An App For You? Creating an App for Your Ministry

Nate Abrahamson (Cottage Grove, Wisconsin USA)

Archived discussion

About the presenter

Nate Abrahamson is an Associate Pastor at Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. Abiding Shepherd is a Christian community that makes extensive use of visual media and technology for studying and sharing the Good News. Nate has been serving as a pastor at Abiding Shepherd since he graduated from Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary in 2012. He, his wife Stella and daughter Ruthie live in Cottage Grove.

An App For You?

Why you should consider creating an app for your ministry

Introduction

Communicating news and connecting people are two of the greatest challenges that every organization faces. I remember when I was the student body president at Bethany Lutheran College and our events coordinator would set up a concert with an amazing up-and-coming band on a Friday night. We'd promote the event with posters and emails. But then come Friday night, almost no one would be there. One time I recall standing in line for brunch the next morning and hearing someone say, "Man, there's never anything to do around here!" I responded, "What would you think if I told you a really cool up-and-coming band was going to do a live show right here? Wouldn't that be sweet?" They, of course, thought that would be awesome and suggested we do that sometime. I then pointed to the posters and asked if they saw the emails because that exact thing took place the night before. This person had no idea the event was even taking place until I pointed out the posters.

Now I share this little college tidbit because I've found in ministry that the challenge is much the same. We have the best news this world has ever known (The Gospel) and are part of an organization unlike any other (The Body of Christ). We hold worship services, publish Bible studies and organize events. Yet, communicating the message, helping people know what's going on and getting people connected continues to be a challenge. This is why, at Abiding Shepherd (the church I serve), we repeatedly evaluate how we're communicating, if we should tweak our approach and/or pursue new tools that are available.

About a year and a half ago a self-evaluation led us to develop our own church app and it has been a wonderful resource for us. For those unfamiliar with apps, www.techtarget.com defines an app as "A software application developed specifically for use on small, wireless computing devices, such as smartphones and tablets, rather than desktop or laptop computers." While an app may not be a fit for every church or ministry (just google church apps and you'll see blogs about why some people think churches don't need apps) I'd like to share what led us to pursue an app and why you might want to consider one as well.


Other Platforms Are Losing Their Effectiveness

If your church is like most churches, the announcements before/after worship and the worship folder are the primary places where news and events are shared. A personal invitation continues to be by far the most effective way to share information with a person and connect them with an event. However, the weekly announcements are not as helpful as they once were because people are not in church as often. It's common knowledge that in the United States overall church attendance is down. What is not discussed enough, though, is that church-going people are actually going to church less. A regular church-going person often attends only two or three times a month where in the past they went basically every Sunday. Less attendance at worship services means less exposure to the weekly announcements and worship folders. We need to get the news out in other ways.

Email continues to be a great tool for churches in many ways. Yet, we should not over-estimate its effectiveness. The average open rate for emails sent by non-profit organizations is only 22%. Thankfully at Abiding Shepherd our average email opening rate is a bit higher at somewhere between 32-36% but that is still only about a third of the people on our e-newsletter list. For our monthly newsletter, out of the third of the people who opened the email, only one third of them actually clicked on the link to go read the newsletter on our website. Whether it is because inboxes are full of spam or work-related messages or whatever the issue is, the reality is that the majority of emails being sent are not being read.

Social media continues to be an important part of the communication strategy for churches but it is becoming increasingly difficult and less effective due to changing newsfeed settings and parity in platform popularity. When we first started our church Facebook page seven years ago, it was perhaps our most effective means of communication. However, recent changes in Facebook newsfeed settings means that posts from pages appear in newsfeeds far less frequently. It is not uncommon for our posts to be seen by only a handful of people. Additionally, Facebook is declining in popularity. According to the 2018 "Infinite Dial" survey ("Infinite Dial" is the longest running media consumption behavior study in America) the percentage of Americans 12+ on Facebook dropped 6% in the last year. Twitter also declined while Snapchat, Instagram and Pinterest all grew slightly in popularity.

While Facebook continues to be the largest social media platform, people are spending more time on a variety of other platforms. Especially among young users (ages 12-34) Facebook is only slightly more popular than Snapchat and Instagram. Instagram and Snapchat are can be great tools as well. We post daily Bible verses to Instagram and use Snapchat for communicating youth events. But they aren't great for sharing things like sermons or Bible studies. The various social media platforms can and should be utilized but they all have their weaknesses and challenges.


