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MINISTRYGONE MOBILE
CONNECTING YOUR CHURCH IN A MOBILE-CENTRIC WORLD
2
CONTENTSINTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................3
MOBILE’S IMPACT ON MINISTRY.............................................................................5
WHAT CHURCH LEADERS REALLY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT APPS...........7
HOW TO INTEGRATE MOBILE INTO YOUR MINISTRY......................................9
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................11
BONUS: 20 MOBILE APP IDEAS FOR YOUR CHURCH....................................12
BONUS: THE MOBILE APP FIELD SURVIVAL GUIDE ........................................13
ABOUT CHURCH COMMUNITY BUILDER............................................................15
ABOUT AWARE 3..........................................................................................................15
churchcommunitybuilder.com
aware3.com
3
INTRODUCTIONThe future looks conspicuously like the now.
It used to seem much farther away, but the rapid
escalation of mobile technology development
has swept across contemporary culture and
shoved its way into our lives like an unexpected
guest.
The old days weren’t so pushy. Remember way
back (like eight years ago) when the flip phone
was cool? They’d be difficult to forget since
approximately 99.9 percent of everyone who
owned one at some point flipped it open and
said “Beam me up, Scottie” at the screen.
Back then, cell
phones were
evolving, getting
smaller and
lighter, offering
faint glimpses of a
distant promise. In hindsight, those flip phones
are laughable, limited to mostly making calls and
playing rudimentary games like Tetris and Soft
Cell.
Mobile phones have grown up, gotten smarter.
Now they are sophisticated, pocket-sized
computers that feed our addiction for mobile
technology. Venture capitalist and futurist
Benedict Evans reports that smartphones
and tablets account for more than 50 percent
of global consumer electronics sales1. According
to Evans, there are three billion people globally
online; two billion of them are accessing the Internet
via mobile devices. He predicts that by 2020, 80
percent of the world’s adults will have smartphones,
accounting for more than four billion people going
online through their phones.
Those projections are mindboggling, but are they
really so hard to believe? Pay attention to the number
of people interacting with their smartphones the
next time you’re at a mall. It’s seemingly everyone.
We’ve been captivated by our smartphones. Mobile’s
increasing versatility is creating an insatiable appetite
for more — more memory, more speed, and more
flexibility.
In short, mobile
technology went
from novelty to
necessity in a blip. It
has pushed its way
into every aspect of
our lives and, to a
large extent, for the better. Mobile technology offers
huge opportunity for the corporate sector, but it also
offers huge opportunity for religious organizations like
the church.
“Make no mistake,” says Steve Caton, vice president
of strategy and business development for Church
Community Builder, a leading software company
focused on helping church leaders effectively
integrate technology into their ministry strategies.
1 | Evans, Benedict. “Mobile is Eating the World” (Presentation), Oct. 28, 2014. Available at: http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2014/10/28/presentation-mobile-is-eating-the-world.
“Mobile technology is a requirement to reach our members, both young
and wiser. At the end of the day, the congregation demands spiritual
resources in a mobile app.”
4
“Mobile is no longer the future; it is the now.
That’s great news for ministry leaders.”
Closely married to mobile technology are mobile
application software, or “apps.” Today, apps can
track your mileage as you drive on a business
trip or serve as a pedometer when you walk.
You can scan an app at the local coffee shop
to pay for your cup of joe, or you can use your
device’s camera to scan a product and have it
pop up in the app of a popular online retailer’s
store to immediately make a purchase.
Apps can do all those things and much more.
There are more than 1.5 million mobile apps
available for download in 2015, and the number
is growing exponentially every year2. (For
comparison, there were just 15,000 apps
available in 2008.) Research shows that the
average person checks his or her phone
150 times a day, or once every six and a half
minutes3. On average Americans spend two
hours and seven minutes a day using apps.
Factor in Evans’ projected number of people
who are and will be on a mobile devices, and
you get a feel for how ubiquitous apps powered
by mobile are and will become.
Along with the rise in the number of apps
available, the competition for attention when it
comes to apps is naturally getting more intense.
According to a recent Quartz study,3 the average
iPhone user downloads fewer than one app to
their phone a month. It’s a staggering number,
considering Apple boasts 78 million app downloads
since 2008.
