Discover how to leverage technology in your church

If your ministry is on Snapchat, I applaud you! Snapchat is, in my opinion, one of the hardest social media platforms to manage and create content for, especially for churches. So the fact that you even have a Snapchat means you’re going in the right direction.

Instagram has made a lot of changes in the past two years. This photo-sharing app has come a long way from its early days of square photos, heavy filters, and jagged borders. What used to be an app that was used to share photos to other social media sites has become a standalone app that many people use as their primary social media account. Millennials and Gen Z-ers especially are locked in on Instagram rather than Facebook.

In marketing, most companies come up with a “brand”: a theme that will make their company name recognizable. McDonald’s, for example, has grown their brand so much that the golden arches are known by nearly everyone in the world, and I’m almost certain that you’ve had their “I’m lovin’ it” slogan stuck in your head at least once in your life.

While it’s potentially dangerous to identify your church as a business (although we are in the business of making disciples!), branding your ministry offers some real benefits.

One of my favorite things on the Internet is horrible stock photos (seriously, just Google “weirdest stock photos.”). Why would anyone ever need a picture of someone wearing space glasses holding an ear of corn? The Internet is a strange and mysterious place.

When you’re picking pictures for your church website, you can either use royalty-free stock photos or images that are of your congregation. There are benefits to both options, so it’s important to weigh your options and choose an option that fits your church website’s needs.

This post is an excerpt from the ebook, Millennials and the Church, written by Hannah Osborne.

This post is an excerpt from the ebook, Millennials and the Church, written by Hannah Osborne.

Millennials have grown up relying on technology. Those born in the early 1980s might remember a time without computers, but TVs were most likely a household staple, and video game systems quickly became a major form of entertainment for young people.

Smartphones are, arguably, the single most formative technology in the past decade. With the invention of these devices, anyone can have music, books, and unlimited knowledge (the Internet) at their fingertips everywhere they go. Teenagers, especially, have been exposed to these devices for a large portion of their lives.

I just graduated from college, and aside from trying to find a real grown-up job, the hardest part about being a 20-something is the lack of ministry geared toward people my age.

I know livestreaming a worship service sounds scary, but don’t run away. With fancy words like “streaming” and “video casting,” tackling livestream worship seems like it’s not worth the time or the effort. Before you brush this off as a passing fad, discover what benefits livestreaming worship could have for your church.

Accessibility is a relatively new concept for the ordinary person who casually works with websites. Until recently, with dynamic website builders that allow “the average Joe,” accessibility was a foreign concept for websites. Accessibility used to be reserved for items such as wheelchair ramps, automatic doors, or elevators. When used in terms of websites, however, accessibility refers to a similar function: how accessible your website is to people with disabilities or who use assistive technology.