Apps Communicate What Matters Most Efficiently

While the social media landscape is changing and emails are sitting unread, an app can appeal to a wider audience. Instagram and Snapchat are popular with younger users but are far less popular with older generations. Pinterest is far more likely to be used by women than men. Facebook is declining rapidly in popularity amongst younger users. Unlike these social media platforms, with an app no smartphone or tablet user is excluded due to the information being shared on a platform they dislike.

An app also is a great tool for sharing the most important information, efficiently. When we developed our app we decided to include only the resources and information our members want to utilize the most. While the app does include some basic church information, it primarily serves as a simple one-stop location for people to access the livestream of our Sunday morning worship services, our sermon archive, our monthly newsletter, our small group Bible study materials, church calendar, online giving and special announcements. We also recently added a page called "Armor of God" which includes Bible verses that have been selected and organized topically to help individuals in their daily battles of faith.

An additional tool that comes with an app is the ability to send push notifications. Push notifications will send a short message to anyone who has your app downloaded and link them directly to a page or news update. We've received very positive feedback that these notifications are great reminders for people and are a simple way to update them that new resources are available.

When considering notifications, it is important to set a limit on how many notifications will be sent during the week and communicate that limit to your members. Some apps send a rather obnoxious amount of notifications which has led some users to turn off app notifications. Letting them know that you plan to send at most 2-3 notifications each week will encourage them to turn on their notifications setting for your app.


An App Is More Do-able Than You Might Think

Apps today are far more do-able than you might think. I know I stayed away from pursuing an app for our church for a few years because I figured it would require contacting a developer and spending a lot of money.

However, there are plenty of app building templates, including templates specially designed for churches, that are not only easy to use but relatively inexpensive as well. For instance, we developed our app through Finalweb, the same company that hosts our church website. By choosing Finalweb we were able to really personalize our app, integrate our app with our website and have a familiarity with their troubleshooting resources when any issues arise. Because we were already Finalweb customers there was no setup fee to create the app and it costs only $39/month to keep the app live. Finalweb is an extremely popular website host among ELS and WELS churches and so many churches are already working with a potential app developer.

While Finalweb has worked well for us, there are a number of other app developers for churches that are even easier to use and not that much more expensive.

For instance, ChurchLink is an app developer that will create a professional looking app for your church for an initial onetime setup fee of $500 and then will keep your app live for $57.50/month. One of the benefits of using ChurchLink is that it allows you to integrate your social media, video sharing and podcast feeds into your app. In other words, what you post on Facebook, Instagram or Youtube can be setup to automatically be added to the app. This integration cuts out a number of steps.

Another example is Custom Church Apps which offers a starter app that is part of their "My Church App" for $29.95/month and a custom app starting at $59.95/month.


Final Thoughts

When considering whether or not to develop an app, please take careful note of the specific needs of your ministry. Many app developers will present expensive package options that include far more tools than the average church will use. On the other hand, for a slight upgrade an app may include in the price online giving which might actually be cheaper than what a church is currently paying for the service. You may also find that your current podcast subscription service and mobile optimized website are already meeting your needs adequately and so an app is not necessary. Each ministry is unique. Take some time to evaluate if an app is a fit for your ministry and what type of app would best suit your needs.

If you do decide to go with an app, recognize that an app does not replace the other platforms. It is a great additional tool but not the only tool. There are still some who don't have smartphones or know how to download additional apps to their phone or tablet. Some would rather just read the email or check out a sermon as it pops up in their Facebook newsfeed. Even for those who love using the app, seeing that the information and resources are available on other platforms as well simply reinforces the fact that these resources are available and should be utilized.

Thank you for taking the time to consider what I've learned regarding communication, digital resources and apps. If you'd like to look through our church app as an example just go to the Google Play or Itunes store, search "Abiding Shepherd" and download. I look forward to your discussion and would love to help however I can. What a privilege it is to take part in the Great Commission during the digital age!


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Discussion

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Faith Wieting (Martin Luther College Student) 2018-10-24 12:35:26pm
Pastor Abrahamson,
I really enjoyed the idea of an app for your church that is available to everyone, regardless of whether they are members or not. I especially liked that you acknowledged the fact that, "It's common knowledge that in the United States overall church attendance is down. What is not discussed enough, though, is that church-going people are actually going to church less.". As you said, many churches rely on verbal announcements, but those verbal announcements are useless if the majority of the congregation isn't there to hear them. I believe that many churches would benefit from an app such as the one you have developed for your church.

