MOBILE
TECHNOLOGY
and the
CHURCH
UNDERSTANDING APPS, RESPONSIVE WEBSITES,
AND YOUR MOBILE STRATEGY
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Our Mobile World
For centuries, the stories of the Bible have been handed down from person to person, family
to family, always using the most appropriate media of the era—from stone tablets to papyrus,
scrolls to books, PCs to e-readers. But today’s believer has history’s fastest, most influential,
and easiest tool for disseminating the Word at his or her disposal: the mobile device.
As the world’s fastest-adopted method of communication, the mobile device continues to grow
in usership. While in 2012 mobile made up less than 25% of all web traffic, today, it accounts
for over 55%. And for the first time in history, Americans spent more time on their smartphones
last year than watching TV. Think this mobile thing is catching on?
Mobile growth is only expected to rise. According to Forrester Research, the number of global
mobile smartphone users will reach 3.5 billion by 2019. With that, mobile apps and responsive
websites are on the fast track to becoming the preferred channel for consuming information.
But what about in the church?
GOD’S MESSAGE HASN’T CHANGED. BUT THE METHOD OF SHARING IT HAS.
Forbes asserts that 19% of American smartphone users check their mobile devices during
worship, while 70% of practicing Christian millennials say they use a smartphone or the
internet to read scripture. (Facts & Trends) And more staggering still, 90% of churchgoers say
that mobile technology has a place in the church. (AT&T and Ebony Magazine)
But churchgoers’ preferences aren’t always met. Churches previously led the pack in tech
innovation, but now, they most often lag behind in adopting history’s fastest-evolving medium.
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“When Gutenberg finished his printing press, the Bible was the first thing produced and churches
utilized print media like crazy. When broadcasting took off, so did churches, and some of the longestrunning programs on today are church broadcasts that started many decades ago. But with the
emergence of social technologies on the internet, we’re slow to adopt.”
BRANDON COX, PASTORS.COM
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Consider:
How has your church adapted to new
technology? Are you equipped with
the necessary technology to engage
your congregation while growing and
sustaining your ministry?
The Basics: Responsive
Websites and Mobile Apps
A brief history
3 Ways Churches Adapt
to Technology
1. Line in the Sand
Churches go “prehistoric” and decide
they won’t adopt new technology.
2. Resist and Hold
Churches resist new technology as
long as possible, then adopt it only
to find they are already behind in
innovation.
3. Address and Adapt
Churches recognize patterns in
technology usage and directly
address them within the church.
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In 1990, when the internet as we know it was born, consumers and marketers had
no idea what opportunities lay ahead of them. Over the next decade, businesses and
organizations watched consumers flock to the web, eventually realizing that a wellcrafted site was a must-have for any organization that wanted to succeed. By 1999,
the internet was booming with over 500,000 websites offering commerce, education,
entertainment, and more.
Now just a decade later, the same thing has happened with mobile—and in a
fraction of the time.
In just two years since its launch in 2008, the Apple App Store amassed a staggering
half million apps in 2010, achieving in just two years what the internet took 10 years to
accomplish. Today, the App Store holds more than 1.3 million apps with over 75 billion
downloads, proving it a smashing, unprecedented success.
The role of mobile apps
Mobile apps are absolutely necessary for deeper engagement
with members of your congregation. Primarily used by the most
engaged and loyal members of your congregation, apps bring your
communication strategy into the 21st century. With quick, easy
access to important church information, apps help you:
BUILD ENGAGEMENT
Connect with your members beyond the Sunday service.
PROMOTE EVENTS
Use calendar feeds to highlight upcoming events.
LOWER PRINTING COSTS
Reduce bulletin printing needs by sharing information digitally.
Apps and your members
For the first time in history, time spent in mobile apps every day (177
minutes) now outweighs time spent watching television (168 minutes).
And considering 83% of Americans aged 18-29 and 74% of Americans
30-49 own a smartphone, it’s clear that the way organizations share their
message will (and has already started to) shift.
In the church environment alone:
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church. (AT&T and Ebony Magazine)
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INCREASE TITHING
19% of American smartphone users check their mobile devices
during worship. (Forbes)
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SHARE THE WORD
Allow members to share past sermons and other information quickly
and easily.
