How do we get a sense of what’s happening with our churches’ collective presence on YouTube? There currently isn’t a one-click YouTube category to find religion & spirituality content like over on Apple Podcasts. That’s why we’ve rounded up the 23 most popular YouTube channels for churches, both in the United States and other countries too, sorted by the number of subscribers.
It can be difficult to meet your congregants and form meaningful connections that foster a sense of community. Tanner found this in his new role as pastor in Colorado. After considering how best to encourage people to meet him and open opportunities for conversation, he set up office hours, welcoming all.
There are still many educators for whom online education represents uncharted territory or a medium for which their skills are “good enough,” and not excellent. Here are a couple reasons to level up the online experience for students with a video-sharing platform.
For all churches, the pursuit of efficiency is high on the list of things to achieve. When churches and Sunday services run efficiently, the church serving experience is far less stressed and everyone is released to be more Kingdom-focused than system-focused. This is why churches must use integrated ministry platforms to aid their tasks.
In past years, many of us have separated how businesses run from how churches run. The church isn’t about making a profit and getting more revenue, but that doesn’t mean there are a lot of things we can learn about operations, efficiency, and even the techniques of onboarding.
Now that there are actual VR churches in existence – ones with real congregations and even baptisms – it’s clear that we do not have to wait for a world where church can be held in the metaverse any longer. In this article, we’ll explore what is making it easier than ever.
Bible software can be a great resource for Bible study, graduate studies, sermon prep, personal devotions, group reading plans, and the list goes on. But with so many different options on the market, it can be hard to know which one is right for you. The following considerations will help.
Drafting your sermon application could be tedious, especially looking for actionable sections of your passage. With the use of Logos Bible Software, you could have these imperative verbs highlighted automatically, making sermon prep easier.
At the rate of 30% of volunteers quitting to serve each year, the church doesn’t want to give willing community members a reason to join that statistic. Using smart software that allows volunteers to easily and quickly sign up for opportunities helps.
Get featured on the Church Tech Today blog when you answer some industry-specific questions about your workstation, your gear, and your church's livestream details.
Lighting consoles are the stuff of dreams when you’re a church lighting director. For Jeremiah Trombley from San Antonio’s CityChurch, he has found a solution in the Hog4 Lighting Rig.
Tyndale offers several editions of the Filament Bible that pair with Filament, an app filled with study tools, devotionals, videos, and interactive content.
How do we get a sense of what’s happening with our churches’ collective presence on YouTube? There currently isn’t a one-click YouTube category to find religion & spirituality content like over on Apple Podcasts. That’s why we’ve rounded up the 23 most popular YouTube channels for churches, both in the United States and other countries too, sorted by the number of subscribers.
It can be difficult to meet your congregants and form meaningful connections that foster a sense of community. Tanner found this in his new role as pastor in Colorado. After considering how best to encourage people to meet him and open opportunities for conversation, he set up office hours, welcoming all.
There are still many educators for whom online education represents uncharted territory or a medium for which their skills are “good enough,” and not excellent. Here are a couple reasons to level up the online experience for students with a video-sharing platform.
For all churches, the pursuit of efficiency is high on the list of things to achieve. When churches and Sunday services run efficiently, the church serving experience is far less stressed and everyone is released to be more Kingdom-focused than system-focused. This is why churches must use integrated ministry platforms to aid their tasks.
In past years, many of us have separated how businesses run from how churches run. The church isn’t about making a profit and getting more revenue, but that doesn’t mean there are a lot of things we can learn about operations, efficiency, and even the techniques of onboarding.
Now that there are actual VR churches in existence – ones with real congregations and even baptisms – it’s clear that we do not have to wait for a world where church can be held in the metaverse any longer. In this article, we’ll explore what is making it easier than ever.
Bible software can be a great resource for Bible study, graduate studies, sermon prep, personal devotions, group reading plans, and the list goes on. But with so many different options on the market, it can be hard to know which one is right for you. The following considerations will help.
Drafting your sermon application could be tedious, especially looking for actionable sections of your passage. With the use of Logos Bible Software, you could have these imperative verbs highlighted automatically, making sermon prep easier.
At the rate of 30% of volunteers quitting to serve each year, the church doesn’t want to give willing community members a reason to join that statistic. Using smart software that allows volunteers to easily and quickly sign up for opportunities helps.
Get featured on the Church Tech Today blog when you answer some industry-specific questions about your workstation, your gear, and your church's livestream details.
Lighting consoles are the stuff of dreams when you’re a church lighting director. For Jeremiah Trombley from San Antonio’s CityChurch, he has found a solution in the Hog4 Lighting Rig.
