How do you feel when you leave home without your phone? We love our smartphones, and most of us spend an average of five hours using them every day. This is why pastors and ministry leaders are turning to apps for churches to nurture engagement and increase a sense of belonging within their communities.
Mobile apps allow your community to interact with your ministry’s content anywhere, anytime. People can easily listen to your latest sermon on their phones while commuting to work, open up your Bible reading plan during a break, get a friendly reminder that your church’s live stream is about to start, and so much more.
With the right app features in place, your church can thrive! Let’s take a look at seven of these features—all of which are included with the Subsplash app platform—and discover how they can help you engage and grow your audience.
7 Ways Mobile Apps Help Churches Thrive
- Push notifications are automated messages that show up on your users’ phone home screens. They are an efficient way to send reminders (like for event registration or live stream start times) or provide updates (such as a new worship service time, or the latest church bulletin). Push notifications are also one of the most effective digital communication tools available to church leaders as they are opened 50% more than emails.
- Audio and video players allow your community to consume your gospel-centered content on the go. Whether a church sermon, daily devotional, or small group lesson, your audience will love watching and listening to your content on their mobile devices. The best church app platforms offer an audio player that remembers where you left off, along with an audio download option for listening offline!
- Event calendars increase attendance at your Bible studies, small groups, and other activities by putting all of your events in one place. These can usually be integrated with your other calendars (like Google Calendar and iCal) and links to signup forms. Adding maps and directions will help people easily find your events, along with contact info, and links to easily share with friends.
- In-app messaging facilitates communication in a secure and centralized location. Asking for prayer, chatting in a public channel, and sending direct messages between members of your congregation are just a few examples of how this instant two-way communication helps build authentic relationships. In-app messaging can increase efficiency by allowing your members to share files, create polls for feedback, and by sending push notifications.
- Live streaming allows your church to connect with your members in real-time, regardless of their physical location. With today’s streaming technology, it is simple to set up live streaming for your church with just a webcam or a mobile device.
- In-app giving enables your members to make donations on their smartphones from anywhere. Most donors prefer the convenience of giving online with a credit card rather than donating with cash or checks. Giving solution features like recurring gifts encourage people to give more frequently. Your church staff will appreciate time-saving features such as automated bookkeeping, integrations with your church management software (ChMS), donor reports, and website giving integrations. On average, churches that add digital giving options see a 32% increase in overall donations.
- Notes and digital bulletins help congregants stay engaged during services and help your church save on printing costs. Pre-built fill-in-the-blank notes can be saved on your church’s app for congregants to use, and free-form notes let them record their own notes.
These features keep your audience engaged with your church’s content, feel connected to your ministry, and encouraged to come back to your app over and over again.
About Subsplash: Subsplash created the very first church app in 2009 out of their small office in Seattle. Today they serve over 14,000 churches and organizations from offices located around the United States. Learn more about how having a Subsplash custom mobile app can help your church reach more people and create deeper connections.
