Does our
church need a Church app? That’s a question pastors are asking
themselves as this new technology has become the big trend in Christian
circles. However, many church leaders dismiss the concept because they either
have seen a poorly designed app or they fail to understand the real goal behind
a good church app.
Church
apps can do a lot of things significantly more efficiently than websites or
printed paper: Giving, Events, Push
Notifications, Member Directory, Sermons, etc. However, by far, the biggest
benefit provided to a church is not the bells and whistles but something far
more simple: connection.
A few
years ago, our family moved and began visiting churches. My wife and I were primarily concerned with
the children’s ministry, teaching and theology. However, our biggest need,
which we only realized after we started looking, was to connect to people and
get to know them. It turns out we’re not alone. This is often cited as the #1
determining factor when finding a church.
Yet,
believe it or not, most of the churches we visited did this poorly. In some
churches, we were greeted warmly when we arrived. Others, not so much. In the
church we finally settled on, members of the church would walk over to us and
introduce themselves which went a long way towards making us feel welcome.
However, after we chose our church and committed to it, we realized that like
all churches, this one was not perfect either.
Our
church was loving and friendly, but very disorganized. We tried four times to
get involved in a community group at our church, but all four times it was
botched in different ways. We also had a difficult time reaching out since we
were fairly introverted and found it awkward to walk up to people in our church
and randomly strike up a conversation. We got involved in almost everything
that happened at the church but simply felt secluded. We were not making
connections like we had hoped.
Ironically,
in our outside lives of work and play, we were making lots of connections with
people in our new city. And as crazy as it sounds, almost all of our
connections were happening via social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook. Which is when it dawned on us, a church app
is all about connecting.
Today’s
world is different than it was just ten years ago. When you meet someone, most
people go home and connect to them online and then get to know them. As they do
this, when there comes a time for a gathering or get-together, you are now on
the invitation list. The in between are the conversations, updates, and other
things that build this connection. If a church app could figure out a way to
connect their members and start conversations, this will lead to greater unity,
stronger retention, and ultimately church growth.