90% of churchgoers say that mobile technology has a place in
70% of practicing Christian millennials say they use a
smartphone or the internet to read scripture. (Facts & Trends)
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Faith communities with major tech use are roughly 50%
more likely to have members who actively recruit into the
congregation. (Hartford Institute)
Remove barriers to digital giving with easy access in the app.
CONNECT IN-SERVICE
Attendees can take notes, fill out a connection card, make a prayer
request, share events and scripture through social, and much more—all
during service.
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The current mobile landscape gives churches the ability to reach
more people—especially the millennial generation—in more places
than ever before, and smart churches are taking advantage of it. By
helping you create a digitally connected Christian community, apps
serve as a catalyst for discipleship and relationship building.
The role of responsive websites
Responsive websites are no longer nice to have—they’re a must-have
for churches to engage with new people and existing congregants.
Considered a method of “future-proofing” your website, responsive
websites adapt to multiple screen sizes and are considered “browser
agnostic,” meaning you don’t need to pare down your church’s
web content just to fit into a mobile format. Responsive design is a
seamless experience so visitors will have all of the information—no
matter what device or browser they choose.
SIGN-UP FORMS
Allow members to sign up for events, small groups, and volunteer
opportunities directly from their mobile device using sign-up forms
from your site.
FUTURE-PROOF YOUR WEBSITE
Tech companies unveil new mobile devices constantly but with a
responsive website, you don’t have to worry. Devices may change,
but your screen will adapt to whatever device comes along.
WELCOME NEW VISITORS
According to a Google study, 73% of mobile searches trigger additional
action and conversions, which means first impressions are essential.
You want visitors to your site to be prompted to visit your church. So,
how welcome are the people coming to your site feeling?
PROMOTE EVENTS
Display featured events on your homepage, or ministry specific
events on your ministry pages to keep your congregation in the
loop about what’s happening at your church.
DELIGHT YOUR CONGREGATION
Provide information to them in an organized and easy-to-find way
and help them get connected so that they will move from regular
attenders to engaged members.
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How and what people search
The internet is often the first place a person looks to find information
about a church. In fact, according to The State of the Church online
study conducted by Monk Development, developers of Ekklesia
360, the number of people who discovered their church through a
search engine increased 91% from 2009 to 2012. Today, that number
is likely much higher. And considering more than half of the people
visiting a church’s website will be visiting it on a mobile device, it’s
important that you make a good first impression.
Because information must be organized effectively in order to be
useful, having a mobile responsive website is a non-negotiable.
An appealing responsive website will drive traffic to your church
because of how well it conveys your church’s story.
The question is:
Are you meeting their needs in your
digital content, and is it prompting
them to move from newcomer to
fully-devoted disciple?
User Personas Along the
Engagement Journey
Who’s viewing your digital content?
Just as people in any new relationship get to know each other better over time, newcomers to your church undergo a journey to move from low
to high engagement with your congregation. From new visitor to regular attender and engaged member to mature disciple, your congregants
have the potential to move toward becoming loyal and devoted members, taking ownership in the church and leading others toward a greater
commitment to the church.
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New Visitor
The New Visitor made up nearly half of all church website visits in 2012. Most come to
the site for five pieces of information:
5 Pieces of Critical Information You Should Share on Your Church Website:
1. Church mission. What causes and priorities is your church most passionate
about? What kinds of congregants do you primarily serve?
2. Church values and vision. What moral values guide your church? What is your
long-term vision for achieving your mission?
3. Location/directions. Where is the church? Is your church address and contact
information easy to read and mobile-friendly?
4. Service times. When can people come meet you? Do you have multiple campuses?
5. What to expect when you attend a service. What’s the dress code? What’s the
church environment like? Who attends your church?
Your website is the primary way that people will find this content. In order for churches
to fulfill their mission of helping people become fully devoted followers of Christ,
your website must move new site visitors toward attending a service. Your new goal
once they start attending service? Making them engaged and loyal members of the
congregation—a stage that greatly benefits from a mobile app.
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New Visitors made up nearly half of
all church website visits in 2012.
The Regular Attender
Regular attenders make up the majority of the congregation, ranging anywhere from
60-80% of the members, depending on the church. However, getting them to become
engaged participants may be difficult.
