Enhancing Church Engagement: Harnessing the Power of Text Messaging📱

I would put 100 dollars on the fact that your congregation spent more time on their phone on Sunday alone than they did in church over the weekend. According to a recent report from Statista, people, on average, spend 4.5 hours a day on their phones. That’s absolutely astonishing, if you ask me. When we think about the families that come to church, there is a massive opportunity to connect with people before, during, and after service. That opportunity extends well beyond the four walls of the church on Sunday.

The Opportunity of Texting in Ministry

We can all admit that we use our smartphones a lot! According to my screen time statistics, I averaged 112 pickups last week. If we assume I’m up for 16 hours each day, that means I looked at my phone every 9 minutes on average. Take a second to look at that number for yourself. What’s even crazier is that most of my pickups were because of messages. We get messages all the time. It could be DM’s on your favorite social media platforms or text messages from friends and family. People are sending messages like crazy.

Just the other day, the Lord put a name on my heart. I took just a moment to write a thoughtful message and send it off. It led to a really great conversation. All because I took just a moment of my time to send a text message. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has sent or received encouragement through text, but I wonder if we have ever taken this one step further and used it as a ministry moment.

When does a text message become spam?

When I think of text messages, I usually divide them into two categories: friends and spam. What’s the difference between these two categories? For me, the difference is whether the message is wanted or not. So, what makes a message valuable? I think that comes down to the sender and the message. I may not always appreciate the memes or videos that my friends send over, but I don’t think those messages are spam. It may turn into complete chaos when I’m in a group message, but I still don’t think of it as spam. However, when I get a message about a local election in Texas (I live in Florida now), that text is immediately spam. Now, if my favorite ice cream place sends me a coupon, I go ask my wife when she's free (not spam). It’s all a matter of who sent the message and what it said.

From Transactional to Transformational

In 2020, before the lockdowns, our church had been experimenting with text messaging. We set up keywords and autoresponders to send information to people when they reached out. Our messages had no soul. Their purpose was to push content and invite people to events—that spammy sort of marketing I outlined above. However, one day, that whole philosophy turned on a dime. Once we got word that Dallas was shut down due to COVID. Our team, like yours, was in full-on problem-solving mode. We had limited ways to connect to our staff and congregation. At that time, as a part of the Digital Engagement team, I supported our team’s push to pivot our church to leveraging text messaging as ministry. During the first week of the lockdowns, we sent over 150,000 texts covering our entire church database.

The message was simple:

“Hi {{ First Name }},

This is Ps {{ Campus Pastor’s Name }} at the {{ Campus Name}}. We just wanted to let you know we are praying for you and your family during this time. If you have any physical needs or prayer requests, please text them back. Let us know how {{ Church Name }} can support you during this time.

Blessings,

Ps {{ Campus Pastor’s Name }}

The response was incredible. People responded with both their physical and spiritual needs. Our staff responded by providing aid where we were able and sent back messages praying over people and encouraging them. Within the first week, we sent about 500,000 texts, and while that eventually slowed down. The influx of questions, prayer requests, and conversations never stopped. Years later, text messaging has become one of our primary means of helping people stay connected to the church.

Strategic Approach to Texting

Just start small

You may be wondering how we did it. While we had the unfair advantage of having the whole church staff involved at the start to support this change in strategy, all you need to do is start small. Just turn on text messaging in your ChMS or use a third party. You want to ensure your platform can both send and receive messages. That bi-directionality is key. Feel free to reach out to us for recommendations at info@threefold.solutions. We recommend that you start by sending a simple “How can we pray for you?” message and see what happens.

Message things of value

The biggest thing we learned after making the pivot was to send messages that help people by writing genuine content and questions and looking to have message(s) start a conversation. When considering what to send, think of ways to provide encouragement, ask for prayer requests, and follow up with people to check in on the classes they attended or even check in on their lives.

Be consistent

Just like any relationship, it’s about consistency. We found that people continued the conversation once they knew they could text our church for questions. That means you will need to ensure that people receive the needed follow-up. This is your opportunity as a staff member to ensure that people do not slip through the cracks.

It’s okay to ask

At some point, you will have an event to invite people to attend. It’s okay to ask people to come if you have nurtured them along the way. We have an internal rule: nurture, nurture, nurture, nurture, nurture, nurture, ask. For every one message where we ask someone to do something or attend something; we have a goal to have cared for them six times as much. It’s not a rule; it’s just something we aim to achieve.

Automations and human conversations

Once you start to see the impact text messages can have on your congregation, it’s time to take it up a notch. Using most texting platforms, you can build automations and workflows to help support your congregation on autopilot. Workflows and automations can be used as a follow-up to help your congregation navigate your processes. You can build text workflows to remind people about upcoming classes or forms they must fill out (parental release, membership, etc.). You can use keywords and forms to drop people into these processes. Tactically, these sorts of workflows feel way more transactional, and that’s okay; you generally only want to leverage automation when someone has opted into a process. Don’t look to automate too fast and only automate things that have clearly defined outcomes; otherwise, it just feels like you are talking to a robot.

As a note: One text workflow we love is a post-salvation follow-up devotional. When people text in to share their salvation decision, they can add themselves to a 7-day follow-up. In our messaging, we clearly state the duration and purpose of these messages. From there, we send daily encouragement messages (accompanied by a link to a short video) to help them on their walk with Christ. If they have any questions, they can text back, and our team will be able to step in and answer them. This is an incredible way to leverage automation while Ensuring the communication feels personal. Using both video and text also makes this content more engaging. These types of workflows allow for an impactful experience for your congregation.

Embracing Texting as a Ministry Tool

As we have explored, the potential of texting in ministry extends far beyond simple announcements and event promotions. It's about using a primary means of communication to build meaningful connections that nurture our community. By starting small, messaging with genuine intent, and maintaining consistency, we create a foundation of trust and engagement. Text messaging has proven to be a powerful tool for our church, enabling us to reach out and provide support exactly when it's needed. As we continue to refine our approach and integrate thoughtful automations, we enhance our ability to minister effectively, even from a distance. Let's embrace the power of texting not just as a means of communication but as a ministry that brings us closer, no matter where we are. Together, we're not just sending messages—we're reminding people of their value and that there is a God who loves them, one text at a time.

Michael Visser

P.S. Here’s how we can further assist you:

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#3: Reach out to us directly if you have questions or want us to write on a particular topic. info@threefold.solutions​