Your Church & TechnologyMatters Arising: Issues Facing The Church & How Technology Can Help

Emmanuel OluwatosinEmail: emmanuel@oluwatos.in; Twitter: @eolutosin; U: www.eolutosin.com

25th February 2016.

Technology enables communication; Technology enables community: Social media is where the

younger generation are interacting. It is the new marketplace; Technology enables discipleship; Technology enables counselling; Technology allows openness: people are able to express

themselves anonymously and therefore freely;

9

Benefits of Technology to Church

SMS and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) An effective & well-designed website (must be mobile-

friendly) Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat etc.) Mobile apps Email newsletters Video announcements and testimony Podcasts

10

Available Technology Platforms

Technology Mobile Is King!

There are now more mobile phone accounts than humans There has never been a technology as wide spread as mobile Mobile Phones are being used by people who can’t even read or

write

Send personalized birthday wishes and important updates to members using SMS text messages; Audio message can also be sent to members;

Send a voice broadcast to keep members included in on important decisions and church initiative;

Empower members with daily words of inspiration and Bible verses via SMS;

Get the word out! Send reminders and updates on church events and meetings using SMS text-messaging or voice broadcasting.

12

Mobile First Means SMS First

Setup your website:. The landing page should be oriented toward non-members rather than members;

Setup online streaming platform and ensure your sermons are available online;  create podcasts featuring weekly audio messages;

Talk about who you are and what you are about;Have contact information and / or ways for visitors to

connect;13

Website is not a luxury: It is a tool!

Make sure service & event times are up to date and easy to find;

Turn your website into an information hub – make it easy for people to find relevant information and keep it updated daily;

Setup live chat facility on your website: this aids real-time and anonymous counselling;

Pastoral blog is also an effective tool to address an issue not in an upcoming sermon & share a devotional thought;

14

Website is not a luxury: It is a tool! (Cont’d)

Get on Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Snapchat are where to start) – if your church does not have presence on the social media platforms, you are missing out; your pastoral staff need to be on the social media platforms also;

Pastors who are not on social media need to repent Integrate your social media into your communication plan and

your accounts with your website (there a lot of social plugins you can use to achieve this);

Your social media platform is an extension of your brand - have a content schedule; 15

You Can No Longer Ignore Social Media

Have a clearly defined goal for each channel and use relevant tools to track them for efficiency;

Engage your audience! Organize weekly tweet chat on key issues; Follow up with personal messages if necessary;

If you can, setup a Facebook group and encourage open communication;

16

You Can No Longer Ignore Social Media

Encourage open communication via the different channels;Run a weekly live chat session on the website;Monitor the different channels for feedback and respond

accordingly; Don’t shy away from controversial topics ; Never leave any feedback / comment unattended to;

Encourage your members to text, tweet and Facebook in church during service; it is a good way to share the gospel with their friends and followers; using same hashtag works perfectly; 17

Getting Your Audience To Open Up!

Establish a technology or communications team; You can start with volunteers but you need a dedicated team for this to work;

Make sure younger leaders are part of your communications team. Note: It is their culture;

Identify all relevant technology media / channels to your ministry and train all your leaders on how to use them;

If technology mobile is king, content is the queen; Religiously follow your content schedule;

Internet! Internet!! Internet!!! Invest in quality internet access; 18

Ready To Take Advantage of Technology?

Questions?

Thank You!

Appendix

Digital Usage Data