Modern Church Ideas

Why should your church invest in a website? Well, it brings in new people, attracts young people and potentially increases giving. It also opens the door to new forms of outreach, expands the scope of outreach, mobilizes Christians for ministry service, involves Christian youth, contributes to better communication and establishes a resource center. The 10th and final reason why your church should invest in a website is because it prepares your church for the future . In the past few decades, we've seen some major advances in technology and inventions built on the internet. Things like social media and mobile apps have come to play an immense role in people’s everyday lives. Websites have become crucial to the life of local businesses and organizations. Still, though, technology continues to advance. The “next big thing” is yet to be determined (or revealed), but it will likely have to do with the internet. It will probably be something that builds on the technology we hav...

This may be a small point, but an important one nonetheless. The ninth reason why your church should invest in a website is because it establishes a resource center . A website is an excellent place to set up resources and information specifically for your church members, but also for other people. Once a website is in place, the next step for your church might be to expand it. You may already have basic visitor information like contact info, service times and mission statement. But there's so much more you can add. Let me give you some details. Your church can store all kinds of helpful material on a website that may otherwise be unavailable to church members. Here are some specific examples of what might be included in this resource center: Membership Directory Your church might have a printed membership directory with the pictures, names and contact info for each member. My church does, and it's really nice to have! But there are a few problems with these printed...

Communication is essential for any group of people working toward a common goal, and churches are no exception. That's the eighth reason why your church should invest in a website: it contributes to better communication . If your church can facilitate communication not just on Sunday morning, but throughout the week, it  creates a broader sense of community . Technology makes midweek communication so much more immediate and effective through social media, texting, etc. But your pastor, secretary or other church members can't be available to communicate round-the-clock. People may want information quickly and at random, unusual times. This is where a church website comes in. As Brady Shearer from Pro Church Tools puts it, “Sure, you and your staff cannot work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week … but your website can.” Here are a few ways that a website can contribute to better communication at your church: The "bulletin board" Your church website can function ...

Yesterday, I mentioned how every Christian is a minister and how a church website really creates a new place to exercise spiritual gifts. (You can read that post here .) Because you'll need different people to run the website, it's a great way to mobilize those in your church for ministry service - it involves people. Specifically, a church website  involves Christian youth . Every Christian has a role to fill in his or her local church. No one is supposed to merely attend or spectate - God has given everyone something specific to do. As it says in 1 Corinthians 12:18, “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose." Every Christian has a role to play, and this includes young people. Unfortunately, many Christians feel like spare parts. They think they don't have any significant contribution to make to the greater church. This problem is especially prominent among teens and Millennials, and I'm sure it's a big contributing factor t...

If your church hasn't already done so, it should invest in a website. Last week, I explained that a website brings in new people, attracts young people, increases giving, creates new forms of outreach and expands the scope of outreach. Today, I'm going to be looking at the next point: a church website mobilizes Christians for ministry service . At first, this might seem like a stretch. But I hope it'll become clear by the end of this post. I think the typical approach that churches have toward creating a website should be reconsidered. Oftentimes a website is simply the pastor's pilot project - it's something he or she started and they're the only one to maintain it. Either that or the church hires a professional to create and manage the website. I'm not necessarily saying that these approaches are wrong or bad - every church is unique with its own unique situation. But are these the best approaches ? Managing a website can be a lot of work (beli...

When your church creates a website, it expands the scope of your church's outreach . That's the fifth reason why your church should invest in a website, building on yesterday's point . Not only does a website create new forms of outreach, but it enables you to reach people you never could have before. You might be a church of 10 people, 100 people or 10,000 people. With a website, though, you can reach out to hundreds, thousands and even millions more. How? Because the internet is an international highway . There's a reason why it's called the "World Wide Web" - people can access the internet from any country. And when your church creates a website, it puts you on this international highway so you can reach anyone in the world. This is an awesome opportunity! It doesn't matter how big your church is - with a website, you can reach beyond your local community and share the gospel around the globe. From whatever part of the U.S. you might be, you...

