REACHRIGHT Podcast

We live in a world driven by statistics, numbers, and ratings, and churches are no exception; there’s pressure to track and account for many church metrics.

But are you measuring church metrics that actually represent growth and health?

We all know that weekend attendance and giving are vital, but they don’t paint the whole picture. And with the rise of online church, tracking church metrics has become more complicated than ever.

When deciding what numbers to track, we’ve broken it down into four major categories. These metrics follow people’s path from discovering your church for the first time to becoming lifelong disciples. So let’s dive into these four categories of church metrics that matter.

Table of contents

• New Engagements
• New Connections
• Discipleship Steps
• Spiritual Growth

It all starts with reaching new people. There are many people out there who have never set foot in a church or heard the gospel. According to Barna research, one-third of all adults remain “unchurched”.

If we don’t hold ourselves accountable for reaching new people, we have a tendency to become internally focused or rely on transfer growth from other churches or people new to the area.

Online church and digital platforms provide a tremendous opportunity to reach people who may be cautious about attending a church in person. Unfortunately, they can also be more slippery to track from a church metrics standpoint.

Online engagement metrics can be deceiving. If it’s just your staff and key volunteers liking and commenting on all your social media posts, that may look good at first glance but does not mean that you’re reaching new people outside your circle.

Instead, who is actually watching at least 50% of a video, or who is a first-time viewer? How can you make it a point to reach brand new people not affiliated with the church?

Metrics to track new engagements:

Metrics for the next phase involve moving people from watchers or casual attenders to connected church members. This starts with them taking an action step.

If you’re not careful, you can end up tracking the same people cycling through every ministry. Measuring the number of new connections allows you to see if your church is actually growing or just shuffling the same people around.

Metrics to track new connections:

The first step of connection is only the beginning; follow-up is vital.

The goal is for every ministry in your church to be a pathway that leads people closer to Christ. And as they get more involved, you want to make sure they’re connecting with other believers and actively being discipled.

The metrics in this phase should indicate how deeply rooted people are.

It may look like you have lots of people in small groups, but are they the same people attending multiple groups? Or people who sign up for groups but never attend? Attendance shows who is actually engaged.

In this phase, tracking significant life moments via pastoral care and accounting for people truly “doing life together” is key.

Metrics to track discipleship

Once people are connected and planted, do they continue to grow and bear fruit? Or do they shrivel up or become a transplant?

You don’t want that to happen! You want to avoid the plague of the “revolving door” that some churches struggle with. This means you’re not just helping people get involved in activities, but you’re genuinely helping them grow spiritually.

In many churches, people can go from being a first-time guest to a leader in a short period. That’s not always a bad thing. 

But when leaders are fast-tracked and not given room to grow or surrounded with proper support, they can experience burnout or have bad experiences that make them bitter on the church.

Metrics to track spiritual growth in your church

Although giving is a vital metric churches are interested in (for good reason), people usually don’t give their first time visiting a church. Regular giving comes with time.

Consistent volunteering is also a sign of maturity. It shows that people have moved beyond themselves to think about others and understand the importance of serving the church family and greater community.

When you have a solid leadership pipeline process, your church’s total number of leaders is also a sign of health and spiritual growth. (But this has to be more than just giving people the title of leadership.)

Burnout and moral failure among pastors and high-level leaders are unfortunately common. If this can happen at the highest level, we need to ensure mental, emotional, and spiritual health checkpoints are available for everyone in the church.

Although this is more challenging to measure than dollars given or weekend attendance, one option is periodically surveying your congregation or leadership group. Or tracking the number of people completing specific courses or groups related to personal health.

The time for measuring the 3Bs: budget, buildings, and butts in seats is over. Now, we need a more holistic view of church health. The metrics we track signify the values most important to us.

What metrics would you add to this list?

• Five Church Trends You Need To Know For 2022
• 15 Metrics Churches Should Measure in 2020
• 5 Spiritual Challenges All Church Leaders Face
• How To Keep Your Focus On The Spiritual Battle
• Get A Church Website Quote

How do you feel about mass text messaging for churches?

When looking for better ways to communicate with your members, texting appears to be more effective than email.

But do people want to receive mass text message updates from their church?

Well, a lot of it depends on how you as a church handle the privilege of inserting yourself into someone’s messages.

So here are eight essentials on text messaging for churches you need to recognize before pulling the trigger on a texting service.

