidance for delivering video studies to groups and classes. Click here for help with other small group styles. 

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO

You should first assign a Digital Hub Coordinator (DHC) as a point of contact for your church. The DHC will communicate the process to staff and members, answering questions and helping troubleshoot the church’s implementation of the digital platform. The DHC will also be the primary contact with Seedbed when questions arise.

1. Do some exploring and decide which studies would be great options for your church members this fall. We've made some suggestions here.

2. Purchase the “Digital streaming of video” option from the dropdown selector of any Seedbed video study.

Note: Many churches are choosing to activate the entire collection for approximately $1,700, giving their members access to the full range of Seedbed’s video studies.

3. Complete your order, being sure to identify yourself as Church Staff and selecting your Church Name at checkout. If your church exists in our system, you’ll find it in the church selector. If it doesn’t show up there, create a new listing.

Note: It is critical that only the first person on your staff who makes a purchase will create the Church Name for your account. All subsequent staff and church members will locate and use that Church Name when making church or personal purchases.

4.  After checking out, you’ll find your videos within the “Digital Content” section of your account dashboard.

HERE’S WHAT YOUR LEADERS AND TEACHERS DO

Once you have the videos, the rest just requires some communication with your leaders at the church!

1. Point your small-group leaders to my.seedbed.com. Have them create a personal free account and connect to your existing church listing by finding your Church Name (they shouldn’t set up a new one—new listings won’t be tied to your purchased content!).

2. Once their personal account is created, they’ll see under their Digital Content all the videos your church has purchased. The group leader can decide on any study for which the church has paid.

3. They will locate the study in the Seedbed store and share the link to purchase the study book with their group members. Each member will want to identify themselves as a “layperson” under “church involvement” and find the existing church listing at checkout. The group members will each make their own purchase and Seedbed will immediately ship a book to their home address. Note that all Seedbed printed resources also are available for purchase in PDF, Kindle, and epub formats.

4. When it is time for the group member to view the videos they can access the video through their my.seedbed.com account. They can simply click on the video and view the content.

HERE’S HOW THE GROUPS CAN MEET

By connecting to the church at checkout, each group member will now have access to the study videos as well. This gives the group leader a lot of flexibility.

1.  In-person meetings can occur if feasible. Rather than using a DVD, the group leader can stream the videos for participants from an internet-connected TV or computer in the meeting space.

2.  Zoom meetings are most common and can happen one of two ways.

• First option: The leader can share his or her screen and show the video for participants live during the meeting time. Discussion to follow.

• Second option: The leader can encourage each group member to watch the video at their convenience in advance. (They have the videos in their account—remember?) Then convene the small group time for discussion only.

3.  Private Facebook groups can be formed. The group leader can download and post the weekly video for the group there. Members can watch at their convenience and discussion can be on-going, even outside of weekly meetings.

4. Other popular platforms are also available. Your members can experiment with which platforms work best for them.

Note: Through this approach, small groups can operate collectively or autonomously. You can easily coordinate a church-wide study as a way for the church to remain connected around a common teaching, or simply let each group choose a study that works for them!

COMMON FAQS

How much does Seedbed need to be involved?

You don’t need any special coordination from Seedbed to get started, but we’re always here to help advise and support! Your church’s Digital Hub Coordinator (and others) can reach out to Seedbed’s support staff as necessary.

What if people don’t see the church’s content?

This usually happens when people are connected to an incorrect church OR never connected to a church at all. Your church’s Digital Hub Coordinator can receive these questions and point people to the area of their account (Account Details) where they can change this setting to connect to the correct church listing. This point of contact is welcome to reach out to Seedbed if multiple listings exist in the system for your church and need to be consolidated down to one.

Are there limitations on the use of these videos?

Yes, there are. These videos are being purchased by your church for use internally and by its members only. Under no circumstances can these videos be posted in publicly viewable sites such as YouTube, Vimeo or public Facebook posting, etc. Inappropriate uses are considered copyright infringement. Instead you should direct your group members to create their own personal, free accounts at my.seedbed.com to access the videos as explained above.

Where am I allowed to share these videos?

This is unknown territory we’re all navigating, and the most important thing we can do is encourage and spur one another on during this season. If you have an unconventional idea about how to share Seedbed resources with your group or church, we ask that you reach out to our team who stands ready to help. Send us an email at farmteam@seedbed.com.