I think that it's really cool that the app is available to everyone, not just members. I think that it could possibly be useful to put sermons/devotions/services into categories, or folders, so that when people go to the app, they would have a folder of resources, helpful people to contact, and Christian support available to them at the tap of a finger. You could have folders for situational things such as divorce, loss of a loved one, or anxiety. That way, people struggling with these things would have an endless supply of passages, previous sermons, and support from Lutherans that they wouldn't so easily have without the app.

After reading the article, I am left wondering if your app has increased communication between your church and its members. What benefits have you seen since the launch of the app?

Thanks for your article!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-25 11:30:54am
Hi Faith, thank you for your comments! I appreciate your suggestion about categorizing sermons. Doing this manually could be very time consuming as each sermon could potentially fall into a number of categories. However, I wonder if there are any sermon library templates that give the person uploading the sermon the opportunity to attach key words to the sermon. In that case it would only require 1 upload and then a quick listing of topics covered. Those looking at the sermons later could simply search by keyword. I don't know if anything like this is available but it would be a nice feature.

Regarding your question, the main feedback I've received is that our sermon library has been utilized a lot. Users see the app as a great way to catch up on sermons if they've missed a few weeks. I've also been told that the notifications are really nice, short and simple notes that have been appreciated greatly.
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Camella Kohl (Martin Luther College ) 2018-10-24 12:40:03pm
Dr. Abrahamson

First of all, I really enjoyed reading your article about social media today and what that has to do with our ministry and doing the best to get the word out there. I especially liked your analogy, in the beginning, talking about how the message can be right in front of us but we still do not know what is going on. “ Yet, communicating the message, helping people know what's going on and getting people connected continues to be a challenge” with all of the technology presented to us in this day and age I think that it really helps get the message out there in great ways, but it also, like anything else, will have struggles along with it.

When I read about you talking about social media, like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook, I was thinking about how it might be useful to try a focus group to help prove what would be the best way to communicate the information that you are trying to put out there. People from all of the different age groups and all of the different kinds of social media.

When I finished reading your article, I was wondering mostly about useful it would be for lots of churches to actually have an app specifically for their church. If it would prove to be very effective in getting announcements and information out there, or if it would not do much because people wouldn’t bother to check it and rather just find out a different way. “Some would rather just read the email or check out a sermon as it pops up in their Facebook newsfeed.”


Thank you for your contribution to the conference!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-25 11:37:54am
Camella, thank you for your comments. The focus group is an interesting idea. However, just in working with individuals and reading up on trends, I could tell you pretty well what the results would be at our congregation concerning social media. Those 20s and younger would be reached via Instagram and Snapchat. Facebook would reach people in their mid 20s and older with mixed results because of the new Facebook logarithm changes. Emails, unless they have a super catchy or significant subject line, probably aren't going to have a great open rate. App usage is probably the least known and that is what I would ask a focus group about. Some groups would love the app. Others, like you mentioned, wouldn't bother to check it. It would be good to do a little research before making a choice either way.

Thanks again for your comments!
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Lydia Plocher (Martin Luther College) 2018-10-24 1:46:55pm
Pastor Abrahamson,

I think it was smart when you talked about how many different platforms of social media are used by different age groups today. When you said that having an app wouldn’t “replace other platforms” and how it’s “not the only tool”, it really hit me that there are so many different ways to spread the Word over social media.

I began to think about how the synod would benefit from having a sort of common app. Instead of having all of our information spread out among different social media platforms, perhaps there is a way to transition to putting it all in one place.

I had a question as I was reading through your article: How would you get word out about the new app? If the point of the app is to get word out because all of the other ways used aren’t very efficient, how would you get the information out about it in the first place? You said that “an app is a great tool for sharing the most important information, efficiently”. That is very true, but in order for the app to be great for sharing information, people need to have the app.

Thank you for your contribution to the conference!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-25 11:40:36am
Hi Lydia, thank you for your comments. I believe the WELS actually has an app. However, and this speaks to your question, I don't think they talk about it very much. We've tried to get the word out by communicating the message in every other media option we have and have made sure to repeat the message. Every so often we remind people on our other social media platforms that the app is there and occasionally I'll even mention it in a sermon. Repeated and varied communication seems to be the best approach.