Table of contents

• First, Do People Want Text Messages?
• But Before You Send that Text…
• 8 Best Practices for Mass Texting Churches
  • 1. Establish a Texting Policy
  • 2. Get Permission
  • 3. First Message Introduction
  • 4. Text During Standard Business Hours
  • 5. Use a Standard Greeting
  • 6. Keep Messages Short and Sweet
  • 7. Use Emojis Sparingly
  • 8. Keep Messages Relevant and Timely

Here are some interesting statistics to consider when it comes to mass texting.

Many sources report that SMS (short messaging service) open rates are as high as 98%. However, according to Statista, only 25% of smartphone users prefer getting business communication via text.

What this comes down to in part is how your members view your church: are you a personal acquaintance or a business organization?

Do they trust you to send appropriate messages, and not continually spam them with unwanted info?

People could change their opinions either way depending on when and how you text them.

It’s highly likely your church is already communicating via text messaging. The three types of text messages your members could already be getting include:

Texting from pastors, staff, and team or group leaders provides a personal touch. These could be follow-ups to weekend conversations or prayer requests.

Although you may want to limit the overall number of texts people receive, you don’t want to discourage people from personal texting which builds relationships and makes people feel cared for indivdually.

But if you decide to start utilizing a mass texting service, recognize how this fits into the big picture of communication strategy and church-related communication people are receiving.

You also need to be aware there are legal bases to cover when it comes to texting.

FCC enacted the TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) to protect consumers from robocalls and telemarketing. The law requires businesses to obtain consent and provide an opt-out. Although non-profits have different regulations, it’s still important to be familiar with the law and follow best practices for both calls and text messages.

Before you start mass texting, establish an internal policy for how it will be used.

The policy has to be based on the user’s end experience – not what the ministry leaders would like to communicate. Have a centralized process and point person for approving the text message schedule, otherwise, people could end up getting ten texts a week.

In addition, determine what kind of information can be shared and how often members can expect to hear from you.

Don’t start blasting out messages without getting permission from your members. Just because they’ve given you their cell phone number when they checked in their kids doesn’t mean they want to receive weekly text blasts from you.

The easiest way to get permission is to include an opt-in box on your sign-up forms or have a message pop up after someone joins your church. You could also send a message to people’s phones after they’ve been attending for a while with the opportunity to opt in or out of messages.

Your first messages should lay the groundwork and cover your bases. The intro message should include

When you get a text, you’re probably familiar with the call to text back “HELP” if you need assistance or “STOP” if you’d like to quit receiving messages. It’s important to include and honor requests to opt out of messages.

The best time to send text messages is during the standard business hours, Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm.

Because text messaging feels more intimate than email, it’s important that you maintain respectful boundaries. They may not choose to read or reply until the evening, but you need to be respectful regardless.

If you have campuses across multiple time zones, you may need to segment your list when utiliziling text messaging for churches and schedule messages accordingly.

Including a standard greeting helps avoid confusion and lets people know it’s really the church sending the message.

A lot of time, messages will come through from a short code or number that’s not in their contacts. Referencing your church in the message will ensure members know who you are and that you’re not a spammer.

People are more likely to read shorter messages, so keep them short and sweet – no more than 160 characters. Brevity is key when it comes to texts. Remember, people get many messages each day.

A couple of well-placed emojis can add personality to your message, but too many will clutter it up. Stick to basic emojis where the intended message or sentiment is clear and won’t cause confusion.

While images and media are great, you don’t want to clutter up people’s phones or increase message delivery costs.

Use mass text messaging for churche...

An online assimilation process is crucial for taking people from passive content consumers to members of your church family.

Churches today are finding new ways of reaching people through social media channels, live services, and video content in order to build a community that transcends geography, culture, and time zones.

Let’s dive into three things your church needs for an online assimilation process, and three things you don’t.

Table of contents

• What is a Church Online Assimilation Process?
• 1. Setting up Systems and Infrastructure for the Online Campus
• 2. Defining Online Church Membership
• 3. Building Your Assimilation Process
  • Sample Online Assimilation Process For a New Member
• 3 Things You DON’T Need for Online Assimilation
  • 1. An Identical Experience to In-Person
  • 2. A Perfectly Polished Production
  • 3. A Cookie-Cutter Experience

In the church context, assimilation is the process of bringing someone from a first-time guest to a fully integrated member of your church community.

An online campus could include people from all over the world or those in your local area who choose to watch online.

You have to figure out how to create strong bonds and relationships through virtual gatherings. In addition, you have to determine what it looks like to disciple someone and help them grow without physical proximity.

