Thursday, August 30, 2012

Churches go high-tech to serve members

[...] throughout the week, it's likely that church members will be chatting on the church's Facebook site, submitting online prayer requests or using the Internet to catch up on missed sermons. Susan Converse, director of operations for St. Mark Lutheran Church & School, agreed that technology has greatly expanded horizons for churches. For many churches, websites provide an opportunity to connect members to services and resources while letting those browsing the web get a sample of what their congregations are like. Visitors also can: download event registration forms; read blogs; access photos and videos; and connect to volunteer opportunities. Members also have the option of creating an account on the website to access its member portal, MYSBC Life, and individual class websites. First-time visitors can link to Google Maps through the site to get directions to the Woodway campus and take a virtual tour of the campus through the website. [...] Baptist recently developed its own prayer-and-care software that assists with what staff members call "catch and dispatch" of the prayer requests and needs of the church membership. From these, we average 179 follow-up calls, 578 hand-written encouraging notes, 244 hospital visits made by both staff and volunteers and 9,134 prayers prayed by our staff and volunteer prayer intercessors. An extension of this software is the church's online prayer room, where staff or volunteers can log in through the website and pray through each of the prayer requests. At St. Mark's, staff members and volunteers turn to technology to enhance worship services and share information.

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