About a year ago I met Sam Rainer at a Discipleship Pastors retreat.  He is a pastor, author, and President / Sr. Consultant with Church Answers.  His books include "Obstacles in the Established Church" and "Church Revitalization Checklist."

In the last few weeks we've seen some history and stats on texting, how businesses are using texting, and how churches are using texting.  In this final installment we are going to provide some best practices for using texting.

These may seem pretty basic, but I think if you read beyond the section headers, you will discover some interesting and helpful nuggets that will get you nominated for best church or non-profit use of personal  texting.

Text to give made its popular debut with United Way at the Super Bowl in 2008. A few years after that online payment processing companies began offering it to churches as a giving option.

We became convinced that this method of contributing to ministry was more than a passing fad and released it in 2016 as a part of our online giving services.

Industry enhancements to the texting infrastructure in recent years have opened up exciting new ways for churches to use texting beyond mass communication and giving. Here is a list of the ways that Churchteams clients are using it.

Last week we looked at three reasons why churches should be thinking about using text messaging: 1) texting has a history, 2) people have the app, and 3) people use the app. These mean it is the most widely used and most reliable channel for communication available to us.

When we were redoing the Text-to-Church page on our website last fall, I came up with the word "text-savvy" to include in the by-line.  Obviously, a twist of the word tech-savvy, it has forced me to think about and research a response to the question, "what does it mean to be knowledgeable about text messaging?"

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."  Matthew 9:36

Data is important not only for tracking the crowds, but also for seeing their needs.  One of the most powerful ways to use ChMS reporting is to identify and flag significant pastoral care and discipleship needs.  

Two of the most common reports for pastoral care are the lapsed givers and missing persons reports.  Here is what these look like and how to build them.

A few weeks ago, coinciding with the new year, I started a series of blogs related to the difference between tracking something to achieve a goal and tracking something as part of an ongoing relationship.  So far we've looked at demographic data and guest follow up tracking.  In this article we look at tracking adult small groups.

Most pastors encourage adults to be in small groups as an important step in their spiritual growth or discipleship process.  However, once the data comes in and pastors realize that small group enrollment has a direct effect on giving and worship attendance then there's a temptation to make small group tracking a goal to achieve rather than a spiritual formation relationship to develop.  I know this because I lived it.

I was at a church in recent months and shot the QR code to fill out the communication card.  One of the options was to talk with a pastor.  I had a couple of questions, so I checked that box. 

A short time later I received an email back confirming that I filled out the card and would be contacted.  I never was.

Personally, I'm okay.  I know that church staff are busy and church systems often fail.  Plus, I don't want to have an over-inflated view of my value to them.  That feels prideful.

However, professionally, I'm not okay with that.  It's hard enough to get guests to respond, but if they do and we don't follow through, what does that say?   

Churches used to see each other as competitors.  It may still be like that in some communities, but during my tenure as a pastor I saw this change dramatically.  Now many, maybe most, pastors see themselves as colaborers with each other to reach and serve their communities for Christ.

I don't know the executive leadership of all the church software companies by any means, but I've met and known some of them.  Many of us look at our relationships with each other in the same way, as colaborers not competitors.

Last week I shared that I'm tracking my food intake as well as my Bible reading in the new year.  After a week, as expected, I'm doing great on the Bible reading because that's a relationship I enjoy.  And, so far, I'm doing fine with food tracking and even lost a couple of pounds. That's leading to a goal I hope to achieve. 

Some of the most common data in church software is demographic information like age (birthdate), household role, gender, marital status, anniversary, school, education, languages spoken, ethnicity,  occupation, military service, skills, availability, spiritual gifts, ministry passion, address / zip code, phone number, and email.    

If you are an old year reviewer and new year resolver, this is the week you start.  I know because I am one.  I already started tracking what I eat ... again.  And Sunday, I started my plan to read the New Testament through this year on weekdays and the Old Testament in three years on weekends.

In my last blog post I looked at highlights from 2022 for Churchteams and what they indicate about next year for us.  Now, it's your turn.  As you prepare for 2023 have you thought about setting goals to improve your use of church software?

I started thinking about this a couple of weeks ago during a customer care call in which the Executive Pastor shared with me his major goal for using Churchteams in the new year.  I thought it was a great idea worth sharing.