So, we're talking about text to register a couple of weeks ago. James throws out the idea of using texting to take worship attendance. This is an age-old question that churches ask us about all the time. We discuss it more, and Mark realizes it's something he can easily add. A day later and it's done.
Here's how it works.
- Create your worship service as a group.
- Be sure to check the "Worship Service" box on the group info page. This over-rides all other registration settings for verified online / text givers.
- On the registration settings page, select a Text To Register Keyword like ATTEND or HERE.
- Set up the registration form (on registration settings page) to capture whatever information you want from guests or those not registered for online giving. You can include prayer requests, multi-person registrations, etc.. They will get a link back to fill out this form and take their attendance.
- Have all attenders type the keyword to your church Text to Give/Register 10 digit phone number. Guests and non-verified text users will receive back the link to register/attend. Verified text users will not receive a response. (The non-response helps with the efficiency of the system.)
- The system will create a meeting record for that day when the first person texts the keyword. From the Group Info page, click reports / meetings to see the meeting record.
This was easy enough to add that we decided to go ahead with it. We know many churches don't worry about worship attendance at the individual level, but just the overall level. This feature was designed for those who really do want to track people's attendance in worship on a regular basis. If that's you and you start using it, please let us know how it's working. We love feedback.