How to Host a Successful Hybrid Congregational Meeting on Zoom and in Person

How to Host a Successful Hybrid Congregational Meeting on Zoom and In-Person

As congregations are moving into annual meeting season with covid restrictions still in place, many congregations have recently switched to hybrid worship services combining live, in-person worship with live-streaming, and now they’re wondering if they can do the same with their annual meeting.

United Church of Canada Context

Our congregation (St. James United Church in Waterdown, Ontario, Canada) just finished a successful hybrid congregational meeting using Zoom. The following practices/learnings/tips are based on our recent successful experience using Zoom — either what we did or would do differently next time. The same principals and processes can be applied to Microsoft Teams, but the mechanics of how may be slightly different. I will not be addressing how to stream your congregational meeting to YouTube or social media as we did not do so for privacy/confidentiality reasons.

Ahead of the Meeting

1. Notification – Publish the meeting link and instructions ahead of time for the congregation (by email or other means.) I recommend Including a request that congregational members either log in under a screen name that matches their name on the congregational list or be prepared to be questioned by the Zoom Co-Host to verify their identity.
2. Duties/Roles – Divide meeting responsibilities among as many people as possible. The more you spread out and share responsibilities, and the more people you have doing smaller/simpler jobs, the smoother the meeting will go. Fewer people covering multiple responsibilities leads to a higher chance of something going wrong. Suggested roles include:
   1. Meeting Chair (in person) – This person should not have any tech responsibilities or any other responsibilities other than hosting the meeting.
   2. Meeting Secretary (in person) – This person should not have any tech responsibilities or any other responsibilities other than recording the minutes.
   3. Stream Manager – This person manages the cameras and stream feed. Their computer can log into the Zoom meeting as a regular participant. Then the Zoom Host can highlight this participant anytime the online attendees need to see what’s happening in the live room. This person should not be doing double-duty as the Zoom host.
   4. House Media Manager – This person manages the PowerPoint (or ProPresenter, EasyWorship or whatever presentation software you’re using) to control what’s on the screen in the live meeting. You may wish this feed to be sent to the stream and have online attendees view the slides through the stream feed, or you may choose to have the Zoom Host have a second copy of the slide deck and manage the online media separately from the in-house media. Try both methods and see which works better for you situation. In a smaller congregation, or if the slide deck is simple, then this position may be combined with one of the other positions.
   5. House Sound Engineer – This person manages the sound levels in the sanctuary. As you’re likely dealing with fewer microphones than during a regular worship service then in a smaller congregation this position may be combined with one of the other positions.
   6. Zoom Host – This person manages the Zoom meeting. They will need headphones to be able to ensure that online attendees are hearing everything from the live room. This person will manage Zoom voting and watches for, and manages, questions/input from online participants. If you are not running the Zoom audio/video through the house then this person may have a microphone and repeat aloud any online questions/comments so in-person attendees can hear them. This person may choose to manage the online media presentation separately from the in-house media. This person manages muting/unmuting online attendees as needed. This position should not be combined with any other position.
   7. Zoom Co-Host – It is strongly recommended to have a Zoom Co-Host and not require one person to manage the entire meeting. This person manages screening and admitting people from the waiting room to the Zoom meeting. They are responsible for verifying the identity of every online participant. It is recommended that online participants be told ahead of time that they should log in under their real name (including first and last names) as their name appears in the congregational directory. The Zoom Co-Host should change any non-matchings screen names to match the congregational list so everybody knows who is who. (i.e. If Bob Smith logs in as “Amoli’s iPad” and doesn’t know how to change that, then the Co-Host can change Bob’s screen name to “Bob Smith” so that everyone knows who Bob is.) If couples log in together it is recommended to change their screen name to include both of their names. The Co-Host is also responsible for monitoring for “Zoom Bombing” and booting any trouble-makers. In a very small congregation this position may be combined with the Zoom host, but that’s discouraged.
   8. Knowledgeable Person (Optional) – It is recommended to have a person who knows the members of the congregation well and have that person sit with the Zoom Co-Host to assist with matching incoming online attendees with the congregational list. This can help avoid embarrassing moments and it means that the Co-Host can be a techy person and doesn’t have to be someone who knows everybody. And, vice versa.
3. Rehearsal – Schedule a tech rehearsal several days ahead of time to conduct a practice meeting and work out any bugs before you go live.
   1. You may wish to run the Zoom feed to the sanctuary screen so that live attendees can see online attendees.
   2. You may wish to run the Zoom sound through the house PA system so that live attendees can hear online attendees when they speak. This can cause feedback in the house and requires a sound technician knowledgeable in managing the potential for feedback.
   3. A simpler method is to give the Zoom Host headphones and a microphone and have the Zoom Host repeat aloud any questions/comments from the online attendees so everyone in the house can hear them. An even simpler method is to have online attendees submit questions/comments in the Zoom chat and have the Zoom Host read those aloud.
   4. Make these decisions ahead of time and test them in the rehearsal.
4. Presentations – Have any slide decks prepared and submitted ahead of time. Consult with your tech team as to how far ahead they need to receive them. Preferably before the rehearsal.

During the Meeting

1. Break – Plan to have a significant break between the end of the worship service and the start of the Zoom meeting to allow enough time for all the tech people and their laptops to get set up, tested and ready to go without feeling rushed. Rushing can lead to problems. 15 minutes was not a long enough break for us.
2. At the beginning of the meeting:
   1. Explain to everyone that the hybrid nature of the meeting will mean that votes take longer to count.
   2. Explain how online comments/questions will be handled. (Raised hands on camera, with the “Raise Hand’ button, or both.)
   3. Explain to online participants how to vote (see above re: raised hands)
   4. Conduct a practice vote so online attendees are comfortable with the process.
3. Chairing – Give permission for the Zoom Host to be able to interrupt the Meeting Chairperson if necessary. Explain this to everyone.

Pro-tip:

If you have any controversial items on your agenda, encourage people to submit their questions in writing ahead of time to allow presenters the chance to prepare responses and not be blind-sided.

I hope this is helpful. Please feel free to comment below with any additional tips.

Ryk

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