5 Ways A Mobile App Will Increase Church Engagement This Christmas

Just admit it. The moment you heard Christmas would be on a Sunday this year you quietly mouthed the words, “Uh oh.”

You didn’t dwell on them. But all sorts of questions flooded your mind:

• Will anyone show up?
• Should we still host a Christmas Eve service?
• How am I going to find volunteers?
• Can I show up to the worship service in my robe and bunny slippers?

Okay, maybe you didn’t ask that last question (at least I hope not).

You love celebrating the birth of Jesus with your church family, but you had to wonder how it would impact church engagement for the 52nd and final worship service of your church year.

But attendance isn’t the only way to measure your effectiveness this Christmas. Jesus didn’t call us to get people into seats on Christmas morning. Jesus called us to make disciples. Using mobile technology, you’re no longer tethered to a building when it comes to making disciples. You can engage your congregation seven days a week—whether they’re at work, a kid’s soccer game, or grandma’s house on Christmas morning enjoying her homemade cinnamon rolls.

In fact, if your church has a mobile app, there may be no better time of the year to push your congregation to the next level in mobile engagement. If you don’t have one (or you don’t have an effective one), let this be a reminder of why it’s important.

Here are five ways your church members can stay connected with you no matter where they are this Christmas:

1. Watch your worship services

If you can’t get people to church on Christmas morning, take church to them! Whether they are across town or across the country, your congregants can view—and even participate in from afar—your worship services through your app. Here’s the best part: Your members can still tune in to that service they missed, whether it’s at night when they get home from the family gathering or while they are standing in line at the department store the next day trying to return the ugly sweater Aunt Bertha gave them.

2. Express generosity

In days gone by, if someone missed your worship service, they likely didn’t have an opportunity to give. Giving to the local church is about more than simply funding the church’s budget.

Helping people give to what God is doing in the world is a key part of making disciples. Since most of your members are experienced at paying bills and making purchases through their mobile devices, giving to their local church on an app won’t be as big of a step as you might think.

3. Discover one another’s prayer needs

If your members don’t make the Christmas services this year, they won’t just miss the gatherings themselves, but they’ll miss the ability to spend time with other members and find out how they can pray for one another. Through your mobile app, your members can share prayer requests no matter where they are. No one will be out of the loop just because they missed a Sunday. It means the love and care of your church family is never further away than a smartphone.

4. Stay up to date about new events

Everyone absent from your Christmas service will likely miss your bulletin. That means they will miss all the important information about how they can get involved in the church. With a mobile app, that’ll never happen. Your missing members will always have your church calendar in the palm of their hand.

5. Find out about service opportunities

All sorts of opportunities to serve come up during the holidays—from helping out at a local soup kitchen to last-minute caroling efforts. With a mobile app, you can communicate those opportunities to your whole church in an instant, regardless of where your members are.

Thanks to the ability to send out push notifications based on location, you can also focus your communication on those who stayed in town for the holidays (so you avoid bothering people who are too far away to help).

Here’s the key though: If you have a church app, remind your congregation about how they can use it during the Christmas holiday. Be specific, and use as many different mediums to communicate the message as possible. You’ve got one more worship service before the big day. Don’t forget to mention your mobile app from the pulpit. Don’t stop there though. Send an email. Tweet a reminder. Remind your members on Facebook.

Don’t miss this time to push mobile engagement.

And just so you’re prepared, the next time Christmas falls on a Sunday is 2022. If you’re not a mobile adopter yet, don’t wait another six years to make mobile a priority in your church! Talk to a Pushpay expert today to see how a world-class mobile app and giving platform can best serve your church and wider community.