There are three major components to church online assimilation.

A key component of assimilation is how you track and communicate with your members throughout the process. While your online campus may not share every detail of a physical campus location, you do need to set up:

• Online campus website landing page
• Designations and groups for online campus members in your CMS or database
• Online forms, classes, and digital resources

Next, you need to define what it means to be a member of the online campus.

Do you define the online campus community as everyone who likes to tune in from time to time and watch a message?

Or do you want them to take specific steps to be considered a member?

You may gather everyone who creates an account, signs up for your newsletter, or tithes online and group them as your online campus and communicate with them through email.

However, most churches agree that membership involves an individual taking proactive steps such as attending a class or joining a group.

As you walk through the steps you want new members to take, most churches map it out as a pipeline or linear process. That may not always be the case, and you can allow flexibility for people to take steps at their own pace and possibly out of order.

Think through a stranger’s journey of discovering and connecting with your church online.

Every step should include a welcome for those completely unfamiliar with churchy language and systems along with a clear next step.

Make sure language and steps are consistent across every platform like social media, web page, and service stream.

1. Initial contact: they find your online church for the first time
2. Fill out a welcome form/create an online account
3. Receive welcome email sequence (digital gift or resource)
4. Receive new believer digital resources and baptism info (if applicable)
5. Invite to join a virtual group
6. Invite to new member class
7. Complete membership agreement and commitment
8. Join a serve team or group (if they haven’t already)
9. Virtual meeting with online pastor or leader
10. Follow Up Checkpoints

Although assimilation is about the front end of people joining your church. You do want to build follow-ups and checkpoints in your process so people don’t fall through the cracks or get forgetten.

While your online campus is part of your church family, it may have some distinct differences. Make sure you don’t get bogged down in unrealistic expectations. Here are three things you don’t need in your online assimilation process:

Watching something online is not the same as experiencing it in person. It’s just not. And the goal isn’t to try and force those experiences to be the same.

Ask yourself what creates the best ONLINE experience and serves the purpose.

Online church should match your church mission, branding, and culture, but ways of delivering information and connecting may be different.

We’re seeing this across the board in the church world and beyond. You can do effective services, group meetings, and even conferences virtually, but you should take a unique approach.

Yes, you do need high-quality content and production for your online experience. However, don’t confuse that with perfection.

Your online church experience should have a personality and feel like it’s made of real people. That means you’ll need to loosen up the reigns a bit and allow for some mistakes.

It actually feels more authentic than watching a perfectly produced show.

Also, you don’t want to wait too long to implement online assimilation strategies and reach people because you’re bogged down in technology, equipment, and resources and perfecting everything before you pull the trigger.

You have to keep the main thing in front of you: treat people as individuals. As the internet evolves, people are looking for customized, personalized experiences.

When we talk “online” and digital, it’s tempting to think everything has to be automated, but you can allow some parts of your online assimilation process to stay loose.

You could send a personalized email or train up an online welcome team to connect individually with new members through text messages or video meetings.

Figure out how to automate the process to make it uncomplicated and avoid human error, but leave room for personal connection.

Won’t an online church campus just result in shallow relationships and fragile connections?

Doesn’t offering an online church option cannibalize your live services and groups?

While we used to hear these concerns about online church campuses, they aren’t so common anymore.

We realize the virtual landscape is changing fast. With the proliferation of social media platforms, dating apps, and the rise of the metaverse, churches need to be aware that an online church campus will become an expectation for many people, if it isn’t already.

An online church campus has to be more than an option for viewing Sunday service in your pajamas. It’s an opportunity to cultivate community and broaden your church’s reach.

So here are seven key tips to create a close-knit online church campus on your website.

Table of contents

• Website
• An Online Campus Pastor
• Online Service Experience
• Inclusive Language & Experience
• Live Chat
• Ministry Connection

It all starts with your website, you have to get this fundamental building block right. Your online church campus should be easy to find on your website. Also, you’ll want the live service watch button front and center.

In addition, the online church campus needs its own landing page. This can be a hub for information that applies specifically to the online campus, like how they can join a group or volunteer virtually.

Ensure your overall website is well-designed and checks the boxes when it comes to:

Having a leader of the online campus makes the experience more personal. People want to have a face and name to identify with.

This doesn’t have to be a full-time position, and could even be a volunteer. Whether you choose an Elder, staff member, or church leader, this person should have some experience in both technology and ministering to people.

