Text messaging for church sounds like a recipe for disaster. However, when done correctly, your church can change the reason people are glancing at their phones all the time.
When churches embrace the technology their members love, it helps increase engagement and brings your church into the modern era.
The great thing is there are numerous ways to use texting for your church. Implementing even a few may just make your members more excited about interacting with your church.
Text Messaging Is Important
You might already be writing off text messaging for church as a just a fad, but that’s far from the truth. Take a look out at your members. How many are using apps on their phones as their Bible? How many can’t seem to put their phone down during services? Text Magic put together a list of eye-opening statistics that show just how prevalent texting has become, such as:
- 97% of Americans text at least once daily
- 82% of people keep text notifications turned off (great for ensuring they don’t miss messages from your church)
- Americans under 50 prefer texting over other forms of communication
- 5 billion people worldwide have the ability the text as of 2018
- Americans send and receive five times more texts than calls
- 82% of people read text messages within five minutes
With that many people enjoying texting, why not implement it as part of your church’s engagement strategy? It’s easier than you might think and the results are well worth the effort.
1. Improve Church Giving
Every church would love to improve their church giving. Texting is just one of several popular ways to do this. Many online giving companies offer texting as a method for your members to give. You’re given a special number for members (and anyone else who wants to) to donate to. It’s a quick and easy way for people to give whenever and wherever.
2. Remind About Important Events
How many times have members forgotten to come to special events or meetings? Make sure they don’t forget by texting them a day in advance or even that morning. Everyone loves a friendly reminder. You can even use text messaging for church to let members know about cancellations or schedule changes.
3. Ask For Feedback
It might seem scary to ask for feedback, but your church needs it. Encourage members to text feedback to a set number. This might include feedback on sermons, church leadership, problems with other members, requests for new programs and more. Use the feedback to improve your church.
4. Get Real-Time Interactions
Make your services far more interactive with real-time text messaging. Ask questions during your sermon and get responses in seconds. This is ideal for polls or to see if anyone has any questions. You might even ask for prayer requests and add them to a digital board behind the pastor as they come in.
5. Offer Daily Devotionals
Text messaging for church is often used as a way to uplift members. Offer your members daily devotionals. You may want to create multiple text lists to send out more custom devotionals to different demographics, such as women, men, parents, kids and seniors. Don’t forget to put details on your church’s website to allow non-members to sign up for text message devotionals.
6. Send Uplifting Prayers
Go a step beyond devotionals to offer uplifting prayers to those who need them. Provide a number for people to requests prayers. You may even create a special group that handles all the prayer requests. Everyone loves being able to send and receive prayers.
7. Stay In Touch With Volunteers
Your volunteers have quite a few obligations, so it’s easy for them to forget a meeting or to bring a supply. Stay in touch with your volunteers via texting. Remind them of what they need to do the next day. Update them on any changes. Let them stay in contact with each other to ask questions.
Use your church’s website to ensure everyone knows how to take advantage of texting messaging for church? Don’t have a website? Contact us today to get started.
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