By Jonathan Howe
The use of different technologies in the church should always be seen as tools, not as goals—they are the means, not the end. When we start using a new tool or technology, our goal should be to reach more for Christ, not simply to show off a new toy.
Also, there are a lot of technological innovations churches use that aren’t necessary. Even some on this list would be laughable to our brothers and sisters in house churches around the world. God doesn’t need our technology to get His gospel to the nations. But if and when we have them, we should always steward these technologies well.
Here are six technologies that can help your church as it fulfills its mission of reaching, evangelizing, assimilating, and discipling those in your community.
- Church websites. The inclusion of a church website should not be a surprise. It is the new front door of the church, yet I’m still amazed at how many churches either don’t have a website or fail to keep it maintained.
- Social media involvement. The people you will reach and disciple are online on social media. If your people are on social media, your church should be on social media. It’s a great way to promote and inform members and guests alike..
- Church management software. Most members will never interface with this technology, but it will keep things orderly for those who work in the church. My wife, a children’s minister, is constantly checking addresses, attendance, and involvement in our church’s membership database. She’s able to note attendance patterns and organize events and classes accordingly because she has organized records in the church management software our church uses.
- Online giving. I have yet to hear of a case where a church saw a decline in giving after implementing online giving. There may be an outlier or two, but every church I know of that has added an online giving method has seen an upward bump in giving.
- Computerized check-in. One of the first things my wife did when she started at our current church was to implement computerized check-in for kids and preschoolers. This one small act made a massive difference to members and guests alike. It immediately communicates to parents that the church is serious about safety. And one of the most important factors for guests joining a church is that they feel their children are safe and secure in the kids’ area.
- Digital projection. I list this technology last because it’s the least important. I would give up digital projection in the worship center in favor of any of the previous five technologies. We don’t have to have words on a screen. Bulletins and hymnals can suffice. That being said, digital projection offers numerous advantages in the form of showing announcements, using videos, projecting song lyrics, and much more.
These are the six church technologies that have almost become fundamental to the way we operate in churches in the U.S. They help us reach more people, disciple them better, and prepare them to be sent on mission more effectively. What technologies would you add?
Can you provide recommendations or reviews of specific types of technologies for different size churches? For instance, Church Management Software apps are wide and varied. Some are more conducive to larger churches while others are better scaled for smaller churches.
There are several out there, obviously. Church Community Builder, Fellowship One, ACS, and many more come to mind. We offer one at LifeWay as part of our Twenty28 program.
http://twenty28.co/chms.aspx — is the direct link to that info.
Thanks!
We’re a smaller church (250 or so) and are looking for a good database system that won’t break the bank. We’ve looked at a few, but being a church plant without a ton of financial resources, it’s been difficult to find one that would fit within our budget. Any suggestions?
Again, there are several out there, obviously. Church Community Builder, Fellowship One, ACS, and many more come to mind. We offer one at LifeWay as part of our Twenty28 program.
http://twenty28.co/chms.aspx — is the direct link to that info.
Any recommendations for a good Church Mgmt. Software? I have test driven at least 2 online programs but feel that they are not quite what I am looking for.
Sounds like a broken record here, but there are several out there, obviously. Church Community Builder, Fellowship One, ACS, and many more come to mind. We offer one at LifeWay as part of our Twenty28 program.
http://twenty28.co/chms.aspx — is the direct link to that info.
>Sounds like a broken record here, but there are several out there,
This is where a series of blog posts about the virtues, and vices, of the various church management programs out there would be very useful.
The series can cover everything from pen and pencil using a set of books for church records, through that church managment program that includes a module with built in voice and face recognition integrated with the AV security cameras, supplemented by a child-module that displays a photograph of both the child, and the person who dropped them off that day.
I will add fuel to the fire…like others I am looking for any suggestions or comparisons of church management software. We are a 50-75 sized church that has never had anything but I can certainly see the value as we move forward.
http://twenty28.co/chms.aspx
😉
I would qualify “computerized check-in” DONE WELL. When my family and I visited churches while preparing to plant, nothing frustrated us more than all the various attempts at computerized check-in. (Well, Gospel-less preaching, but that’s another subject…) it was bad enough that we agreed the experience was enough to make us not want to come back. Out of 10 churches maybe 2 got it right, and one of those just used clipboards and pencils (a volunteer would enter the info later).
The last thing a mom with kids needs in a new, unfamiliar environment is a complex system that wowed a techie staff member at a conference six months ago.
Yes, yes, yes. Either offer pre-registration for guests or use paper and pen for the first visit. Makes it smoother for the guest and allows you to be ready for the second visit. Just make sure you get the info in there.
do you even care that many of the older 50+ generation don’t care for or use the tecknology ?the older more faithful generation is being passed over /left out .at our last mid-week prayer meeting 3 women an myself showed up with a young (40) pastor .the teck generation seem to busy to pray ,to busy to really study . they want everything fast ,short,clear, clean and most of all sweet ! you are really trying to give it to them that way but ,it seems that prayer and study are left out , at the expense of numbers,screens,noise and showmanship .
Technology, used biblically and balanced, should enhance and support the mission, the message, and the ministry; not be the main show. Technology should never isolate people. The responsibility rests on the leadership to be judicious in its use.
Respectfully, calling one generation more faithful than another can be taken the wrong way. I would encourage you to continue in intentional outreach and discipleship, fervent prayer, and meditation on God’s Word for wisdom to grow in God’s grace at your church.