Some ways the online campus pastor can connect might be:

Your online church campus service experience won’t be exactly the same as the in-person service. Rather than comparing the two, focus on factors that make for a great online viewing experience.

This may involve an investment in equipment (like lighting, microphones, and cameras), technical training, and a live stream platform.

Church Online is a well-known free platform, or you can check out other live stream options ranging from $15 to $99 a month.

Remember that you can also live stream services for free via Facebook Live and YouTube Live. If you have a church app, that might also include a live stream.

The main benefits of streaming services on multiple platforms are reaching a broader audience (especially if people share the stream) and allowing people to choose their personal preferences.

The main drawback is ensuring the experience is consistent across all platforms when it comes to live chat, links to connect and participate in service elements, and follow-up.

Throughout service, be sure all the speakers are using language that includes both in-room and online audiences.

Looking directly into the camera and calling out the online audience is one aspect of being inclusive.

Another is ensuring that whatever you’re talking about in the room is applicable online:

You need to think through service flow and ensure all interactive elements have links and forms set up from your online streaming platform page.

We’ve learned a lot about online chat since the heyday of the pandemic. Yes, it is essential to have a live chat option before, during, and after service for people to interact.

But one lesson we’ve learned is that the chat can get quiet in the middle of the service, and this should be expected if people are actively engaged and listening.

Wouldn’t it be distracting if people were having a side conversation in the middle of a live service? Or have to interrupt worship so they can drop an emoji? Rather than force chatting throughout the entire service, focus primarily on engaging before and after service.

The live chat is also very useful for dropping links throughout service such as connect cards/forms, online giving, prayer requests, etc.

Church isn’t defined as simply a building or a Sunday service. The Greek word ecclesia in the New Testament and the Hebrew kahal in the Old Testament are both translated as “an assembly.” It’s all about people gathering and connecting.

So, think through how you can encourage your online church campus to:

Even when people are meeting virtually and long-distance, you can still build relationships with regular online meetings and communication. (Just look at the success of online dating platforms; they’re projected to have 501.7 million users by 2026.)

Virtual small groups or Bible studies should be a key feature on your online campus landing page. Groups could meet for sermon discussion immediately following viewing of the weekend service. Or, they could meet throughout the week like in-person small groups.

You can also provide ways for online church members to join volunteer teams. They can serve others in the online church campus, and through outreach in the local community.

Knowing all this, it’s vital to have an assimilation and leadership pipeli...

Elevation Church is one of the most innovative and creative churches in America. They’re known for their cutting-edge technology, fresh worship style, and relevant messages that connect with people. 

If you are a pastor or church leader who wants to learn from the best, then this podcast is for you! 

What Elevation is doing is clearly working, and we’re going to look at eight things to love about the Elevation Church website and app.

Table of contents

• Well Designed and Functional
• Clear Navigation
• Customized Experience
• Personalized Experience
• Fresh, Quality Content
• Accessible Social Media Platforms
• Community
• Pastoral Presence
• In Conclusion
• More on Church Apps and Websites

Both the app and website have a clean and modern design. Websites used to feel like an online brochure or directory listing every possible detail about the church, but most have realized that’s not necessary.

It’s better to give people critical information, hit the high points, and reduce clutter on your website and app.

Elevation includes everything you need to know without feeling overwhelmed by options. That’s quite a feat considering that, at this time, they have 24 campuses plus an online campus!

Both the app and the website primarily focus on one thing: the weekend service experience. 

At the same time, the app and website menus make it easy to find links for kids, youth, worship, giving, groups, and serving.

We’ve seen some church websites with complicated menu structures – you click the “Ministries” button and find a dropdown with 15 different options!

That can be overwhelming for people who are new to the church, but Elevation keeps it simple. Each item in the top menu navigation leads to a landing page with more info.  

The footer also contains a clear outline of website content. If you have a question about a specific topic or ministry, you can easily find it.

When you visit the Elevation Church home page, the first thing you see under the most recent sermon is the option to tailor your experience with one of the following three options:

• New here?
• I’m part of eFam
• I’m already part of a campus community

Offering these customized options does a few things for the visitor:

First, they don’t have to do the work of sorting through all the information on the website to find out what applies to them. The church is filtering that for them.

Second, people feel a sense of belonging as they identify with one of these groups. 

In addition, you can search the app for sermons by topic. When people are going through a difficult time, they can open the app and find a message that speaks to their specific situation.

This may seem similar to the previous point, but Elevation Church does a great job of making you feel like the content is specifically for YOU.

