Why Mobile Technologies Will Force Churches to Change

There have only been a handful of technologies that fundamentally changed how churches function on a day-to-day basis: Electricity, Central A/C & Heat, Telephones, the Internet, Email and, most recently, mobile technologies. I believe that mobile technologies will eventually force churches to change from a “come to us on our terms and our location” mindset to one that says “we’re available to meet you wherever you are”. In order to help churches embrace this change, I’ve outlined some of the reasons why I believe this change is coming – and coming faster than most realize.

More Than a Phone

Some would argue that mobile- and smart-phones are merely an extension of the telephone, but I believe the familiarity of the phone aspects cloud the bigger, and inherently better, value of mobile technology. A telephone was only ever a phone, though it did act as a transport medium for faxes and dial-up Internet connections.

Mobile devices, on the other hand, have redefined nearly every communication and transactional interaction of our lives.

The research firm comScore released their 2010 Mobile Year in Review report and revealed some very interesting and telling trends that, I believe, will bring a tidal wave of change upon nearly every local church. The report highlighted the increasing functionality in mobile phones. One of the fastest-growing uses of mobile devices? Online banking & online giving. “The U.S. mobile market displayed the most mature mobile banking market reaching 11.4% of mobile users,” cited the report. In addition, mobile wallet capabilities – using mobile phones in place of debit or credit cards for in-person purchases – are beginning to come onto the scene. The report cited the example of Starbucks, which, in early 2011, announced that “customers in thousands of locations can pay for items with their phones via an application that can be scanned across a reader at check out.”

People are using the near-constant availability of their mobile devices to connect and share instantly; a facet of digital life that the local church must embrace.

For example, 24.7% of U.S. mobile users access social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device, showing the continued rise of online connectivity. With 93% penetration in the U.S., mobile reach has connected the vast majority of Americans, with 2.26 trillion (yep, with a ‘t’) minutes of cell phone calls logged and 1.81 trillion text messages sent in 2010 alone. Further, 24.5% of U.S. households are now wireless-only.

This kind of saturation leads to one obvious conclusion: we have the ability to find, connect, communicate, share and purchase from anywhere at anytime.

Mobile Usage Intersects with Life in Churches

As mobile devices continue to sell at unprecedented rates, the increasing usage to an ever-widening user group has certain categories showing massive double-digit growth.

In the not-too-distant past, churches could pretty much get by with a “build-it-and-they-will-come” mentality. Today, churches can’t assume their venues, activities and events will be the hub of people’s spiritual lives. Remember when:

• New to town & looking for a church? Go to the street with all the church signs & try one.
• Want to share life with those who share your belief? Join a church Bible study class or small group.
• Need to tithe? Drop it in the offering plate at church.
• Desire to be in a mid-week discipleship class? Go to church.
• Need to share a prayer request? Go to church & post it on the prayer wall or meet with a pastor.
• Want to serve in a community outreach event? Go to church and sign up (on a piece of paper).

Today, every single one of those can be done through online technologies, all of which can be accessed on a mobile device. It is because of this near-limitless functionality, and the fact that it’s almost always on their body, that people are finding so many ways to use their mobile devices. Take a look at the top mobile activities over just a three month average:

What’s more, social media continues to expand into a larger audience, fueled by the handy accessibility of their connected mobile devices. The number of U.S. users accessing the Facebook site via mobile reached roughly 44 million as of December 2010, while YouTube and Twitter held the second and third position in the U.S., growing 74% and 71%, respectively.

Mobile is Now, Churches

In much the same way that building a website was a critical component for churches in the 1990′s, developing and using mobile applications will be one of the biggest needs (and challenges) for local churches. In fact, starting with a new website design today is probably a great starting point, as a mobile version of the site not only makes viewing it on a mobile device easier to read, the site navigation decisions that drive mobile design are excellent ways to trim the fat off of church websites.

Other mobile applications are readily available, many of them free, for churches to equip their staff & members. Some of my favorites include:

• YouVersion
• TruthCasting
• Planning Center Online
• F1Touch (iPhone version)
• Foursquare
• Facebook
• Twitter

Mobile will continue to grow and make church attendees more acutely aware of how much your churches does NOT have available (or at least visible). In time, I believe that mobile technology will be leveraged to make some percent of a church’s experience location independent. Anytime, anywhere is where people’s lives are moving and church should be an active, mobile part of life.

Do you think churches will change because they want to or because they’ll have to?

* Sources include CITA & comScore

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The Disney Experience at Church

Every church leader should make a trip to Disney Land/World as a business expense. The insights about creating a great experience result in such a significant return on ministry that the costs are more than justified.

Disney has everything about the experience locked up tight. They seemingly think of everything, even the things you probably wouldn’t think of but appreciate upon discovery. The lessons for churches are simply huge and don’t require the budgets of Disney to accomplish!

