Tag Archive for: sms

579 – Christmas Communication

/in ,

WELSTech is back and loaded with Christmas joy for sharing with the world. Tune in for ideas and content to post on your website and via social media. Details on texting the good news are the focus of this week’s interview. Plus, the video of the week has a story of tech-in-ministry opening amazing doors around the world.

The discussion:

‘Tis the season to share the good news – Martin and Sallie discuss ways to let your online light shine during the Christmas season.

Ministry resource:

5 Best Practices For Using Invite Cards At Your Church

News in tech:

Microsoft to Replace Edge Web Browser

The interview:

Communicate via text – Randy Brice, a member of Immanuel in Manitowoc, WI and owner of All Access Ads, talks with Martin and Sallie about how his congregation is using affordable, secure text messaging (priced at 2 cents per text) to share their message. Visit the All Access Ads web site for additional details and to reach Randy.

WELS now:

C18 Resources from Congregational Services

Picks of the week:

Community feedback:

Featured video:

Sparked by “community feedback” from Pastor Rob Guenther, watch the St. John, New Ulm, MN sermon from December 2 where WELS Director of Ministerial Education Pastor Paul Prange shared a mission story with a tech twist during his sermon. The sermon starts at about 23 minutes and the tech part starts at about 30 minutes.

Learn more about this amazing opportunity God has provided to build a training center in Vietnam

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 580 – We talk with Teacher Perry Lund about his Microsoft OneNote/Teams presentation at next summer’s WELS Education, Technology, and Leadership Summit.  Release date: Wednesday, December 19.

Get involved:

Member Texting

/in

One rather inexpensive (and underutilized) technology available to churches today is SMS (Short Message Service) or “texting.” It has a number of advantages over social networks, emails, digital newsletters, and other more “sophisticated” technologies.

  1. It comes directly to a device that most people won’t go anywhere without.
  2. The messages are normally short and to the point. Perfect for the short attention spans of today.
  3. It is instant, can be quickly crafted, sent and shared.
  4. It is relatively inexpensive.
  5. With the right tools the messages can be written ahead of time and then “scheduled” for delivery.
  6. One person can manage it.
  7. Most text messages GET READ!

Here is a case study done by one of my favorite websites (churchtechtoday.com) highlighting Palermo Church which found great benefit from a texting strategy. Read through their journey and see if your church might be in a similar position to take advantage of such a technology.

Application/audience

One of the texting solutions mentioned in the case study is SendTree. Their pricing seems very reasonable and within reach of most congregations. Their smallest package cost $9 a month and then 3 cents per text or voice for up to 250 contacts.

Some of the possible uses of a texting solution could be:

  1. Announcements that perhaps didn’t make the bulletin or after service sharing or just need more emphasis
  2. Quick notification of event changes or cancellations
  3. Quick devotional thoughts or prayer requests
  4. Encouragement to attend upcoming events
  5. Follow up thoughts or applications from sunday sermon or readings
  6. Create smaller groups of recipients and use texting to inform or encourage them (teens, ladies, moms, small group Bible study, Sunday School teachers, etc.)

Related resources

See All Ministry Resources