Sometimes, churches can fall into the trap of being insider-focused, and the message sounds more like

• Come to us
• Sign up for our program
• Attend our event

Elevation’s content sends the message that whatever you’re going through, this is a place you can come get encouraged and build you’re faith. 

It feels like the church is there to serve you. 

Even if you aren’t local, encouraging scriptures and messages are displayed prominently and applicable to anyone who visits.

Both website and app are updated weekly with the most recent sermon; you can depend on that.

Elevation has always been willing to get creative with graphics, videos, and media, whether on the app and website or social media. 

Sometimes you try a new approach, and it doesn’t land well. But it’s hard to be innovative unless you’re willing to fail forward and be comfortable with some trial and error.

The website and app are not the “be all end all” of your church’s communication strategy. Elevation makes it easy to connect with social platforms by featuring those prominently.

Social media provides an opportunity to see updates on events and registrations and behind the scenes footage. Rather than try to cram all the information into the website and app, every communication channel has its purpose.

Elevation has done an incredible job of building an online church experience and community, which they call the “e-fam.” Whether you’re attending in-person or online, the website and app show you clear ways to get support and build relationships through live service chat, groups, and volunteer opportunities.

Whether your church is big or small, people want to feel connected to the pastor. And one of the primary reasons people love Elevation Church is because they love Pastor Steven Furtick and his preaching. 

Of course, the same is true for most churches and their senior leader.

So give the people what they want: make it easy to access recent messages and information about the pastor.

Even though Pastor Steven can’t interact personally with every individual that’s part of Elevation, when the first thing you see on the homepage or app is an upfront shot of him speaking directly to you, it helps you feel connected. 

People love that encouragement and want to be connected to a person, not an entity or organization.

We know that creating a great website and app is no easy task. It takes time, effort, and a lot of hard work to get it just right.

It’s true that Elevation Church can commit a significant amount of budget, staff, and resources to their creative efforts, more than most churches. So it’s not necessarily fair to compare your church’s efforts to Elevation.

However, there are some great takeaways and inspiration to glean from Elevation’s app and website!

• How To Build Better Church Website Navigation Menus
• Why You Don’t Need A Custom Church App
• 13 Common Mistakes Churches Make With Mobile Apps
• Top 9 Best Church App Companies To Help You Connect With Your Community

Church planting is hard. 

Time is short, finances are thin, and facilities can be hard to navigate. 

But without a doubt, the biggest challenge for most church planters is building a crowd. 

As you work toward your launch date and beyond, getting new people to connect with your church plant takes a very specific strategy. 

To help, we created this church plant marketing plan. 

While marketing can never replace personal connection and invitation, the right plan can prepare the way for a thriving church plant launch. 

Table of contents

• Get A Logo
• Build A Website
• Set Up Your Socials
• Start Creating Content
• Create A Google Business Profile
• Use the Google Grant
• Run Targeted Facebook Ads
• Invest In Signage
• Buy Some Swag
• Further Reading – Church Plant Marketing Plan

Before you do any other marketing, you need a church logo. 

A good logo is easily identifiable and will help people instantly recognize your church. 

Your logo needs to be first because you will use it on every other marketing piece in this list. 

Skip this step, and your marketing will always feel disjointed. 

Your website is the church plant’s home base. It is the closest thing you have to a building until you officially launch. 

While a church website tells the story of what the church is about, a church plant website is a tool for casting vision. It tells the story of what the church plant can become. 

You must get your church website done right. Your website is one area that you can’t skimp. Everyone will be on your website before they decide to be a part of what God is doing in your church plant. 

Getting your social media dialed in is a crucial part of a church plant in today’s culture. 

You will want to claim your church name on every platform available to you. It doesn’t cost anything, and you don’t have to use all of them. You just want to make sure your name is the same across all platforms if possible. 

Then you will choose the platforms you want to invest your time. We recommend Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube to start.  

Remember that it’s impossible to be engaging on every platform when you are starting. Choose the ones you like best and run with them. 

Content is marketing. Every time you put out a piece of content, whether it be a launch video, a blog post, a scripture graphic, or anything in between, you are getting your name out there. People who see that content will start to recognize it, and it will help make people more familiar with your church. 

Video is a great content format, but don’t overlook the power of writing. 

Your best bet is to figure out what you are best at. If you’re great at design, do graphics. If you are good in front of the camera, do video. Use the way God gifted you and your team to create great content. 

A Google Business Profile is one of the first things people will now see when searching for churches in their area. This profile is what drives results on the Google Map Pack.  

