Think about the last time you went to purchase something, go to a new restaurant, find a new service, or learn how to do something. What is the one common thread?

You searched online.

Your appearance and engagement in the digital space is critically important to your ministry’s future. The term “online” can include many things—a church’s or company’s website, social media, email campaigns, text campaigns, video communication—and much more.

Yet many churches—especially in the small church space—either overlook this vital part of ministry or relegate it to the back burner. Outdated websites, inconsistent social media, and low engagement actually repel the very people you hope to reach.

That’s why we created The Small Church Guide to Doing Digital Ministry Well.

In this interactive guide, you’ll discover:

• Why digital ministry is critical to your church’s growth… and how to get serious about your strategy.
• Why the message you are sharing now may not be reaching the right people… and how to discover the right words to use.
• Why your digital presence is your new “front lobby” … and can either draw people in or push them away.
• Why a plan to engage and interact with people can make them immediately feel welcome… and spark a curiosity to learn more about you.
• The one thing all digital ministry needs to be effective… and how to make it second nature in all you do.

Digital ministry is more than just live streaming.

It’s more than an occasional social media post.

It’s more than a neglected website.

It should be an important strategic part of your church’s plan for reaching your community, now and in the future.

Grab a copy of The Small Church Guide to Doing Digital Ministry Well today and you’ll discover that digital ministry is ministry enhanced. And church beyond the building might become your new favorite way to “do” church.

You’ve launched your campaign and the pledges of support are flowing in. The congregation is excited. So what do you do when your campaign hits a major snag?

This article outlines strategies for overcoming campaign hurdles and pain points – the most common issues we see impact a launched campaign. What happens if your pastor resigns? If you lose a major donor or financing? If your project costs are spiraling? Learn the steps to take to keep your campaign on track when a crisis hits.

Today we have six generations living in our midst—from the centenarian World War II generation to today’s Gen Z children and teenagers. Each brings a different perspective on the world and their
spiritual lives based upon their own unique experiences of history.

To reach these six generations, your church needs to understand their different perspectives. To help you do that, we’ve created a new free guide, Understanding The 6 Different Generations In The Church Today.

With this new free guide, you can:

• Learn what Millennials are looking for in a church so you can more effectively reach them.
• Get a better understanding of your church’s future through a deep dive into today’s
  youngest generation, Gen Z.
• Discover how midlife Gen Xers’ commitment to family is opening up new ministry
  opportunities for your church.

It can feel like record-high inflation and stock market volatility are good reasons to keep kicking the can of a campaign launch down the road. And it’s true: Many churches and organizations have delayed their capital campaign plans due to the pandemic and now with the challenges of the economy.

But don’t give up yet. These concrete steps will help you assess how to best prepare for and  launch a capital campaign for a much-needed project despite the current economic uncertainties.

One of the most critical – but most overlooked – part of planning a campaign is your communications plan. Launching a campaign without a strategy in place for communications can create confusion at best and often leads to poor results.

This article outlines key steps to developing your campaign case for support, your campaign branding and theme and provides a pre-launch campaign communications checklist for churches. Don’t kick off a campaign without this roadmap.

Don’t Let the Unreached Near You Slip Through the Cracks

Studies show that more and more people around us are not being reached by local churches. In 2019, nearly 3 of 10 people in the United States were not affiliated with any religious group. 

That means your church’s mission field is all around you. Yet it still can be hard to discern how to reach those unreached people in your community.

Our new free guide, Top Ideas to Reach the Unreached in Your Community can help. This new resource provides key insights that can show you how to leverage digital tools like MissionInsite to:

• Define the community you’re trying to reach.
• Learn some of the demographic details of your neighbors.
• Understand the needs and program interests of nearby people.

You can’t love the unreached until you know the unreached. This new guide will show you exactly how to leverage high-quality data about your community to develop an effective outreach strategy.

Terms like recession, bear market, and inflation matter to your ministry—and your community. Those economic conditions mean pain for the people your church serves. Families whose finances were solid a year ago are struggling today. Those who were struggling are now buried in a financial catastrophe.

But your church can help. A downturn in the economy means new ministry opportunities for your congregation. No one-size-fits-all approach will work, though.

Advanced research tools can help you identify the right opportunities. With these tools, you’ll learn more about your community so you know specific ways you can help during economic downturns. Our new FREE guide helps you use this technology to better serve your community.

In How Your Church Can Best Serve Your Community During an Economic Downturn, you’ll discover:

• A clear understanding of what terms like inflation, bear market, and recession mean and why they matter for your church.
• Easy strategies your church can put in place quickly to help struggling neighbors.
•  Step-by-step instructions about how to use MissionInsite to find and serve those in your community most harmed by economic downturns.

Economic downturns leave no neighborhood unscathed. This free guide helps any church leverage innovative research tools to serve their communities.

When a capital campaign isn’t successful, it usually comes back to a handful of common mistakes that organizations make. Not preparing adequately is at the top of the list.

Churches, especially, often rush into and launch a campaign too quickly. It’s understandable, but there are systems and processes to put in place to be sure you don’t miss the mark or kick off a campaign with a goal you can’t achieve.

When we consider how to best prepare our church for a campaign and the key components that help ensure success, we need to specifically look at how we treat our donors and prospects through the fundamentals of acknowledgements. Find the right posture and acknowledgment processes for your donors with these practical tips from a seasoned ministry fundraiser.

Most churches don’t have a comprehensive missions strategy. They may have a few missionaries they support, a budget line item, and maybe even a dusty document filling up a desk drawer somewhere. That is not good enough.

Your church has a holy mission—one that God has uniquely and sufficiently equipped you to fulfill.

Because ACST believes in your church and its potential to make a difference in the world, we’ve created a FREE ebook to help you get started in building your comprehensive missions strategy.

After reading God’s Mandate for The Church: What it Takes to Become a Missions Minded Church Today, you’ll:

• Understand the biblical basis for missions.
• Learn about the good missions accomplishes in the world today.
• Discover five ways your church can join in God’s mission today.

So don’t wait any longer! Get your copy of God’s Mandate for The Church, and start fulfilling God’s mission in the world.

Most of us don’t like to ask people for money. 

But to be faithful to pursue God’s mission in the world, we’ll want to invite others to take part in that mission. Praying for you and giving to your work is an important way others can do that.

To help you with this very important yet stressful work, we’ve developed a free digital guide to raising funds for mission trips. Based on years of experience mobilizing financial partners for mission trips, this new guide will teach you how to:

• Become an expert on the destination of your mission trip so you can better engage others in your work.
• Make a list of people who can support your work through prayer and giving.
• Create compelling support letters that share your mission in a way that gets others involved in your trip.
• Develop a follow-up process that nurtures potential givers as they consider being a part of your mission trip.
• Complete the fundraising circle by sending a thank-you note that helps your givers understand the unique part of your mission they are playing and leaves them ready to join your effort next time.

Asking for funds doesn’t have to be a drag. It’s a great opportunity to help others get more involved in God’s work in your community and around the world.