“The data suggests that people love to download
apps, but they are selective in what they download,”
notes Tony Caudill, CEO and co-founder of Aware3,
an app development company serving churches
and ministries around the world. “To win the coveted
home screen space, an app needs to provide real
function and content that keeps the user coming back
for more. If it doesn’t check those boxes, the delete
button is just a finger stroke away.”
2 | Statista, The Statistics Portal. “Number of Apps Available in Leading App Stores as of May, 2015.” This statistic contains data on the number of apps available for download in leading app stores as of May 2015. As of that month, Android users were able to choose between 1.5 million apps. Apple’s App Store remained the second-largest app store with 1.4 million available apps. Available at: http://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-available-in-leading-app-stores/.
3 | Meeker, Mary and Wu, Liang. “Internet Trends, 2013.” May 29, 2013. Full PDF research report available for download at: http://www.kpcb.com/blog/2013-internet-trends.
5
MOBILE’S IMPACT ON MINISTRYWe said earlier that “mobile is no longer the
future; it is the now.” Pause and consider the
implications of this from a ministry perspective,
especially given the amount of time mobile
users are interacting with content delivered
through apps. The opportunities for extending
the influence of church leaders and the ministry
of the church become numerous.
Here’s what was: Church leaders mostly
interacted with churchgoers on Sunday
mornings, to a lesser extent Sunday nights,
and, if they were lucky, maybe one night during
the workweek like a Wednesday evening
community group.
Here’s what is: Church leaders have the
opportunity to interact multiple times daily with
churchgoers by delivering influential content
through mobile apps to a device with which they
are already heavily interactive.
Want proof of the potential? YouVersion,
the most popular of the many Bible apps
available, recently celebrated 150 million global
downloads. Its growth continues to explode,
given that just a few months earlier it passed the
100 million downloads mark..4
You may have noticed a decrease in the number of
“analogue” Bibles being brought to church. There is
a reason for that. Research reports that 70 percent
of Millennials read Scripture on their mobile phones.
Yeah, you might think, those crazy Millennials, but
guess what? Seventy-two percent of Baby Boomers
own a mobile device and a significant number of them
use a smartphone or tablet in church to read Scripture
and to take notes within an app like YouVersion.
Mobile is infiltrating wallets, too. Ten percent of
monetary donations—like offerings—were made
through a mobile app. That trend is showing strong
signs of escalating in popularity.
“The infusion of technology into the church has
been steady for some time, but not anymore,” says
Church Community Builder’s Caton. “Now the pace
of integration has significantly quickened. That’s why
several years ago we began shaping our strategy,
software, and services to align with this direction.
Now, mobile is everywhere among church members.
They are using mobile technology and apps on a
daily basis in the other areas of their lives, so using it
in the church isn’t a jump for them. The church has to
respond.”
4 | Fromer, Dan. “Most Smartphone Users Download Zero Apps per Month.” August 22, 2015. Full article available at: ttp://qz.com/253618/most-smartphone-users-download-zero-apps-per-month/
6
Jim Peich has a front-row seat to watch the
burgeoning technology trend in the church
and agrees with Caton’s perspective. Peich is
pastor of faith formation at the 4,000-participant
Morning Star Church in Dardenne Prairie, Mo.
“People almost always have their mobile
devices with them,” Peich says. “The more
‘doorways’ we can create via mobile for people
to participate in the life of the church, the more
people we engage.”
Peich says that through a mobile app like
Aware3, the church is providing a “convenient
tool for people to take next steps in the
moment.” For instance, he suggests, people
can immediately sign up for a class or a service
opportunity through the app. They can make a
financial donation and process the
transaction instantly. If they forget a
meeting location, they can access
the calendar and find the room
information. They can also access
video or audio from past sermons.
“Mobile is becoming the dominant way people
get information and interact with others and
organizations,” he says. “Our mission [as a
church] is to meet people where they are and
help them take the next steps on their spiritual
journey. It only makes sense for us to utilize
mobile to equip them to engage with our
community of faith.”
“It’s clear that mobile is becoming a dominant way people access
information and interact with people and organizations.”
Jim Peich - Morning Star Church
7
WHAT CHURCH LEADERS REALLY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT APPS
All this talk of mobile, apps, technology
integration — it can be like drinking from a
fire hose if a minister has been in a church
that hasn’t needed to implement available
technology or has been slow to embrace
technology. But it’s nothing to be afraid of
and it’s never too late to jump in, says Church
Community Builder co-founder and Chief
Technology Officer Free Grafton.
