When you want to improve church communication, you have to take into consideration the ways in which people communicate today. While printing out a weekly church bulletin and having a guestbook to sign may reach your older parishioners, younger generations are more interested in social media, emails and text messaging. As you work towards increasing new parishioner retention, you have to start reaching out to newcomers through technological means. When you want to get people who visit your church interested in what you have to offer, text messaging is an essential way to make this happen.
Keep Your Parish Updated on Events
When your parish has a busy schedule of events, it's important to keep your church members updated. You can send out a mass text at any time, relaying changes in event start times, or send out emergency alerts for help when the office administrator is out sick. When members sign up to receive texts, you'll be able to reach each person who signs up within minutes.
Send Out Group Reminders
Whether you need to remind members to turn in pledge cards or you have a food drive coming up, sending out a quick reminder is simple through a text messaging program. In addition, when you send out messages to your members, you will create more awareness around the events and activities that are going on in your church on a daily basis.
Use Text Messaging When There's an Emergency
If you need to close the church because of inclement weather or a church member has suddenly been hospitalized, you can send out an emergency message to let your congregation know what is going on. You can set up a message to go out to all members, or to a select group depending on the message you want to send.
Increase Attendance at Church Sponsored Events
When you have a number of events going on at your church, it can be hard for members to remember all of the upcoming activities. You don't want members to miss an event, simply because they forgot about it. To increase attendance at church sponsored events, send out a reminder a week before the event, two days before the event, and the morning of the event.
Improve Visitor Connections with Church Texting
Provide a way for new visitors to your church to sign up to receive text message updates alongside the guest book you have to welcome new guests. Make sure that new visitors are added to your text list, and send out a welcome greeting as soon as possible. You can send out updates on your church, and provide information on ways to join various groups within the church to new members.
Whether you have a large congregation, or are trying to build your congregation, you will benefit from the use of text messaging to reach your members. You can use text messages to increase engagement within your congregation and ultimately increase overall attendance at your church.
