Encouraging innovation with your church staff

A few months ago there was a publication with Arizona SBC Portraits magazine that had “We Are Innovation” on the cover. Excited, I opened it up to find the innovation they were referring to was how ministry was being done on the fringes in the state and had little to do with technology. Although I was disappointed, it turned out to be a good reminder that behind all tech is the human factor—real lives in need of change through the power of Jesus.

So how do our churches and members on church staff mobilize to reach people for Jesus in innovative ways? Should you shun technology and just build relationships one-to-one? Or should you embrace technology and use it to propel your message further and faster than ever before?

These are excellent questions, but we need to dive a bit deeper first.

Can technology impact relationships?

For the answer I turned to a recent interview with Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg. He’s been on a quest to find meaning and purpose in the past year. Visiting small towns and neighborhoods all across the country to have one-on-one discussions with people, he’s learning how they are using the social network to improve their lives. And what he can do to deepen that impact.

Zuckerberg said in his interview with Forbes, “A more connected world is going to be necessary to take on the greatest opportunities and challenges for the next generation.”

Right now 1 billion people are part of a group on Facebook; 100 million are daily active users finding meaning through personal connections.

So where does this leave the church?

Investing in social platforms is one of the easiest ways you can get your team to lead the charge in bringing social connections beyond the screens and into your church. But it can’t stop there. You need to be using all the digital tools to better cornerstone your vision into a reality. Do you want to reach people “at the well?” Then you need to go to the well and have a presence.

Do you get me? If you are still confused, I’m talking about the digital well of Social, Email, and Web.

These are the primary ways we communicate every single day. If your church wants to have a stronger impact in your community, you need to not only engage with these tools every day, you need to encourage your staff and volunteer teams to do the same.

How Your Church Staff Can Embrace Technology

Imagine if everyone in your church was sharing Scripture with each other in public view on Facebook. That Word will not return void.

Imagine if people on your church staff and in your church emailed encouragement or prayer requests every day. (You might already do this one and if so then you know the power of prayer!)

Imagine if you had a beautiful website with all sorts of new and fresh content about how to grow closer to Jesus, raise children with integrity and humility, or remind people that Jesus accepts you wherever you are.

You might not think any of these uses are innovative. But using creativity and sincerity to help cast the vision for your community on the channels is innovative, especially since no two bodies of believers are the same. We encourage you to use the unique gifts and talents within your church, and seek guidance when needed. Mobilizing your church and church staff to take advantage of all the tools God has placed at our disposal will only further the cause of Christ.

That’s why we are so passionate about your church website here at ChurchPress. It’s one of the biggest gateways to people stepping foot in the door of your church. But how you position it, promote it, and invest in it will determine whether or not you become an innovative church intentionally reaching people that need Jesus, or a church that wants to do big things but is held back by not taking risks and walking by faith.

Jesus has given us the tools and technologies to share His message with the world. Take the next step to start encouraging your staff and church leaders to be more innovative in spreading the Word!