The last few months I've been making my way through the top 10 ways churches use Registrations for events, forms, and more.  If you are a part of a church, you know well the purpose of potlucks and meal trains.

Potlucks are an incredible time for people to gather and fellowship around food.  Rather than hiring a caterer, potlucks share responsibility for bringing the meal.  They are a great time to try different family favorites and just have fun!

As you may know Churchteams started out as a small group software.  We grew because of the innovative ways we developed to help churches connect people to groups, group leaders communicate, and staff to coach and care for groups.

The highlight release in 2024 was our new User Interface.  The goal was to set the stage for the future of Churchteams with that upgrade.  

We want you to know that we care about you and your church.  That means that we listen to your needs, and, because we've been there, we feel what you feel.  That's where it starts. 

We've still got a ways to go on the upgrades, but we're on our way.  And, we want to make sure you come along.  

What happens at your church when a pastor or other leader requests a report they need for something they are working on (like one of the ones listed in the image below)?   Does it require an admin to build and run the report; then email, or even print it? 

This takes admin time, sure.  But, the bigger issue is that the leader often wants the information on that report for something they are thinking about at that moment, and by the time the report arrives they have left that project and moved on to something else.  

Here's the point:  when it comes to reports, timing often matters.

This has been an incredible year for Churchteams.  As we bring it to a close, our team would like to say thank you for your friendship, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

What made it so incredible?  First, a living, breathing relationship with Jesus.  Second, kind, generous relationships with so many of you.  We have the best clients and friends in the world.  Third, a staff team committed to Christ, you, and each other.

Most of you are in the middle of Christmas preparations, but I know there are some of you already thinking about sending contribution statements in January.  Your concern about making sure everything is lined up right is what makes you so valuable to your church's leadership environment.  

I know this because there are members of our Churchteams staff that have the same gifts and calling.  I've seen them thrive in preparing services and resources to help our churches succeed with excellence on detailed processes like managing data and sending out contribution statements.

The advent season is upon us which, for church finances, means end of year giving is here, and sending statements season is a month away.  These are important parts of a church stewardship development plan.

Asking people to make a pledge or giving commitment is another, common practice for many churches going in to a new calendar or fiscal year.  There are several benefits to this practice:

From my experience, if a person memorizes around 200 of the Bible verses that are most important to them and that they hear the most in sermons and elsewhere, they have a really good grasp on scripture and are able to use it in any situation throughout the day, every day.  One of these is a familiar verse that you likely already know - Philippians 4:6-7.  

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus."

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with people to care for, groups to check on, or reports to review?  These are all important aspects of church staff and pastoral ministry. 

Six weeks ago we released our New Look, User Interface.   Thank you for all the kind responses and encouraging words about it.  We share that excitement.

Some of the upgrades below are on our classic pages, but upgrades on pages that have already been upgraded will ONLY be available in the new User Interface.  I.e., we won't be upgrading classic pages that have already been upgraded to the new UI.  This is a great reason for your pastors and staff to Opt-in to the New Look if they haven't already.

So far in this series we've looked at using registrations (forms) for Connection Cards, New Members Class, and Membership Commitment.   Most churches expect fully engaged members to be part of a small group where they belong and grow; and that they will serve somewhere using their talents and spiritual gifts.  That's why we included small group and serving questions in the membership form. 

In a perfect world members stay engaged in groups and serving, but in the real world they don't.  You need on-ramps for these members and for regular attenders who prefer to engage before they join.