When a church incorporates modern tech, such as a website and a mobile giving app, they may be referred to as a tech church.
While it might seem like tech doesn’t have a place in church, the opposite is true. The true purpose should always be about faith, but add in tech elements helps to engage members, especially younger members.
If your church is struggling to grow, maybe it’s time to make a few changes. After all, a tech church is a growing church.
Stay In Contact
Technology helps people stay in contact in ways you couldn’t have imagined 50 years ago. Today, you can call, text, tweet, chat and more. Blogging, social media and texting are three great ways for churches to stay in contact with members and potential members throughout the week. With 70% of church members texting regularly, it’s a great way to send out reminders, send prayers to those who need them and much more.
Think about it this way. Would you be more likely to enjoy a church that only communicates with you on Sundays or a church that reaches out with prayers, motivation and thoughtful messages throughout the week? You’d probably pick the latter. This type of engagement keeps members at your church. It also makes them far more likely to invite others.
Reach Visitors Anywhere
In one survey, nearly half of all churches said Facebook was their most effect outreach method. A tech church grows because it reaches visitors all over the world. Right now, your sermon may only reach a hundred people, but if you post it online (either video, text or audio only), you’re able to reach millions. If only a handful of potential new visitors get to experience your sermon, that’s a handful of visitors who may walk through your doors next week.
Use social media to guide people through troubling times or upload your sermon to your website. Remember, online activity helps spread the word 24/7. It’s a powerful tool for growing a church.
Appeal To Younger Visitors
Younger visitors want a spiritual experience, but with a modern twist. For instance, your younger members and visitors may not even use a traditional Bible. They may prefer to bring in their tablet or smartphone instead. In 2016, the YouVersion Bible App reached a quarter of a billion downloads. This shows just how important a tech church is to members and potential members.
While you shouldn’t go overboard on tech, incorporating smaller things, such as having a mobile way to tithe or using digital presentations during sermons, helps engage your younger members. Keeping them in church is crucial to growing the church.
Have More Engaging Sermons
A tech church might inspire visions of robots welcoming visitors, flashy light shows and everyone glued to a screen. However, it’s not like that. Tech churches add in technology to engage members and make them enjoy church. For instance, a typical Sunday might involve the pastor delivering a sermon and the members dutifully listening.
Now, imagine a different scenario. The pastor preaches as normal, but has a tablet that shows member questions and thoughts throughout the sermon. Members might send in messages on the church’s website, via Twitter or through a dedicated app. Instead of just listening, members are participating. The pastor is able to engage with members in real-time. You could even take it a step further and show each thought on a large screen behind the pastor.
Create A Better Sense Of Community
Finally, a tech church is able to create a better sense of community. Yes, technology does have a bad reputation for driving people apart. After all, how many times have you went out to eat and seen a family glued to their phones versus talking to each other?
However, the right tech strategy helps bring members together. When potential members see this type of community, it draws them in. For instance, someone might see how a churches leaders and members engage with each other on social media or the church website’s forums. For members, it’s a way to easily stay in contact with each other, creating a much stronger community.
Are you ready to become a tech church? Start with your own church website to help grow your church 24/7.
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