Tyndale offers several editions of the Filament Bible that pair with Filament, an app filled with study tools, devotionals, videos, and interactive content.
The mobile device industry has touched nearly everyone in ministry in one way or another. Mobile use is now nearly ubiquitous, as well as incredibly diverse and accessible.
So what does mobile look like for folks who work in ministry but do not have pastoral roles? Ministries such as children’s and youth ministry, church communication and marketing, and welcome teams and facilities management face some of the most changes in terms of mobile. With accessible mobile devices and services, what does the future for interactions look like for these ministries?
1) Children’s and Youth Ministry
It’s pretty hard to go many public places and not see kids of all ages on mobile devices. And truly the generational change is happening faster than most perceive. So, what are some of the trends worth paying attention to for children and teen ministries:
Mobile-enabled check-in services for multi-children families, with mobile notifications
Mobile and social networking for bulletin announcements first, paper and general announcements later
Filtered, limited networking in children spaces
2) Church Communication and Marketing
In that same report linked above, we note not just the impact of mobile, but how pervasive it has been across all demographics. In the faith space, mobile marketing and media activities has historically been about repackaging what’s going to other domains (radio, TV, PC, desktop web). The growth of mobile marks the need for a change in that strategy. While mobile only marketing materials may be excessive, the need for mobile friendly content is a must.
Here are some opportunities to see more of going forward:
Collecting and utilizing social media handles or SMS for contacts rather than phone number and email
Utilizing memory cards (in addition or or instead of CD/DVDs) to share media engagements
3) Welcome Teams and Facilities Management
We think of ushers and welcome teams as a high-touch endeavor. Traditionally, there feels to be a good bit of tension between what happens on connected devices, and what happens with touch. Facilities management isn’t just about cleaning, but security, audio/video, and landscaping. So, we should see some continued light-treading here. Nevertheless, there are some opportunities:
Giving and notifications when offsite (using Square, PayPal Here, or other services)
Using a retail model of deployed VIPs, enabled with mobile devices, to record, answer, and direct persons towards on-site opportunities
Adding power stations to common meeting areas, enabling that time to charge devices as also an oasis for fellowship
More efforts to connected devices to control rooms, environments, and resources in specific rooms (such as presentation materials, locks, etc.)
Looking Ahead
Mobile and connected devices are certainly in the corner of being very disruptive to just about every industry. And its clear from just our examples above that the trends and opportunities present might ask us all to reconsider our relationship to one another and the technologies present. Facilities management, local/regional missions, sports, education, and other ministries all have some response to gather as mobile devices, services and their owners investigate what does and doesn’t work.
For the church, the key will always be to keep the technology from encroaching on the abilities of those persons serving. While we can learn from those who might be more attached to those devices, we also have lessons from past media integration efforts that teach us that some items are a distraction before they are an enablement. So far, mobile is proving to be one part distraction, and another part enabler. In ministries, even more than the pastorate, the place for more has to be concentrated on keeping the ministry outcomes forward.
In what areas do you see mobile and connected devices helping your auxiliary ministries continue forward in this age? Do you see any challenges to your ministries because of mobile and connected devices?
Mobile technology enthusiast, entrepreneurial magazine founder, occasional user interface designer, and mentor, Antoine R.J. Wright has participated in developing innovative approaches in web/graphic design, user experience design, and accessibility across mobile and other computing devices for educational, private, and governmental organizations. The primary voice behind Mobile Ministry Magazine (MMM), Antoine is pioneering an approach to understanding mobile devices, social web services, and their resulting effects within faith-based communities.
1 COMMENT
I would add that mobile giving is a huge growth area, making it easier on financial administrators and other non-pastoral officials to manage and grow their churches.
(Disclosure: I work for Givelify, the mobile giving app for nonprofits and places of worship.)
Leadership Network is hosting the Metaverse Summit on May 18, 2022. The online event is available with free registration.
According to event organizer, Jeff...
There are still many educators for whom online education represents uncharted territory or a medium for which their skills are “good enough,” and not excellent. Here are a couple reasons to level up the online experience for students with a video-sharing platform.
How do we get a sense of what’s happening with our churches’ collective presence on YouTube? There currently isn’t a one-click YouTube category to find religion & spirituality content like over on Apple Podcasts. That’s why we’ve rounded up the 23 most popular YouTube channels for churches, both in the United States and other countries too, sorted by the number of subscribers.
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I would add that mobile giving is a huge growth area, making it easier on financial administrators and other non-pastoral officials to manage and grow their churches.
(Disclosure: I work for Givelify, the mobile giving app for nonprofits and places of worship.)