According to Move: What 1,000 Churches Reveal About Spiritual Growth (Hawkins/
Parkinson, 2011), despite regular church attendance, many congregants are relatively
uninterested in forming relationships with other people who attend the church, as only
25% of them are involved in community-building church activities.
Ideas for engaging
regular attenders through
website/app content:
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Newcomer’s lunch
Promote on your website and include
in your app’s event calendar
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Member meet-&-greet with
That said, it’s imperative that the regular attender is given clear invitations to get
involved in church activities so they can become loyal, engaged members instead of
lukewarm participants.
pastors/leaders
How? Engage them through today’s most popular consumer channel, mobile—a place
they already spend a good portion of their time throughout the week. Whether through
your responsive website, mobile app, or social media channels, your content must be
compelling and include ways to get connected.
users toward sermon videos and other
Promote sign-ups via forms on your
responsive website, while guiding
media in the app to learn more about
the church’s leaders.
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Digital “connection card” form
Regular attenders may be eager for
the opportunity to get involved. Save
paper and create digital forms on your
Regular attenders make up the
majority of the congregation.
Ranging from 60-80% .
responsive website, which can also be
fed into your mobile app.
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Invitations to take a class or join a group
Post sign-ups and information on your
website and mobile app, using your event
calendar to advertise regular meetings.
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The Engaged Member
Engaged members are usually found in groups and/or serving within the church. In fact,
the Reveal Study from Move: What 1,000 Churches Reveal About Spiritual Growth states
the following statistics about the engaged member: Nearly 50% of the people in this
segment serve the church at least once each month.
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They show high engagement—85% of people in this segment attend church three to
four weekends per month and 47% participate in a small group at least once per month.
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The engaged member’s participation in church activities does not necessarily
drive spiritual growth.
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They count on the church to be their spiritual coach.
Engaged churchgoers require your guidance to participate even more with the
church. They’re already looking for church-related activities in several places aside
from your website and app, including the printed bulletin, email newsletter, postcards/
mailings, and the church’s Facebook page. To drive follow-through and participation,
encourage them to find out more or sign up for church activities through interactive
means in your mobile app, including:
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Forms
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Fill-in-the-blank sermon notes
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Push notifications
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Social media integrations
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Digital bulletins
This group has the highest preference/demand for online registration for events, classes,
and groups. Make sure you’re putting your app to work by meeting their expectations.
85% of Engaged Members attend church
three to four weekends per month.
Easiest Way to Grow
By far the easiest tool for expanding the
church’s reach, mobile apps allow your
most committed members to:
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Share your content to friends and
neighbors via social sharing tools (no
login required)
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Take immediate action on your inservice announcements to invite
others to events
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Participate in mobile giving, providing
you with more resources for outreach
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The Mature Disciple:
The mature disciple is helping lead the other three segments within
the congregation by doing everything from serving in the church to
caring for the poor, tithing, and evangelizing.
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Events on the calendar
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Church news
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Volunteer and charity work opportunities
Mature disciples can also be seen leading small groups, prayer teams,
and bible studies, as they demonstrate these spiritual behaviors
more often and in greater proportion to any other segment within
the church.
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Online giving
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Opportunities for sharing and inviting new members
They have the maturity to become disciples who influence other
disciples. Rather than relying on programs to grow, they have moved
toward self-nurtured relationships.
So what is the mature disciple looking for? Mature disciples can be
given the challenge of leadership training and personal development.
In order for them to grow in these areas, they need help connecting to
others and resources to assist themselves and those under their care.
Because they thrive on relationships, mature disciples rely on faceto-face connections, as well as technology (like your mobile app) for
ways to connect and assist others in their spiritual growth.
Since mature disciples are your most-engaged members, meeting
their needs with a mobile app—the best tool for high engagement—
keeps them devoted. In combination with resources from the three
previous personas, mature disciples will be engaged with content
pertaining to:
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Make easy wins with easy technology to keep this group—one of
your church’s biggest assets—engaged.
The goal
No matter what segment your congregants fall in, your mission is to
provide a consistent experience across all devices, so churchgoers can
participate as they wish—and as they move through their engagement
journey. This will allow people from all segments the ability to find the
information they need in order to become fully-engaged members of
your church community.
So Happy Together:
A Comprehensive Mobile
Strategy
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So which is it—responsive websites or
mobile apps? The answer isn’t either/or.