As soon as your church plant lands on a location to start gathering, add that to your profile. Even if your first service is months away. 

The sooner you establish your Google Business Profile, the sooner your church will appear in searches like “Churches Near Me.”

Many church planters aren’t aware of this, but Google gives a grant to nonprofits worth $10,000 every month in free ads.  

You can use this grant for search ads on the Google Ads platform. This means you can claim free money to spend on ads that will pop up when people search for terms relevant to your church.

$10,000 is more than most church plants’ entire monthly budget, so claiming this and using it can be a real score. 

Check out our free tool to see if your church qualifies. 

After taking advantage of the Google Grant, the next place to invest is in Facebook Ads. This platform allows you to target users on Facebook, as well as Instagram and many other Facebook partners. 

The great thing about Facebook ads is that they allow church plants to target very specific types of people. This means that your church doesn’t spend your limited budget on ads to people who are not good candidates for your church because they live too far away or don’t speak your language. 

Signage is an essential part of your launch day marketing. Good signs pointing people to kids, worship, guest, and restrooms are vital. 

It would be best if you also had signs out on the main road. Even if you are only renting your facility for Sunday mornings, seeing a big sign on the road will help everyone who drives by become familiar with your church. 

Finally, church plants need some swag. T-Shirts, Hats, Pens, Coffee Cups, and Tumblers are great ideas. They aren’t cheap, but they will help get your brand out there. 

If they are well designed, coffee cups and tumblers make for a great visitor’s gift as well.  

If people use it, money spent on swag is well spent. 

• When It’s Time To Plant A Church
• 7 Church Planting Considerations
• Top 15 Best Church Logos Of 2021
• How To Write The Ultimate Leader Profile

Going to a church for the first time is scary. 

You don’t know anyone and have no idea what you are getting yourself into. 

For many church leaders, we have been running our church service for so long that it is hard to look at our worship experience with fresh eyes. 

So we came up with seven questions that every church visitor is asking. 

Take some time to consider what visitors to your church may think as they ask these questions on their first Sunday. 

Table of contents

• Are There People Here Like Me?
• Where Are We Supposed To Go?
• How Long Do I Have To Sit Here?
• Who’s In Charge Here?
• What Am I Supposed To Do Next?
• Will They Single Me Out?
• Do I Have To Give?
• More On First Time Church Visitors

Before visitors even shows up, their biggest concern is often how they will fit in at your church. 

We can help them answer that question by using great photography and video on your church website and social media channels. 

People feel like they will fit in when they see people like themselves. If visitors see people who look like them or might be in the same life place, they will feel more like this is a church they can call home. 

Visitors who have never been to your campus before have no idea where they should be going. 

And we can’t just hope they will figure it out. 

It is vital to create signage pointing them to the main service, kids ministry, bathrooms, and visitor areas. 

Even better, a dedicated host who can guide visitors to all of these places is ideal. 

If someone hasn’t been to your church before, they have no idea how long the service will be. 

And that is, without a doubt, one of the things they will be wondering. 

If we want visitors to connect with the worship time and the message, answering that question early in the service is a good idea. 

Make it part of your greeting to tell people how long your service typically will last, and it will help them rest easy. 

Unless they found this information on your website before they attended, visitors do not know who your leaders are. 

It is good to have leaders who take the stage introduce themselves to guests. 

You may worry that it will feel repetitive for your regular attendees, but this will be very helpful for visitors. 

Members who have been at your church for years know when to stand, when to clap, when to sit and what to do when that plate comes by. 

Visitors don’t.

If we want to make sure they feel comfortable, get used to explaining what to do in each part of the service. When we do this, it’s an excellent reminder to members that your church has a culture where visitors are welcome. 

Visitors are terrified of being singled out. While giving them special attention before and after service is fine, we should never make them identify themselves in front of the entire church. 

That is the stuff of visitor nightmares. 

Should we give them a gift? Absolutely, but never ask them to stand, raise their hands, or come up to the front. That’s an excellent way to have most of them never return. 

Most churches do not expect visitors to give. But most visitors feel like they might stick out if they don’t give something. 

Make it clear to visitors that you do not expect a gift from them. As you enter into the offering time, invite your members to give, but tell visitors that they should not feel any obligation whatsoever. 

Do this, and it can take away a lot of visitors’ unease during the giving time. 

