![\"\"](\"http:\/\/matthewstarner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Facebook.jpg\" "\\"Facebook\\"")
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I\u2019m a fan of technology. I\u2019m also very pro technology when it comes to church and leveraging that technology to make things interactive, engaging and user-friendly. So if your church isn\u2019t on the technology train yet or you\u2019re wondering if there\u2019s something new that you might be missing, here\u2019s some places to start:<\/p>\n
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Unless you\u2019ve been under a technological rock for the last 5 years, Facebook is pretty much the biggest thing since, well, the internet. Right now, Facebook boasts some 800 million active members. In the United States, more than half of adults are active on Facebook. In short, if your church doesn\u2019t have a presence on Facebook, you\u2019re missing out<\/strong>.<\/p>\n What makes Facebook popular and why it works so well for churches is that it\u2019s all about interaction<\/strong>. Websites are more one-sided: come here and read about or watch what\u2019s happening<\/em>. Facebook is a place for people to not only read about your church but comment, ask questions, start discussions and engage in community. Yes there are ways to do those things off of Facebook, but if that\u2019s where people are, why not go to them?<\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t setup a Facebook page for your church, here\u2019s a helpful guide<\/a>. Also, consider integrating Facebook and your website using a variety of Facebook\u2019s Social Plugins<\/a> allowing people to comment, like or share pages of your site with their friends.<\/p>\n With the new Facebook Timeline now added to all Facebook pages, here’s a really helpful visual guide to get the most out of your church’s page.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve mentioned this idea before and it was met with resistance, mostly because when we see someone on their phone we automatically assume they\u2019re texting or are otherwise disengaged from what\u2019s happening. We need to reconsider the negative stigma and embrace using cell phones \u2013 especially smart phones \u2013 in church. First of all<\/strong>, within a few years, we won\u2019t even need to say \u201csmart\u201d phone because it\u2019s getting increasingly difficult to get a regular \u201cdumb\u201d phone. Smart phones are the Until iPads and tablets become cheap enough for everyone to afford you can\u2019t go entirely paperless, though I often dream of the day when everyone comes into church, pulls out their tablet and downloads the bulletin on their device with no printing or copying required! Until then, we have to print stuff. The key is printing only what you must<\/em> and eliminating where you can<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I see a lot of churches abandoning their printed bulletins in favor of a simple one-page announcement sheet. If your church can do it and get away with it, great! At Journey, our bulletin is just one page. We keep the information concise and direct people to the website for everything else.<\/p>\n For us, the website is the central hub for information.<\/strong> By reinforcing that it\u2019s where to find information AND keeping it daily updated, people will use it regularly. Using QR codes (as I mentioned above) help us to do this with minimal effort on the part of the user. While we haven\u2019t done away with our bulletin, we don\u2019t print up fliers or brochures for every event and every ministry. We put together a useful and informative page on our website and direct everyone there. Make sure your website is always updated and current both in content and in appearance. For most websites, a good rule of thumb is to review your design every two years. Two calendar years is roughly the equivalent of a decade in internet time<\/strong>. [citation needed] A lot can change technologically and stylistically in a short time!<\/p>\n If your website looks like the MySpace of a 12 year old, it\u2019s probably time to consider updating it\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Another way we eliminate paper with technology at church is by not printing music for our worship team<\/strong>. We use Planning Center Online<\/a> to plan, schedule and distribute all the necessary materials for our team digitally. It has the added bonus of having a music stand app which turns any computer or tablet into a digital music stand. We\u2019ve used this for several months now and our musicians especially love it. For vocalists, we use ProPresenter\u2019s Stage Display<\/a>. We\u2019ve always used a monitor on stage for words, but it was the same as the screen for the congregation. Starting in ProPresenter 4.0<\/a>, they added a stage display, which is essentially a teleprompter. The best feature is that it displays the current lyrics AND the next slide, so even if the slide operator is slow on the click, the singers have the words before they\u2019re up.<\/p>\n Yes, there is a cost associated with Planning Center and ProPresenter, but it\u2019s minimal. The benefit and savings in reduced printing, copying and time using Planning Center Online make it worth the small amount it costs. ProPersenter, with it\u2019s incredible ease of use and stellar features, is worth the one time purchase cost. If you\u2019re considering options like this and aren\u2019t sure if you can afford it, take the time to consider the costs and benefits and even find other churches that are using them and pay them a visit.