It’s both. But to tie them to the same goals
would yield undesirable results, as each
have several fundamental differences. See
for yourself:
Employing both a responsive website and
mobile apps helps you build the most
comprehensive strategy to meet your
members where they already spend the
majority of their time.
An integrated
package
Building a comprehensive mobile strategy
has a number of benefits. By allowing a
responsive site and mobile apps to work
together, you can:
SAVE TIME
Your app’s content is updated automatically
when you update your website.
SAVE ENERGY
Easily and effortlessly update all your
content from one central location.
MONITOR PERFORMANCE
View analytics and gauge success across
both mediums.
CATER TO USER PREFERENCES
Different people connect with the church in
different ways. Meet them on the platforms
they already use by providing options.
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The Partnership Advantage
Harmonious responsive sites and mobile apps have never been more apparent than through
the partnership of Bluebridge and Ekklesia 360, two elite church tech providers, partnering to
bring churches like you a comprehensive digital strategy. Together, we help you reach out to
newcomers, communicate with existing members, and turn casual churchgoers into engaged
members of your congregation.
With the full integration, you get a:
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Responsive website (Check out these sites built on Ekklesia 360 Custom Sites
& e360 Themes)
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Content management system (CMS)
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Mobile app (Check out the Bluebridge Portfolio)
...all in one high-value package!
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Come Together
No one element of a mobile strategy can effectively work to its potential without being paired with another. Just saying you have an app or a
responsive site isn’t enough—it’s making sure they’re part of an effective communication strategy.
By partnering these two industry-leading technologies, you can finally get back to what you do best instead of wasting time on complex software.
Let us help you:
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Win back time
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Train your communications leaders
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Scale to your potential
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Find ongoing support for your mobile needs
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Regain control
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Connect with your congregation online—where they already
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Seamlessly integrate across channels
spend time
The Impact of a
Comprehensive Mobile Strategy
Check out how churches just like yours are harnessing the power of an integrated mobile strategy!
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Engagement
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Increase attendance at events.
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Share your message beyond
Sunday service.
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Keep your congregation up-to-date.
KINGSWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Kingsway Christian Church uses the event calendar on their
responsive website and their app to keep congregants informed.
They also post sermon audio and video to their website via the
media library, which is automatically integrated and made
available on their app. In addition, push notifications update
church members about upcoming happenings.
Responsive website designed and developed by Fishhook and
powered by Ekklesia 360. App powered by Bluebridge.
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KINGSWAYCHURCH.ORG
Outreach
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Spread your church’s message with social sharing.
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Give visitors a complete picture of
your church.
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Empower members to invite friends to worship and events.
CONNECTION POINTE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Connection Pointe Christian Church uses their responsive site to
welcome visitors with an “I’m New” tab, featuring quick access
to pertinent information. Their mobile app is also integrated with
social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, so members
can easily share news, events, and other church information with
their networks.
Responsive website designed and developed by Fishhook and
powered by Ekklesia 360. App powered by Bluebridge.
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CONNECTIONPOINTE.ORG
Ministry
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Spread awareness about all your programs and ministries.
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Increase giving and weekly attendance
KINGSWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Kingsway Christian church boasts an integration with their
sermon messages between their website and app, which is used
to share sermon audio and video to those not able to attend on
Sunday mornings. In addition, the church has built-in mobile giving
capabilities, making it easier for members to tithe electronically—
even when they can’t make it to service.
Responsive website designed and developed by Fishhook and
powered by Ekklesia 360. App powered by Bluebridge.
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KINGSWAYCHURCH.ORG
Relevance
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Connect with a new generation of Christians using
technology they can relate to.
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Establish your presence in mobile’s high-growth landscape.
CONNECTION POINTE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Connection Pointe Christian Church provides their ministries
(including middle and high school) with relevant information to
connect. They know their responsive website, will automatically
adjust to the changing screen sizes of mobile devices.
Also, Connection Pointe regularly posts a digital bulletin to their
app. By going digital with their bulletins each week, the church
is able to provide a bulletin that is always easily accessible to
congregants while remaining eco-friendly.
Responsive website designed and developed by Fishhook and
powered by Ekklesia 360. App powered by Bluebridge.
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CONNECTIONPOINTE.ORG