Discover how to leverage technology in your church

What happens after someone visits your congregation?

At my church, the visitors sign a guest book and a day or two later, they receive a letter in the mail from the pastor—which is an excellent practice. It’s personal, especially in this detached, electronic world. In fact, it has repeatedly led to visitors wanting to meet with him and eventually join the congregation. Several people have mentioned how important that letter has been. People like to be acknowledged and the personal touch makes a huge difference.

But more can be done to help someone get to know the congregation.

We live in one of the most connected ages in history. We can stay connected with friends around the globe and have unlimited potential to make new friends. News travels around the globe in moments, and we’re routinely treated to a front-row view of history as live-streaming technology becomes more commonplace. At no other point in human history have we been so quickly and easily connected with other people.

So why are we so isolated?

Three opportunities presented themselves to me in a relatively short timeframe.

• An international mission trip that connected with unchurch youth
• The decline in youth group participation
• A youth event open to our community

I'm not a big fan of many holidays, but I love Easter.

There's something special about transitioning from the deep sadness of Good Friday and the quiet of Saturday to the joyful celebration of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. It is, quite literally, the most exciting thing in the world; it is the gift of salvation won for us by Jesus Christ.

That's why I waited until after Easter to share this post. On Easter morning, our attention is best focused on the empty tomb, not on church attendance or figuring out how to reach visitors in the weeks and months ahead. 

Before you write just about any document, you have to think of your audience. Who are you writing for? If I send a text to a friend, it’ll be different from a text I send to my parents. Even for a daily, unimportant task like this one, we automatically consider our audience.

The same goes for your church website.

Who do you want to reach with your website? In other words, what is the purpose of your website?