ministry technology

Technology is changing the way we do everything. In almost every aspect of life now, we have the opportunity to transact online. And it really should be no different when it comes to church giving.  When it comes to church giving, we can’t make the mistake of thinking that people will continue to do things the way they’ve always done them. We can't assume everyone’s going to give in-person on Sunday morning. 

A good online giving platform should increase overall giving to the church. But a major study of the world's non-profit organizations revealed that givers abandon their online gifts at an astonishing rate of 83 percent! That means fewer than 20 percent of those who have an intent to give actually complete their gift. 

Each year, Capterra updates a top 20 software list in a variety of industries. We have been grateful over the years for their attention to this market and find their website very useful in helping churches find the best church management software for their organization. In the past, they have published a "Top 20 Most User-Friendly ChMS infographic" and a "Top 20 Most Affordable ChMS infographic," Capterra is now only updating this one Top 20 Church Management Software list moving forward.

As the church embraces digital solutions for connection, leaders are looking for the platforms and tools that will give them the most for their money. In the realm of social media, Facebook and YouTube reign supreme. However, many leaders have expressed growing frustration with the reach and engagement of Facebook and the difficulty of creating content for YouTube. The best-kept secret of the social media world is Instagram, and church leaders and communicators are starting to wise-up to the power the platform offers.

The main sound system controller at your church goes by many names: soundboard, audio desk, mixing console, mixer, etc. They all refer to the same thing. Selecting the right soundboard for your church might be the biggest audio decision you make. It’s hard to mix good sound without a good soundboard.

Portable church speaker systems have a lot of excellent uses for a ministry and worship team. Some churches are completely portable and need quality sound on the go. A church might need portable sound systems for the youth group or summer camp. And sometimes a small portable speaker is the perfect addition to fill in sound on a large stage or for use during a special event. Portable speaker systems can be configured many different ways. However, not all portable systems are created equal.

With the recent events requiring us to worship from home in many places around the world, church apps are proving themselves highly valuable. Whether you have a church app, or you're looking to get one, how do you encourage digital discipleship through the platform?

Historically, church databases have been systems that require a lot of manual upkeep. In addition to making sure contact records are up-to-date, they also had to keep track of which members were active with their church, and which ones were not. But in a growing church with multiple campuses and a diverse community, having just two category ‘buckets’ doesn’t provide the level of detail a church needs to effectively communicate with its community. And, it goes without saying that manually tracking churches with hundreds or thousands of members is nearly impossible. The good news is, church databases have become much more sophisticated and able to do much of this tracking and sorting automatically.