• The 4 Keys To Assimilation And Growth Track
• Everything You Need To Know About Church Landing Pages
• How To Get Church Visitors To Return After Easter
• Why Your Site Should Focus On The Visitor And Not The Church
• How to Follow-Up With Visitors After Your Christmas Eve Service

When the average person thinks of a pastor, they often think of leaders of churches that they see on TV or their Instagram feed. 

They see the $1000 sneakers and luxury brand clothing. Many people think that the average pastor is grossly overpaid.

But we know that the average pastor lives a life that couldn’t be any more different.  

We believe most pastors are actually underpaid. And we think most of them ought to get a raise. 

Here are six reasons why. 

Table of contents

• They Can Give More Of Their Time
• Inflation
• The Bible Says We Should
• They Won’t Want To Leave
• Paying More Brings an Expectation of More
• Recruiting Will Improve
• More On Pastoral Compensation

Underpaid pastors are often looking for ways to make ends meet. To do so, they are likely to seek sources of supplemental income. That can mean taking part-time work or working in the gig economy. 

If we find a way to compensate our pastors better, they can invest more time into the church. Their attention won’t be divided.  

While we are 100% in favor of bi-vocational ministry, churches would be wise to help pastors give all of their ministry efforts. 

Inflation across the globe has touched 7% year over year. That means if you don’t give your pastor a raise this year, they are making thousands of dollars less now than they did last year. 

Remember, inflation compounds. Skip raises for several years, and your pastor takes a 50% pay cut! And that assumes that inflation doesn’t go up from here. 

The bible is full of scriptures that teach that we should compensate those who work in the ministry fairly. 

1 Timothy 5:17 tells us: Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

Double honor is due to those who teach. We should find ways to be a blessing to them. Giving them a raise is one way. 

Pastoral transition is hard… And expensive. Because the cost is not something the church pays directly, this cost is often missed unless they hire a staffing service. 

Churches in transition have a hard time growing. They see a decrease in attendance and giving for a season in most cases. 

If we pay our pastors well, the odds of them seeking other positions go down. In the long run, this will save you money. 

We can expect more from our pastoral staff when we invest more in them. 

Now we all understand that first and foremost, they are working for the Lord. In a perfect world, compensation would not play a role in a pastor’s effort. 

But the fact remains that financial incentives are powerful. As Luke 12:48 tells us: “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.”

As churches grow, their staffing needs will grow with it. If your church has a reputation of being a place where pastors are compensated well, it will help you to bring in better church staff. 

In some cases, there may be church leaders that would be a perfect fit for your church, but the numbers don’t make sense. 

Invest more in your pastors now, and finding the right staff in the future will be much easier. 

• 8 Sources Of Pastoral Discouragement
• 7 Church Salary and Compensation Tips For 2021
• How to Figure Out Pastor Compensation
• The Ultimate Church Compensation And Salary Guide
• Planning On Firing Your Pastor?

Just about every week, someone asks us to build them a church app. They are more popular today than they have ever been.

But just because something is popular, doesn’t mean that it’s for everyone.

In fact, we would argue that most churches definitely shouldn’t get a church app.

Here’s why.

Table of contents

• Church Apps Are Inward Focused
• Church Apps Are Rarely Custom
• Church Apps Are Usually Just Additional Platforms
• Church Apps Are Expensive
• Church Apps Aren’t The Best Way To Do Push Notifications
• Church Apps Require Double Data Entry
• Church Apps Are Rarely Used
• Does Your Church Need An App?
• More On Church Apps

Put yourself in the shoes of a visitor. You have never been to the church before. Would you consider downloading that church’s app before you ever walked in the doors?  

No! You probably want to check out the church, and the place you will do that is on the church’s website or maybe their social media accounts.  

An app is designed for people already part of the inside group by its very nature. 

Many church app providers out there claim to offer a custom app. In the vast majority of cases, they are not truly custom.

They may offer the ability to theme your account within the app to reflect your colors better and add your logo. But very few are built from the ground up custom.

A custom app would cost tens of thousands of dollars to be done right. 

A dead giveaway is the time it takes to get your app live

A truly custom app would take months to build, and then the approval process to get into the app stores can take even longer.  

If your app isn’t a $20,000 custom app, in reality, they are just additional platforms where your church has an account. Your members download the generic church app, and then once they have that, they search for your church and see your profile on their platform. 

But chances are, you already have profiles on multiple other platforms. You’re on Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. Your members already have these apps installed on their phones. 

People can get updates, watch media, and be linked out to give through these social platforms. This makes your church app redundant. 