“It’s important not to panic,” says Grafton.
“The great thing about the evolution in mobile
technology is that it has actually become simpler
and more intuitive. App
builders recognize that
with the space being so
competitive, they have
to construct apps that
are simple to use or people won’t use them.
This is especially true in the church ministry
space where a minister’s time is at a premium.
Technology is a tool; equipping leaders is the
goal. We monitor the needs of our church
partners and adapt and develop technology to
help them achieve a truly connected church.”
Grafton says there are three fundamental
things every church leader should know if they are
considering taking the plunge into mobile apps.
Apps are like tools in a toolbox; each is designed to
do something specific. There are apps designed for
business, education, games, news, and an extensive
variety of other uses. If you access Apple’s app store,
there are 21 major categories showing. Click on any
one of those categories and you’ll see thousands of
apps with a wide variance even within the category.
Grafton says that is where a consultant can “talk it
through” with a church’s leaders to help them define
what it is they really want to accomplish. For instance,
some apps may be designed for the person in the
pew, while other apps may help church leaders be
more effective in helping those in the pew integrate
more deeply into the life of the church.
Aware3’s Tony Caudill
adds an important insight
for church leaders to
consider. “As it relates to
the church, there are a growing number of apps your
members can download. There are giving-only apps,
video apps, note-taking apps, and Bible apps. While
we love that virtually every aspect of the church has
gone mobile, there is such a thing as too many apps.
Church leaders must develop an intentional strategy
for how you will encourage usage, create connection
that drives community, and make your app the one-
stop shop for people in your church.”
EVERY APP NEEDS A MISSION
“Our mobile donations exceed other mechanisms. In fact, the first month paid for the app.”
8
It may be tough to hear, but apps are not silver
bullets that solve all the communication or
community-building challenges in your ministry.
They can, however, enhance the processes
and systems that are already in place. When
those systems and processes are defined and
effective, apps can amplify ministry by making
communication consistently available.
“Communication is the most critical aspect
of business, church, and family,” says Jake
Necessary, technology director at Crosspoint
Church in Jonesborough, TN. “A church
congregation that has information is prepared
for the spiritual journey and to help others.”
There are times when assumptions are
based on minimal data. The future of mobile
technology and mobile apps isn’t one of
them. By every indicator, Evans’ projection of
mobile use mentioned earlier is tracking in the
direction he predicts. Translation: Virtually every
generation in your church is currently touched
by mobile and that will become even more
true in the coming years. Mobile technology
is not only here to stay, it is a dominant form of
communication among your current church members.
And you need to be in that space with them. Whether
you are the most tech-savvy person or not shouldn’t
keep you from jumping in and exploring the possibility
of incorporating mobile into your ministry plan.
Explore, gather information, take the plunge, and don’t
look back.
“We live in a mobile society and to have an app is
an absolute requirement,” Necessary says. “Our only
regret is not launching the app years earlier.”
DON’T WAIT ANY LONGER
AN APP WILL NOT SOLVE YOUR MINISTRY PROBLEMS
Jake NecessaryCrosspoint Church
9
HOW TO INTEGRATE MOBILE INTO YOUR MINISTRYAfter better understanding the explosive growth
of mobile and reading about the potential
of mobile apps in extending ministry in your
church, there may be a ton of questions popping
in your mind. Questions like:
• How could we optimize people’s Sunday
experience to encourage greater
connection?
• How could we strengthen that connection
through information delivery?
• What devotional or discipleship content
could we consistently deliver?
• How could we make it easier to register
people for service opportunities and events?
• What possibilities would an app open for us
with Millennials?
• How could we use an app to strengthen the
prayer ministry of our church?
• How could an app enhance financial
generosity?
All of these questions and so many more
probably come to mind, but let’s assume you’ve
decided you’re diving in. Great! Now what? Here
are six key thoughts to keep in mind as you
integrate the use of mobile into the flow of your
church’s ministry.
The church systems and processes you
implement as a leader directly impact the
behaviors and outcomes of those you lead.
Effective processes set expectations, offer
clarity, equip and train others for service,
support people, evaluate success, and offer
accountability.