Thanks again for your comments!
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Carley Techlin (Martin Luther College) 2018-10-25 12:46:35pm
Mr. Abrahamson,

I was incredibly surprised to read the church attendance rates at the beginning of your piece. I had no idea that overall people were going to church as infrequently as you wrote. I strongly agree with the fact that emails are not opened as often as they should be. As a college student, I tend to tell myself that I will read the email from my home congregation later when I have time. It is so easy to put off the responses.

As I read your article, I wondered if you have shared this with any other churches throughout the country. This is definitely something my church would make, as they are always searching for new and better ways to communicate with their members. This was an incredible idea, and I hope more churches get the opportunity to utilize this concept for the sake of their members.

Thank you for your contribution to the conference!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 10:27:32am
Good morning Carley, thank you for your comments. The church attendance situation is definitely a noteworthy trend. I didn't mention it in the presentation but this trend is especially happening in upper middle class suburbs where people have the expendable income to own second homes or cabins up north and travel frequently. Depending where you live, you may see more or less of this trend.

Regarding sharing this info with other churches, this presentation is really the first step I've taken in that direction. I'm more than happy to share with more who are interested. Please do share this presentation with anyone whom you think it would benefit.
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Emma Dorn (Martin Luther College) 2018-10-25 12:51:49pm
Pastor Abrahamson,

I was really interested in your article, and your suggestion to use a church app is such a good idea! I agree with your statement that, "It's common knowledge that in the United States overall church attendance is down, What is not discussed enough, though, is that church-going people are actually going to church less." That is very sad but true. I know that my church would benefit greatly from using an app because many members are younger, which means they are a little more used to technology, and my church is usually open to change or additions that would help its members.

After reading your article, I am wondering if your members have actually used the excuse that they don't need to go to church because they can just use the app for announcements. That would be kind of disappointing because going to church is far more than getting church updates, but that was the first thing that popped into my mind.

Thanks for your interesting article! I might suggest this to my pastor!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 10:37:40am
Good morning Emma. Thank you for your comments. Regarding your statement about church going people going to church less often being "very sad but true," I did want to add one comment. This trend is especially happening in upper middle class communities where church goers have the expendable income to own a lake home or cabin and are able to travel frequently. They are tend to have their children take part in extra sports and programs which often happen on the weekend. So it's not necessarily that people don't want to be engaged, but that they are out of town when worship takes place. This is why our livestream and sermon archive are the main draws to the app. It allows people to worship from wherever they are or watch a sermon whenever they are free.

Regarding giving people an excuse to not attend worship, I would say that this has not been the case. Your concern was also raised when we added livestreaming. I have heard some people say that on really rough Sunday mornings, where they kids are being especially difficult, they have at times opted to stay home and watch online rather than endure a screamfest from their kids as they try to pile them into the car. I don't think that's a bad thing. They still gathered there family together to watch the service online and likely were edified more because their nerves were not completely shot. If this became an every Sunday occurrence, that would not be good. I'm not too concerned about that however because I regularly hear the feedback that while the livestream is really nice, it's just not the same as being here in person. Think of when people post videos on Instagram or Snapchat. It's fun to get a glimpse of what they're doing but it's just not the same as actually being there. As a matter of fact, it might actually peak your interest and encourage you to be there next time. The same thing happens with our livestream and app.
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Alexis Spurgin (Martin Luther College) 2018-10-25 12:59:56pm
Pastor Abrahamson,

I really enjoyed reading your suggestion on creating an app for our churches to spread information faster and more efficiently. I agree that creating an app that would have all of the information in one place would be helpful to those who aren’t in church often. I thought the experience you had in college about the lack of knowledge some students had about your events you had planned and that someone “had no idea the event was even taking place” until you pointed the poster out to him was very interesting and also relatable. I have trouble looking at posters in the hallways as well about events. I mostly rely on social media just like you said in your presentation but I also like to hear announcements after a church service because I may have been too busy to scroll through any feed on any social media.

I really think an app can be useful when trying to deliver information to those who do not attend church often but I also feel doing that will give them another excuse not to go to church because they have what they need there. You said, “a regular church-going person often attends only two or three times a month where in the past they went basically every Sunday.” I feel this is concerning.