Churches and local businesses in the U.S. have a lot in common. They both have buildings where people gather and give money. They sometimes have boards and committees and pay people to do certain jobs. They also host events and try to attract people. But the comparison only goes so far. Unlike local businesses, local churches have other purposes and goals - one such goal being outreach . As individual Christians and as a church, we must obey the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. He commanded us in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." This means intentionally and actively looking for ways to tell people about Christ. It also means sharing the good news of Christianity wherever there is an opportunity . A website helps churches be obedient to the Great Commission by creating new forms of outreach. Here are just two new forms of outreach that a church website creates: Blogging Churches are already proclaiming th...

Your church's website can produce many things for your church. We've already seen that it can help to bring in new people  and  attract young people . Another thing it does is potentially increases giving . The primary giving option for most churches requires someone to attend a church service in person and drop an envelope or a check in the offering plate. While this way of giving is still effective, churches should at least look to prioritize other forms of giving. Here's why: It's okay for churches to mainly have people give via checks and cash. But what if someone doesn't have any on hand ? Research shows some interesting facts: 74% of Americans write no more than one check per month.  About 80% carry $50 in cash or less .  Less than 15% of churchgoers say they want giving envelopes available for cash and checks.  The truth is, a lot of people don't normally carry cash or checks. I remember hearing a friend of mine say, "The only time...

This post is part of the series "10 Reasons Why Your Church Should Have a Website." You can read the first post in this series here . And check out other info and posts from this series here . As I mentioned in yesterday's post , a website can help churches by bringing in new people. (If you haven't already, go read that post!) Today we're going to look at a second reason why your church should have a website: it attracts young people . Statistics show that 100% of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 29 use the internet. And what's more, 48% of this age group  uses the internet almost constantly throughout any given day. What does all this mean?  Well, it means that a big portion of the average young person's life is spent online. This is a key connecting point for any church . Your church can attract young people simply by establishing an online presence. Through a website, your church can enter the world of so-called "screenagers...

This post is part of the series "10 Reasons Why Your Church Should Have a Website." You can read the first post in this series here . And check out other info and posts from this series here . A church website can be super beneficial and perhaps even critical to the life of any church. The sad thing is, many churches throughout the U.S. still don't have a website - and so they're missing out. I think it's important for church leaders to realize just what a website can produce and that, " despite the myriad of options available to the modern church ," a website stands out above all other digital platforms (Shearer). One of the biggest things a church website can do is bring in new people . How does it do this? Well, first off, a website can bring visitors into your church by letting them know your church exists. BrightLocal has done a lot of research throughout the years and found that 90% of people search online for local businesses and organiz...

Internet. It has brought extraordinary and unprecedented changes to our culture over the past couple decades. The internet has changed the way people go about everyday lives, how they interact with others, and how they approach businesses and organizations. Just how widespread is internet use in the U.S? Here are some statistics: In early 2000,  52% of adults were online .  By the end of 2019, that number had  topped 90% .  81% of internet users claim to go online on a daily basis , most of whom do so multiple times, as detailed by Figure 1 below.     Data Source:  https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/25/americans-going-online-almost-constantly   To put it simply, Americans use the internet . . . a lot. It's where many of us spend a big portion of our lives. And businesses and organizations have picked up on this, establishing a prominent online presence so that they can meet the people where they're at. Specifi...

Getting together regularly with a group of fellow Christians is so important to following Christ. To not meet with them is to ignore most of what the New Testament tells us to do. My family has understood that, and we’ve always made the extra effort to be in church on Sunday mornings. But – being a family of six – every Sunday morning is a new struggle to get everything ready, get everyone in the van and get to the church on time. I know my family isn’t the only one that deals with this. Amid jobs, hobbies, health issues and sports, attending church can seem like too much of a hassle to bother with. You may have the desire to go, but with everything that needs to get done beforehand, it can be a struggle to get there – without arriving so late that it’s embarrassing. For those of you in that boat, here are 10 tips that families like mine have found helpful for getting to church on Sunday morning.. 1. Adjust your sleeping habits. For some of you, getting adequate sleep might be difficul...