>don’t care for or use the technology
Done properly, the only thing that members of the congregation that don’t care for technological changes will notice, is the digital projection.
That most setups are not properly done, is a matter of not knowing how to correctly configure and use the tools.
>it seems that prayer and study are left out
This gets into the appropriate use of appropriate technology.
It takes a certain amount of discipline to shut off the world for an hour or two every day, for prayer, and personal Bible study.
On the flipside, will the congrgation allow the preacher/church staff the time to pray, study the Bible, etc.? (Will all church members honour a preacher’s daily schedule, if 9.00-10.00 every day is blocked out as “personal prayer time”.)
>at the expense of numbers, screens, noise, and showmanship.
This is a combination of good stewardship, and what the focus of the congregation is.
A congregation of 15 has a very different set of needs, and requirements, than a congregation of 5,000.
If the congregation does any sort of outreach, a website. is mandatory. For the Millenials, no website means you don’t exist. For the Silent Generation, no website raises a question about the legitimacy of the organization. At a minimum, the website needs to contain current contact information, including the current address, and where and when the church services are. (I’ve seen more than one church website list an address that was more than five years old. I’ve also seen more than one church website list the address of the church office, but not where the congregation meets.)
For your congregation of 15, OpenLP on a desktop connected to 65 inch TV might be overkill.At an attendence level of around 100, digital projection systems start becoming more cost effective than hymnals, printed church bulletins, and the other things that it replaces. (The printed church bulletin can become a PDF only document distributed by email, ftp, etc.)
Noise is usually is more along the lines of “I don’t like the music/I do like the music”, than actual decibel level. For the church that met at 4:20 PM on Saturday, whose music could be heard a block away, above the noise of the passing freight train, the decibal level is a problem. (If the church elders insist on that decibal level, then find another church — it will contribute to deafness within the congregation.)
Technology has very little to do with the style of music. I can point to church organs whose decibal level, at 100 feet, is higher than sitting in front of the speakers at a Melatica concert.
Most people don’t know how speak, and as such, require various tools to be audible throughout a large room. Unfortunately, it is equally common to not know how to correctly use those tools.
While I have certainly members of the older generations (50+), of which I am a part, who do not approve of technology in worship, I think that tis is more of a fear of change and the unknown than a true dislike of the technology. Many of those who say they displike the use of technology are people who have either not experienced the use of contemporary technology in worship or have seen it done badly somewhere.
A number of years ago, when I first became a pastor, I pastored a small rural church in a farming community. Many, if not most, of my congregation were into their 70’s or above. When I came there I was told that “worship was dead in this church.” At the end of a service the people couldn’t tell you what the scripture was, what the sermon was about, and often times, even what the music was.” So, taking some action similar to a previous pastor that I had a number of years earlier, I decided to shake them up. My goal was to rattle some cages so that I would get their attention. So… I decided to do a contemporary worship service.
We had no praise team, no church musician, no sound system, and no projector. So I brought my own sound system, projector, laptop and used prerecorded music. At the end of the service there was lady who chastised me for using such wild music. Everyone else I talked to was excited and wanted to know if we could do this again. Within the first year of my pastorate at that church a long time member of the congregation died. He was well into his 80’s. His widow made a donation to the church in his honor that was designated specifically to be use to purchase a sound system, projector, laptop, and screen for the church. Once all of that was acquired and installed I held training sessions to teach members of the church to use all of this new technology.
I have also been involved in nursing home ministries for 15 years or so. For several years I preached twice a month at a nursing home in Virginia Beach. When I was first asked to do this I talked with the activities director and told her I would be bringing in a projector and sound system. She was more than a little skeptical about this, but she agreed since I was volunteering my time. I was told by members of the staff and residents that my services quickly became the most popular services with the highest attendance sometimes having as much as twice the attendance of the other service held during the month. Many of the residents couldn’t remember the names of the various pastors or churches that came so they would simply ask, “Is that the guy who brings all of the stuff?” If it was, then they wanted to attend.
Many churches make the mistake of making the technology the focal point. Worship is all about entertainment in those churches. Worship should never be about entertainment, it should be about Jesus/God. On the other hand, I’ve been to many churches where worship is just plain boring! I don’t think worship should be boring either. The use of technology, well done, can enhance the worship experience.
Also, churches with older congregations need to attract some younger members if they want the church to survive. Otherwise, the church literally dies. If technology will help to attract some younger members of the church, then it’s something that should be considered, even if it may not be popular with all of the current members.
As one who utilizes technology as a bi-vocational pastor and owner of an AV company that assist churches in utilizing technology -THANK YOU.
Project Management Software is a technology that Corporate America uses daily but it hasn’t made its way into the majority of churches…. yet. There are alot of good options out there like BaseCamp or Asana, however they are to pricey for most churches and don’t translate well. That’s why we use RocoCPM, it’s a new project management software built for the church and its FREE!! It works really well in complimenting our ChMS because it focuses on increasing communication and efficiency in the staff of the church. Create projects, assign tasks, integrated chat system, budgets, submit POs, record items, vendors and SO MUCH MORE!! Visit live.rococpm.com for more info
Along with a website and social media, I think that online sign ups for events such as specific bible studies and VBS (just to name two) could/should be online (or through email). That way non-church members who may be interested in them will have access to registration also.
Agreed. Websites that allow for easy sign-up for events are extremely helpful. I’ve seen some churches go so far as to only take sign-ups online. Once everyone gets used to it, it works well.