My question for you is, do you think creating this app will impact church attendance even more whether it’s a positive or negative?
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 10:40:45am
Good morning Alexis. Thank you for your comments. Creating an app has certainly not affected our attendance negatively. As a matter of fact, our attendance has been trending upward. I share the same info with you that I just shared with the previous comment: the trend of church going people attending church less often is especially happening in upper middle class communities where church goers have the expendable income to own a lake home or cabin and are able to travel frequently. They are tend to have their children take part in extra sports and programs which often happen on the weekend. So it's not necessarily that people don't want to be engaged, but that they are out of town when worship takes place. This is why our livestream and sermon archive are the main draws to the app. It allows people to worship from wherever they are or watch a sermon whenever they are free.

Regarding giving people an excuse to not attend worship, I would say that this has not been the case. Your concern was also raised when we added livestreaming. I have heard some people say that on really rough Sunday mornings, where they kids are being especially difficult, they have at times opted to stay home and watch online rather than endure a screamfest from their kids as they try to pile them into the car. I don't think that's a bad thing. They still gathered there family together to watch the service online and likely were edified more because their nerves were not completely shot. If this became an every Sunday occurrence, that would not be good. I'm not too concerned about that however because I regularly hear the feedback that while the livestream is really nice, it's just not the same as being here in person. Think of when people post videos on Instagram or Snapchat. It's fun to get a glimpse of what they're doing but it's just not the same as actually being there. As a matter of fact, it might actually peak your interest and encourage you to be there next time. The same thing happens with our livestream and app.
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Richard Leasure (Martin Luther College) 2018-10-25 1:02:00pm
Pastor Abrahamson,

I do agree with the thought of using an app for church purposes, and I especially liked how you said that it would not be too expensive. For some churches, the cost is a big issue and would turn them away. The challenge of paying for the app is probably the only barrier, but you tore it down and gave everyone some good assurance there.
After reading your article, I wondered if your experiences with this app were okay or not. How was it going within your church?
Another thing I would like to address is the need for an app itself. Most would argue that this would not work, and I admit that I was skeptical about it myself. However, after this article, I am very confident in need for it, as every other method of communication is dwindling. What surprised me the most about this is the emails. Most people who work in business would look into their emails very often, but to hear that the rate of people who open emails is only twenty-two percent is shocking. It is a good thing that there is a solution to this. Thanks for opening this door!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 10:43:40am
Good morning Richard. Thank you for your comments. The app has been very well received. I've had a number of people tell me that they really appreciate the ease of the livestream and sermon archive and find the simple, direct notifications to be very helpful. It has been a useful addition to the collection of communication tools we are utilizing.
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Ryan Kluba (Martin Luther College) 2018-10-25 1:54:43pm
Pastor Abrahamson,

I appreciate the time you have taken to offer your congregation a new way to access church tools. Using such a platform allows for the younger generation to connect to worship in new ways they might not have seen before. What I felt most rewarding was your understanding that an app is not for everyone, you say “Each ministry is different” and how true that is.

One addition that I think could be beneficial to the app, would be a daily devotion, or daily bible passage with a short prayer, that the app can send to its users. This is a great way to connect the user with the app daily. Sending the notification that there is new materials to be read, might even remind an individual that they should go to church and hear God’s Word.


After reading about all of the costs made by a church to keep the app running and all of the work being done to keep it updated and filled with new information, if the average rate to open an email from church is “22%” why would a church spend its resources on an app that nobody uses, rather than buying pamphlets that can be distributed throughout the community? From reading your presentation, I gather that your church app has been a blessing for your congregation, and I wish that for everyone.

Thank you for your contribution to the conference! God bless you!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 10:48:12am
Good morning Ryan. Thank you for your comments. I appreciate your suggestions as well. We've discussed including daily devotions and prayers. We decided not to include those yet as many people also utilize the Youversion Bible App as well as the Time of Grace app. Both of these apps already feature daily devotions and verses. We may at some point add it but decided not to duplicate efforts. Also, we want to be careful not to send out too many notifications where people end up turning off our notifications.

Regarding cost and maintenance, an app and pamphlets reach two different audiences and serve different purposes. The idea would not be to do one or the other but potentially both.