<\/p>\n With decent cameras and video editing software becoming pretty mainstream now, there is no reason not to use these tools. One easy way that I would encourage almost every church to do immediately is replace their spoken announcements with video announcements. There are several reasons:<\/p>\n Almost every computer now comes with some pre-installed video editing software. We use iMovie and Final Cut on our Mac. The latest edition of iMovie is nearly as powerful as our old version of Final Cut and it only cost $15. iMovie gets us through the majority of the simple editing projects we have.<\/p>\n We purchased a modest used HD camera a few years ago and it does a very good job. But before that, we used my old video camera that I bought years ago. I\u2019ve even used my digital camera to record video to use in our announcements since it records in 720p. The point is, use what you have to get started. Fancy equipment can come later. <\/strong><\/p>\n When shooting announcements, keep it simple and short. When we first started doing announcements on video a few years ago, they were skits that setup the announcement. While they were often funny and people enjoyed them, they remembered the skits, not the announcement. We took a hiatus and retooled it to be like a newscast with one or two people sharing the information directly. The information is getting across better this way. Find what works for your culture and don\u2019t be afraid to change it if it\u2019s not working. <\/strong><\/p>\n One of the latest ways we\u2019re using technology at Journey is by adding to our instrumentation digitally. For several years worship teams have used loops or backing tracks for their teams. There are lots of different ways to carry out this depending on your skill level, the need and the time and money you want to invest. Since Journey is on a shoestring budget [read: we’re broke]<\/strong> the only way we could make it happen is to do it spending next to nothing. I\u2019m working on a full post with all the details about how we make it work for us, but essentially we use a computer running Finale to play instrument parts and a click track through the system that our band plays along with. The computer plays the instruments that we don\u2019t already have \u2013 strings, brass, orchestral percussion, woodwinds, etc. It\u2019s only to enhance, not replace.<\/p>\n Identify what you want to accomplish by adding digital instruments. If you want to replace a key instrument that isn\u2019t there you\u2019ll need a different approach than if you just want to add some extra flair to your existing team. Since there are lots of different ways to do this, look for a post on this topic here coming soon!<\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n There are lots of ways to leverage new technology at church.<\/strong> Don\u2019t be afraid to experiment with new tools or methods. Above all though, remember that technology is merely a tool to help us carry out our mission of reaching a hurting world with the saving Gospel of Christ. Don\u2019t let the technology steal the spotlight \u2013 let it help reflect it!<\/strong><\/p>\n Matthew Sterner is a guest blogger for Musicademy. He blogs at Beyond the Noise: Thoughts on Life and Worship<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Other posts you might like:<\/strong><\/p>\n Is a church website enough? What about the social media revolution?<\/a><\/p>\n Creating fractal images for visual worship<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Practical tips and ideas for visual creativity in worship<\/a><\/p>\n Three things to improve your mix this week<\/p>\n Top 10 Do\u2019s and Don\u2019ts \u2013 Soundmen\/women<\/a><\/p>\nWhere do I start?<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/matthewstarner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/smart-phones-300x200.jpg\" "\\"smart")
<\/h2>\n4. Encourage People to Use their Phones in Church<\/h2>\n
future<\/del> present. Secondly<\/strong>, nearly everyone carries their phone AT ALL TIMES. It\u2019s a tool that\u2019s at their disposal every minute. Why would you not leverage smartphone technology at church?!<\/strong><\/p>\nWhere do I start?<\/h3>\n
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/matthewstarner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Stacks-of-paper-300x200.jpg\" "\\"Stacks")
<\/p>\n3. Eliminate Paper Wherever You Can<\/h2>\n
Where do I start?<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/matthewstarner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/worst-website-ever-300x165.jpg\" "\\"worst-website-ever\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/matthewstarner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/filming_editing.jpg\" "\\"filming_editing\\"")
<\/p>\n2. Go Hollywood!<\/h2>\n
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Where do I start?<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/matthewstarner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Computer-Music-300x176.jpg\" "\\"Computer-Music\\"")
<\/p>\n1. Hire Digital Band Members<\/h2>\n
Where do I start?<\/h3>\n