Connection Leads to Community- Finding the right church app

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.

This has led me to believe that if you have only one goal for your church app, it has to be that “connecting point.” A smart church app starts with connection and leads to community.