“Goals without defined processes and systems
are nothing more than pipe dreams,” says Caton.
“None of this just happens; there must be a
method behind what you want to accomplish.”
What is it you want to change? Why? What
is it you hope to achieve by implementing
a new process? By
implementing mobile?
Bottom line — you
need to know where
you want to go, what
options there are for
getting there, and what
it will take to accomplish that vision. This is
where an outside consultant can often help walk
you through that process.
DEVELOP A PROCESS AND PLAN FOR HOW YOU’LL USE IT.
IDENTIFY YOUR HIGH-LEVEL GOALS.
10
Motivated users of the technology will take it
and run with it, and you need to identify those
champions early in the implementation process.
You are in the process of changing the culture,
and organizational experts say that culture
change is dependent on creating “product
evangelists” out of key persons below the
level of top leadership. This would include staff
members and church members.
This may sound obvious given that it follows
buy-in, but here’s the thing. There is always an
initial surge when implementing technology, but
inertia has killed many a good transition. Top
leaders must keep motivating staff and, with
the help of the tech evangelists, overcome the
inertia to get to the tipping point. It is then that
change becomes part of the culture.
“Your members have a relationship with your
brand. They know it. They trust it,” says Caudill.
“They are much more likely to download and
use your app than a third-party app where
there’s not a relationship.”
Success breeds a culture that encourages
exploration. Here is a truism: The evolution of
technology will continue. The good news is
that if you successfully implement mobile into
your church’s culture, that culture will evolve
with the trends. New and useful apps will rise to
the surface and be integrated, and having that
culture already in place will enhance that.
Success breeds a culture that encourages
exploration.
Here is a truism: The evolution of technology
will continue. The good news is that if you
successfully implement mobile into your
church’s culture, that culture will evolve with
the trends. New and useful apps will rise to
the surface and be integrated, and having that
culture already in place will enhance that.
GET EARLY STAFF BUY-IN.
ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO USE IT — AND STICK WITH IT.
INTEGRATE THE INITIATIVE INTO THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH MEMBER.
CREATE A CULTURE OF EXPERIMENTATION IN YOUR MINISTRY.
11
CONCLUSIONThe rapid development of mobile technology
over the past seven years has opened a world
of possibilities for ministering to people through
the life of the church. Yes, there are a number of
apps out there that are a waste of time, but the
key is to find those few that align with ministry
objectives. The key is to engage the technology,
and engage it now.
“Our whole purpose is to help guide church
leaders to a better how,” says Chris Fowler, co-
founder and CEO of Church Community Builder.
“We want to help church leaders leverage the
technology to become a means to an end, and
not the end. Nobody wants to spend more time
managing the tech than they are using it to help
impact the lives of others. Our goal with tech
is to equip the leaders so they can equip the
church.”
12
BONUS: 20 MOBILE APP IDEAS FOR YOUR CHURCHThe integration of mobile technology and mobile
apps should always align with the high-level
ministry goals mentioned earlier. The following list
offers practical ways that churches partnering with
Church Community Builder and Aware3 are using
mobile technology to reach high-level goals and
enhance a church’s ministry.
By implementing mobile app technology into your
ministry strategy, you can:
1. Engage first-time guests with personalized
welcome information.
2. Collect prayer requests anytime, anywhere.
3. Provide an online Bible that allows everyone
in your church to use the same translation.
4. Keep the church informed through
notifications and announcements.
5. Live stream your service for people to plug in
anytime, anywhere.
6. Establish a quick-glance church calendar and
filter events by categories such as children,
youth, adults, choir, men’s ministries,
women’s ministries, etc.
7. Make online forms available for volunteer
needs, event registration, prayer requests,
and more.
8. Maximize online giving as a contribution
option.
9. Offer quick access to archived sermons for
viewing or listening.
10. Provide sermon outlines, notes, and
transcripts.
11. Create ministry podcasts and deliver
content through the app.
12. Promote social sharing of content through
Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
13. Make the app the hub of the church’s
online content (website, blog, social media
connections, Church Community Builder
software).
14. Offer a resources tab with information and
links to other key websites.
15. Provide a digital bulletin.
16. Offer a facilities map.
17. Offer worship and other event check-in.
18. Deliver the church’s musical catalogue.
19. Offer note-taking capability.
20. Enable social media and community
connections through personal profile
integration.
