The start of a year has historically been a time for evaluating the old and bringing in the new.
When it comes to making the most of a new year, resolutions are the first thing that comes to mind for many people. At the beginning of 2024, 79% of people vowed to improve their health, 57% sought to build better relationships, and 58% wanted to make better financial decisions.
In keeping with the theme of having a better year, your church has likely already set goals for the coming year. Those goals center around growing your ministry and sharing the Gospel with your community.
As you strive to put strategies and methods in place to reach your goals, you have to make sure your tech stack can handle growth. If your software doesn’t stack up, you may find yourself scrambling to keep up.
1) Website
Your website is the first point of contact, with 80% of visitors viewing it before they set foot on your campus. Having a great website increases your credibility and makes first-time guests feel comfortable with your ministry.
No one wants to spend 10 minutes just trying to figure out what time your service starts or visit 25 different pages looking for the pastor’s email address. An easily navigable site should be a reliable resource for your members and visitors, giving them all of the information they need without taking an excessive amount of time to locate what they’re looking for.
Along the same lines, a website housed on a server that can’t handle the traffic or won’t load will frustrate potential visitors and drive them away before they even arrive.
Take the time at the beginning of this year to look critically at your existing website. If you aren’t sure what you need, invite members of your congregation (especially those newer to your church family) to look at your website and provide feedback on what’s missing or doesn’t work efficiently.
Sometimes, simple updates are sufficient to put you in the best position to connect with guests in the coming year. Other times a complete redesign or even rebuild is needed to get your church where it needs to be online.
2) Children’s Check-In
Children’s check-in tends to be the most stressful point of entry for your church each week. With most guests deciding within the first seven minutes whether they will return to your church, check-in may be the only contact they have with your members aside from exchanging hellos with your greeters.
Parents visiting your church are choosing to leave their children with people they don’t know. They need to see immediately that their children are safe and loved, and having an excellent check-in system in place will show them that.
Evaluate your needs and the messages you want to convey to parents, members, and guests. Then, make sure the tech you’re utilizing for check-in meets those requirements.
Do you require all children to wear name badges with unique security codes that match their guardian tags? Do you have multiple points of entry into your children’s area and need a system that allows for more than one kiosk? Do you need to eliminate congestion at the check-in desk by offering mobile check-in?
The check-in system you already have in place may be sufficient for your current needs while being capable of handling new growth in the coming year. Don’t just assume that it does, though. Look closely at all of the things you need and compare that list with what your current system is capable of and what your budget will allow.
The ability to meet your current needs while simultaneously having the potential to support new growth in the coming year is the ultimate goal of whatever check-in system you use.
3) Audio/Visual
Your services aren’t concerts, and they shouldn’t be treated as such unless you’re actually hosting a special night of worship or other unique event.
That said, your audio and visual equipment should be of good quality and enhance your services without causing distractions. Sound equipment that constantly gives feedback or cuts out is often distracting. Lighting that flashes (especially if it isn’t supposed to) or doesn’t function properly can be physically dangerous.
There is nothing wrong with simple solutions, just as there is nothing wrong with expensive, high-end equipment as long as the heart behind those choices is right.
Quality A/V has the potential to create profound praise and worship experiences, while poor quality gear can be extremely distracting if your equipment isn’t on par or it’s being used in an over-the-top way.
Whatever atmosphere you want to create with your services should be reflected in the equipment you invest in. If your church is more traditional, simple systems may be the best solution, while churches creating more immersive experiences may choose more complicated equipment. Consider the environment you want to build or that you’ve already established, and make sure your equipment choices align.
Your A/V is just as important to your members’ and visitors’ worship experiences as the worship leader and musicians. Growth in the new year doesn’t happen unless people choose to continue coming back, and a quick way to lose attendees is through poor or distracting technology.
4) Livestreaming
Prior to COVID-19, only 22% of churches streamed their entire services. Since the global shutdown, live streaming has become the norm, ensuring that no one is left behind as people who can’t attend in-person services find a way to connect with their local churches.
Whatever reason people have for wanting to attend your services online rather than in person, having a way to access your church can be a game changer for them.
Church growth typically involves increasing the number of people sitting in your seats or involved in your ministries. But counting those who use your online services should be factored into your growth goals and prioritized as you strive to reach those in your community.
If you already incorporate streaming into your worship experience, make sure that the equipment you’re using works well and that your volunteers know how to use it properly. If you’ve never dedicated resources to live streaming or have a minimal streaming presence, consider investing in solid software and training to open new doors for outreach.
5) Church Management Software
Your church management software (ChMS) can be make or break when dealing with large congregations. Having a solid tool like MinistryPlatform is the best way to keep up with all of the people currently involved in the life of your church and quickly see how visitors are connecting.
If you already have a platform in place that works well for you, that’s great! But if you have a system that doesn’t meet your needs, anticipation of new church growth is the perfect motivation to find something that will grow with you.
A system that tracks engagement, volunteers, giving, and other facets of your ministry in one location will allow you to focus on building relationships while saving you time and energy.
Conclusion
Church growth in the new year doesn’t have to be complicated, but having the right technology to back up your efforts makes everything easier. As you look at your goals for the year and the strategies you’re implementing to connect with your community, make sure you’re taking the time to evaluate how your software stacks up.
Technology can be a wonderful tool for furthering the Gospel within your walls and beyond, but faulty or inefficient tools can hinder church growth. Whatever tools you use, make sure you focus on growing the Kingdom, and the Lord will work out the rest!
ACS Technologies
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