Elsa Dooling

No one wants to talk about or even think about their church closing. Yet 65 percent of churches are in decline or have hit a plateau. So what does it actually mean to close a church? And when a church closes, what happens to the church technology and communication channels like social media and websites?

From September through May churches experience regularity and rhythm within their ministries and have a general understanding of the expected level of weekly attendance. This consistency and structure also allow for an understanding of the commitment level that volunteers are able to provide to support ministries during these months. Then summer comes and everything changes.

Is your church finally ready to dive in and start using Instagram? While you're nowhere near the last church on earth to take the plunge and join the Insta-church party, you will be joining this online community at a time when the platform is at its peak. Churches and users have learned some pretty savvy tricks to keep their accounts visible, viral, and performing their best. So where do you start?

In the spirit of generosity, Life.Church, Compassion International, and a number of Christian organizations are working together on a new open source initiative called Open Digerati. This initiative will unify people who are kingdom-minded and skilled in technology, giving them a place to serve the Church with their God-given talent.

As we become more dependent on technology, security threats grow and change on a daily basis and user data continues to be vulnerable. This is true for churches, just as it is for any other organization or business. Learning to keep online data and accounts safe and being reminded to regularly update security protocols is increasingly important for pastors and church communicators.

With the emergence of smart assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, how can these AI platforms assist pastors and church tech staff with productivity? Smart assistants, devices, and speakers do have features that could assist with church administrative planning and personal organization tasks like calendaring, as well as providing conferencing features for small meetings. And connected offices using smart assistants and smart speakers to help with productivity are on the rise, just as connected homes are growing as well.

Church fundraising is a necessary part of running the business of a church. While not always the favorite pastime of pastors and church leaders, raising money to fund ministry programs, care for church facilities, retain and train new staff, and leading congregations requires cold hard cash and lots of it. Pastors don’t like to talk about money--but let’s face it, raising money is an essential and necessary part of church business.

Things are changing at Facebook. On January 11, 2018, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is moving “from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions.” Many people are still trying to figure out what this means. Businesses and organizations are already working hard to keep their customers and communities engaged and their posts seen.