HOW THEY FIND YOU

Word of mouth and web are the two main methods people will use to investigate something they’re interested in. They’ll ask their friends if they’ve experienced it and they’ll look online at the website to determine if it seems like a good fit.

Nothing speaks about success like a happy person/family talking about their great experiences, so Disney has taken user-submitted home movies (from way back in the 60′s to today) and created short stories that showcase the experience (joy, happiness, fulfillment, excitement, enjoyment, etc.). They don’t have to tell us it’s going to be great – their satisfied customers already did.

Churches also benefit (or suffer) from word of mouth and their website. Capturing short, compelling stories of joy, happiness, fulfillment, excitement, enjoyment and life change from a variety of people in the demographic range of the church help people decide if they want to take the next step.

AMAZING ARRIVALS

Once we arrived at the airport, the Disney Magical Express made it super easy to enjoy the trip to DisneyWorld. 30 minutes in the bus went by quickly with a video showing more of the experience videos and things we can expect. If you drive into Disneyland, the large signage and easy-to-understand navigation and a small army of people in the parking lot wearing bright vests make it easy to know where to park and, once there, how to get to where you’ll need to go next.

This experience (minus the shuttle) can be applied on a smaller scale at just about any church with a number of smiling volunteers clad in bright vests making it easy to know where to park. In fact, I’ve been to several churches where signs alert first-time visitors to put on their hazard lights so they’re easily identified and given priority, up-front parking for first-time guests. Similarly, there are churches that focus on their demographic with parking near the children’s building for parents of small kids, with some churches going so far as to create single-parent parking and a smiling volunteer to help them with an umbrella on rainy days so they don’t get soaked while unbuckling their little ones from the back seat.

SMOKE WHAT YOU’RE SELLING (NO BAIT-AND-SWITCH)

When Disney says it’s a “Magical Experience”, they deliver. From their staff (called “Cast Members”) with smiles EVERYWHERE, to well thought-out way-finding/signage to promotional content, they consistently set an expectation and then meet it. When they don’t (my bags didn’t ‘magically’ appear in my room after the bus trip – a promise they’d made), they fix it and go above and beyond to apologize and help you get right back into a great experience. Attention to detail is the norm, with impeccably clean facilities to tiny, short sinks in the bathroom for little kids to wash up, to an obvious emphasis on customer service – Disney is smokin’ what they’re sellin’.

Too often, a church website promises “cutting edge” or “contemporary” or “relevant” something-or-other, only to end up offering what most other churches are offering: pretty good, but not-even-close-to-what-they-promised services/experiences. It’s easy to use fun adjectives and stock photography of actors having a great time, but it is a disconnect when I show up for an event, activity or service and am underwhelmed.

Don’t confuse what I’m saying. Not everything has to be top-dollar at church; it simply has to be top-effort.

NOT ONLY FIRST IMPRESSIONS – CONSISTENT IMPRESSIONS

Every day at Disney, I get more of the same – and that’s a very good thing. I appreciate that they don’t just make a show of first impressions; everyday their Cast Members greet, offer help and smile and welcome me. This kind of friendliness doesn’t just happen because they used Strengths Finder 2.0 to staff with the happiest people; this is a culture of making it about the experience. When intentionality is reinforced, people will rise to the occasion. Yes, I know they’re paid staff and not volunteers, but every other secular place also pays staff and doesn’t get this kind of result. Do you see the difference? That they pay staff is true but irrelevant. It’s simply expected that to work at Disney, you’re going to focus on making everything “magical” (and they even say at the end of phone calls: “Have a magical day!”).

They even highlight their best Cast Members (click on the image).

Volunteers that are public-facing (parking, greeters, hospitality, kids workers, ushers, etc.) need leaders that reinforce creating great experiences. Like Disney, setting the expectation along with the example goes a long way. Plus, I would submit that our volunteers would find more joy in being joyful and helpful than standing at a door and saying “Good morning” or “hello”.

Have your volunteer exceed expectations with greetings such as: “Have a fantastical day!” “We are so blessed to see you today!” “How can I serve you?” or even “Let me know if I can help with getting your kids checked in!”

HAVE A HEART

Finally, if we share the heart of our church and consistently remind our volunteers and staff that this may be the ONLY chance to meet someone in need or help them when they’re nervous about attending for the first time, the role suddenly shifts from a “job” to a joy. I do recommend using Strengths-Finders and spiritual gifts assessments to help people plug into roles where they’ll be most comfortable, but when we put teams of people together and encourage each other, the experience becomes more consistent and, most likely, far better than our attendees anticipate.

THIS MIGHT BE HARD TO DO…

How does your church make great experiences for all of your services, activities and events? What would you add or change from what I’ve described about Disney? What are the opportunities? What are the challenges? I’ve outlined my experiences and shared them; now it’s your turn. Comment below or link back to your blog where you’ve explored this in other ways!

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