church communication

Personal requests for special prayers are not uncommon for churches, but with larger congregations, it can be difficult to reach out and make sure that all members prayer requests are heard. To save you time in tracking down church goers who may be looking for a private prayer, and to make it easier for them to do so, you can employ some modern technology that will help ensure that everyone’s prayers are being met.

The fact is, Christians spend hundreds of hours each year staring at this tiny screen. We use phones to connect and build relationships in ways that were not imaginable 20 years ago. So, shouldn’t the Church jump onboard?

There’s a word that crops up and plagues churches in the media far too often, a word nobody ever wants to hear associated with theirs: scandal. Whether it’s a staff member embezzling funds, a pastor acting inappropriately toward a child, a bad accident, or even just a leadership transition gone awry, these stories come out — and the churches they come out of almost never saw them coming.

I am a huge fan of survival shows on TV. Who doesn't love Running Wild with Bear Grylls, right? One strategy I have noticed when these folks are trying to catch fish in the wild is how they make a spear. We often think of a single pronged harpoon sharpened to a point, ready to stick an unsuspecting fish. However, making a spear with multiple points gives a greater degree of success. With this type of spear the fisherman can cover more area, have more points to stick, and minimize the chances of missing or deflecting off of the target. We can translate this strategy to how we publish video on the web and social media. Cross-platform video deals with utilizing multiple publishing outlets as part of your communication and video strategy.

There's no doubt that mobile is important in the life of the Church. If your church is struggling to know how to communicate well, what to do about the bulletin, or what technology might perhaps be vital in the years to come, it's a fact that mobile devices and communication will be at the forefront.

Getting rid of the printed church bulletin might be not be feasible for a number of different reasons. Although technology aims to replace paper and other technologies, sometimes, well, most of the time, a blend of old and new just might be a good fit.

In talking with multiple churches, we've found some good ideas to help you get moving in the right direction:

Palermo Bible Family Church in California recently began using text messaging to communicate with its church members. We sat down with Daniel Jacobsen of PBFC to understand how his church decided upon using text communication and what the process has been like:

Hey! My name is Rusty and I am old. I know I am old because I read my email. I actually think email is great. You can quickly and easily type full sentences, paragraphs, even use grammer grammar (did I mention spell-check?). But that makes me old because, according to the New York Times, enjoying email is a sign you are old. And that article was written in 2010... so I must be really old.