Discover how to leverage technology in your church

In college, I always tried to prioritize. I’d start by writing that excruciatingly long paper, then tackle the short, multiple choice quiz. Though I knew the paper would take a long time and the quiz wouldn’t happen until 3:00 a.m. when my brain power hit an all-time low, at least it was easier than writing! My plan got me through.

In the church office, work such as creating bulletins and newsletters will always take a while to complete. But you can still have a plan! We’ve compiled a list of six ideas to help you minimize those time-consuming tasks.

If you’ve spent time on Instagram, you probably know that almost every day of the week has a hashtag to accompany it. For example, there’s #ThrowbackThursday (endless baby pictures), #FlashbackFriday (last weekend’s lake pictures), and #SundayFunday (mimosas and bloody marys).

If these are foreign concepts to you, count yourself lucky!

Basically, there’s an unofficial schedule to indicate what pictures to post when, and most people follow it; they’ll save their baby picture for Thursday rather than posting it on Monday.

The concept of scheduling social media posts is not inherently a bad one, and it does apply to your church (although hopefully you’re not posting too many embarrasing baby pictures of your pastor).You should have a general schedule for posting that you stick to throughout the week.

I hate Comic Sans.

Truly. I do. And just about everyone in the world agrees with me!

“But Comic Sans is fun!” you protest.

I’m going to stop you right there.

Its curved sides and round handwriting script were originally designed to resemble comic book text (hence the name), and I’m even hesitant to allow it to be used in comic books because it simply isn’t the best out there.

You can like Comic Sans and use it for your family Christmas card, but it really has no place on your church website or any documents you produce professionally.

Have you ever felt like your church kills an entire forest printing its weekly bulletins? Liturgy, songs, entire Bible passages, announcements, and all of the prayer requests are added, until the bulletin begins to resemble a beginner’s chapter book.

Using a content management system (CMS) can help condense your bulletin or just expand and update your website. A CMS allows you to distribute frequently updated information, and it makes sure people actually see it. Your visitors can subscribe to this content, which means they will receive instant email notifications when you post new information.

Whenever my parents are expecting visitors, my mom cleans. She cleans the bathroom, the living room, the kitchen, and, when I was a kid, she even asked me to clean my room! My response? “But mooooooom, the guests aren’t going eat dinner in my room!” Mature, I know.

Now that I'm an adult, I get it. I like my house clean too. And, just like your house (or your church), your website should be clean and uncluttered. Luckily, this kind of cleaning doesn’t require Clorox or rubber gloves—just a few quick tips. You can simplify your website in no time!

Awkward situations are... well... awkward. Nobody likes these moments, whether it's watching someone show up late or hearing a person call someone else by the wrong name. These situations become even more awkward when you're directly involved and become almost unbearable when you're experiencing them alone.

Your website shares a common purpose with your church: to communicate the saving message of the Gospel and to encourage potential visitors to step inside your church doors.

We want to help you create the best church website you can that helps further the mission of your church. Some of the following strategies are easier to implement than others, but all of them can be done, regardless of technical skill levels. We hope this post will give you some new ideas for your church website and help you improve your existing website in ways you might not have considered before.