Even when you don’t go the full custom app route, church apps are still expensive. The average app costs $50-$200 per month. That’s on top of any other digital services you may sign up for with the company that provides your app. 

Some companies have changed their pricing model to be more affordable, but they require you to use their online giving platform, and sometimes those have higher than market rate fees. 

Many churches want to use a church app to send push notifications to their members. And this is a function of most church apps.  

But the reality is that most of the other platforms where you have accounts already allow you to send push notifications to your members.  

In Facebook, for instance, users can change their settings so that they receive a push notification every time you update your Facebook page.  

You probably don’t want to notify users of every post you put out, but that option is there if you do. 

One of the most significant issues with church apps is the upkeep and staff they require to be helpful. In most cases, any events you put onto your church app also have to be added to your website. They will also need to be added to your Facebook page.  

The same goes for your sermons. Most people will not watch sermons in-app, but you will still need to take the time each week to make sure they are loaded in. 

Finally, all the data seems to point to the fact that people only use a handful of apps regularly. If you want your church app to be one of them, you better have a plan to make a lot of great content to keep people on there.  

At best, you should expect members to use your app a couple of times per month.  

Facebook and Google have a lot more resources to keep people engaged than your church does, so competing for people’s attention in an app is a unique challenge.  

Take a look at your phone, and I am sure you will find a dozen or more apps that you haven’t used in months.  

These are just some reasons why churches generally don’t need apps. But what do you think? Let us know in the comments below. 

• Why You Don’t Need A Custom Church App
• 13 Common Mistakes Churches Make With Mobile Apps
• Top 9 Best Church App Companies To Help You Connect With Your Community
• Apple’s Impact On Church Apps
• 8 Best Church Apps For Men

One of the questions we get most often is “What’s the difference between SEO, or Local SEO vs. Organic SEO.”

Knowing the difference and focusing on the one that’s right for your organization is vital. 

We will break it all down in this episode and show you which one makes the most sense for you. 

We hope this conversation helps you reach more people and grow. 

Table of contents

• What Is Local SEO?
• What is Organic SEO?
• Key Differences Local SEO vs. Organic SEO
  • Desktop vs. Smartphone
  • Research vs. Decisions
  • Local Vs. National
• Which One Should I Focus On?
• Don’t Ignore Organic
• More on Organic SEO vs. Local SEO

Local SEO is all about ensuring your organization can be found when people search with a local intent.

Usually, that includes searches that include local terms like the city you are in or keywords like “Near Me.”

The goal of local search is for your organization to show up on the Google Map Pack, the three results listed at the top of most search pages. 

The most significant factors in ranking on local searches are the number of other directories pointing to your organization and the number of reviews that you have online.

Organic SEO focuses on getting traffic on your website and targets people searching for terms without any location intent. 

The key ranking factors for this are the keywords on your website, the number, and the quality of other sites linking to your content on any particular topic. 

While results for both organic and local will appear on both smartphones and desktops, there are some differences. 

Organic SEO is equally focused on both devices. 

Local SEO is hyperfocused on smartphone results. If someone is looking for something local, there is a higher likelihood that they are on a mobile device. 

In general, Organic search is more likely to be in the research phase. Local search is more likely to be in the decision phase. For instance, a search for “Best Baseball Bats” Will be someone researching what baseball bat they may want to purchase. A search for “Baseball Stores Near Me.” will be someone who wants might be more ready to buy. 

As the name implies, a local search is looking for information on resources that are local to them. Organic SEO focuses on showing up in search results where the location doesn’t matter. In our Baseball bat analogy, the best bat will be the same in California and Florida. But someone shopping for a bat is looking local. 

Our primary audience, churches, should be focused on Local SEO for the most part. Showing up on a local search in the map pack when people look for churches near them is one of the best ways to see new visitors walk through your doors. 

To do this, it is essential to focus your attention on your Google Business Profile. This plays the part of your web presence on a local search. It will give people pictures from your church, service times, directions, contact info, and a link to your website. 

Many people never click over to the website, so it is vital to make sure your Google Business Profile is dialed in. 

While local should be your priority, you shouldn’t ignore Organic SEO. Helping people, regardless of location, in the research phase of their spiritual journey remains essential. 

Building content around keywords that people search for in their spiritual journey is a great way to build your online reputation. It will also play an indirect role in how you perform in local searches. 

• What Your Church Needs To Know About Google SERPs
• Local SEO Project Details
• The Secrets To Better Local SEO For Churches
• Six Local SEO Tips Your Church Needs To Know