13
BONUS: THE MOBILE APP FIELD SURVIVAL GUIDEThis “Field Survival Guide” provides tips offered
by church leaders who have been through the
mobile transition. It’s what they wish they knew
before initiating the process.
This is insider information passed along from
churches that have taken the mobile app plunge
and wish they’d known these implementation
hacks before diving in.
• “Spend time creating a list of content ideas
for a mobile app and identify everything
you’d like it to do before the app is built.”
• “Create a list of push notification topics to
keep those items organized on the app.”
• “Design the mobile app from the mobile
users’ perspective and not the church staff’s
perspective. Think about what labels and
headings a mobile user would be expecting
to see to accomplish a specific task or find
certain information, and design it that way.”
• “Make sure the back-end processes are in
place to act on the information and requests
you collect via the mobile app.”
• “Sample design options of the mobile app
icons and design elements to make sure
your app both looks good and functions
properly.”
• “Integrate the app with the church’s website
and church management software.”
• “It’s critical to make sure that your
technology systems are able to
communicate with each other.”
• “Have a small group test the mobile app
for a month before announcing it to the full
congregation.”
• “Demonstrate and train your users on the
app.”
• “Communicate the features of the app
well to the congregation to ensure a full
understanding of the power of mobile.”
• “Build an awareness program to motivate
interest and to maintain its use.”
• “Ensure that your oldest and youngest
members feel comfortable with the app.”
• “Design an app that motivates people to get
a smartphone or tablet.”
• “Keep your mobile content fresh and be sure
buttons and links are always working.”
• “Reference your mobile app at least once
during every worship service in some way
and use push notifications to demonstrate
the value of the app and to remind them that
they have the app.”
14
STEVE CATON has an extensive background in
technology, fundraising, and church leadership.
In addition to serving as an elder in his local
church, Steve has served in key leadership
roles with organizations that help churches and
ministries foster greater constituent engagement
and retention. As a member of the leadership
team at Church Community Builder, Steve
leverages his unique experience to help local
churches strengthen the systems and processes
that support life transformation and growth.
TONY CAUDILL is the co-founder and CEO of
Aware3. Before starting Aware3, he spent 13
years at Accenture, launching wireless products
and services for US and international wireless
carriers, MVNOs and cable companies. Tony
serves as the overall product, go-to-market,
sales, and partnership strategy lead for Aware3.
Leadership Sources
15
You are called to equip people as they fulfill the mission of the local church. Church Community Builder is
called to offer you a better how — through practical coaching, software, and “tribe”-based learning — that
supports good process and empowers everyone in your church.
Technology alone is incapable of supporting ministry objectives. You must first have people and processes
working together in harmony. You must then identify technology that aligns with and empowers those
people and processes. Finally, you must constantly evaluate, adjust, and learn from others as you adapt
to changes and new challenges along the way. Church Community Builder is equipped to guide churches
through all three of these disciplines.
When we encounter needs that fall outside of our core competency, we can point to a variety of thought
leaders who excel at providing the inspirational understanding of what is possible and the why behind it.
We then bring the what and why full circle by helping church leaders implement the how.
Our inspiration is “the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work
and build up the church, the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11b–12). We believe church leadership and structure is
necessary and a good thing, so we encourage leadership-driven processes and systems. We also believe
that community between church leaders and congregants is vital, so we provide highly distributive church
management software to facilitate connectedness, communication, and insight.
In today’s always-connected world, people want to connect with what’s important to them when, where,
and how they want. Aware3 can help you launch and manage a fully branded native iPhone & Android
mobile app, allowing you to connect with current and prospective members like never before.
Our mobile apps help ministries drive greater generosity, build strong community, and enhance
connection well beyond Sunday morning. Your app integrates seamlessly with the tools you already use,
so it runs on autopilot and you can focus less on the technology and more on your mission.
Aware3 is also the only mobile app provider that’s fully integrated with Church Community Builder. We
help you leverage your investment in church management software to the fullest—all while harnessing the
power of mobile to strengthen engagement, giving, and outreach.
ABOUT CHURCH COMMUNITY BUILDER
ABOUT AWARE3
churchcommunitybuilder.com
aware3.com
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