God's blessing to you as well!
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Elizabeth Blank (Martin Luther College ) 2018-10-25 2:28:25pm
Mr. Abrahamson

I really like the Idea of creating church apps. I personally believe my church would benefit greatly from this. When you say that “A regular church-going person often attends only two or three times a month-We need to get the news out in other ways” it reminds me of my church.I belong to a relatively large church and I know that our attendance is down. I agree that having an app would help those who aren’t attending as much get the information but it could also help the people who are unable to regularly go to their church, for example college students, stay involved in their church's activities.
I see that an app could be extremely useful to a congregation, but what are ways that could be used to get people to use the app? My worry would be people would download it and use it for a bit but ultimately forget that it’s there. You say that “Letting them know that you plan to send at most 2-3 notifications each week will encourage them to turn on their notifications setting for your app.” but do you have any other ideas on how to make sure that app is used?

I really enjoyed your article, and I thank you for sharing your thoughts.
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 10:51:43am
Good morning Elizabeth. Thank you for your comments. It's true that someone may download the app and then not utilize it. We make a point to regularly remind people about the app on all of our other platforms. It's always in the worship folder, mentioned weekly in emails and on social media and I even plug it from time to time during sermons and announcements. When a new small group study is available we let people know that it is available in hard copy and on the app. Basically, whenever it is fitting we remind people that it is there.
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Alexandria Conrad (Martin Luther College) 2018-10-25 6:02:53pm
Pastor Abrahamson,
I appreciate that you made an app for everyone, even if they are members or not. I liked how you said, “ Yet, communicating the message, helping people know what's going on and getting people connected continues to be a challenge.” Communication is a big problem in our world. There are most people, like myself, who would rather text someone instead of having a conversation on the phone. As you said, many people rely on verbal messages. However, those announcements do not help the people who are not there. Having this app could help people out with the questions they have.
Something I think that would be beneficial or the app and people is having Bible studies, daily devotions, or prayers for people. This would be a great way to get more people involved, especially to the ones who do not like attending church.
After reading your article with the suggestion of using an app, have people stopped going to church and used the app instead? Going to church physically is better I personally think. We need Christian community. It gives us the connection with others that God has given us the gift of coming together for church.

Thank you for your awesome ideas and thoughts, may God bless you!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 2:01:02pm
Good afternoon Alexandria. Thank you for your comments. I believe I addressed both your suggestion and question in response to previous comments. I'll copy and paste my responses below:

Regarding the idea of having Bible studies, daily devotions or prayers:
We've discussed including daily devotions and prayers. We decided not to include those yet as many people also utilize the Youversion Bible App as well as the Time of Grace app. Both of these apps already feature daily devotions and verses. We may at some point add it but decided not to duplicate efforts. Also, we want to be careful not to send out too many notifications where people end up turning off our notifications.


Regarding your question "have people stopped going to church and used the app instead?":
I share the same info with you that I just shared with the previous comment: the trend of church going people attending church less often is especially happening in upper middle class communities where church goers have the expendable income to own a lake home or cabin and are able to travel frequently. They are tend to have their children take part in extra sports and programs which often happen on the weekend. So it's not necessarily that people don't want to be engaged, but that they are out of town when worship takes place. This is why our livestream and sermon archive are the main draws to the app. It allows people to worship from wherever they are or watch a sermon whenever they are free.

Regarding giving people an excuse to not attend worship, I would say that this has not been the case. Your concern was also raised when we added livestreaming. I have heard some people say that on really rough Sunday mornings, where they kids are being especially difficult, they have at times opted to stay home and watch online rather than endure a screamfest from their kids as they try to pile them into the car. I don't think that's a bad thing. They still gathered there family together to watch the service online and likely were edified more because their nerves were not completely shot. If this became an every Sunday occurrence, that would not be good. I'm not too concerned about that however because I regularly hear the feedback that while the livestream is really nice, it's just not the same as being here in person. Think of when people post videos on Instagram or Snapchat. It's fun to get a glimpse of what they're doing but it's just not the same as actually being there. As a matter of fact, it might actually peak your interest and encourage you to be there next time. The same thing happens with our livestream and app.
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Adam Arrowsmith (Martin Luther College) 2018-10-25 8:41:07pm
Pastor Abrahamson,

I really enjoyed reading your article about an app for your own church. I think it is cool that with the technology we have today, that we can share the gospel with it and we realize that “An app also is a great tool for sharing the most important information, efficiently.” I think that this app could help both the young an the old help spread the word.

When I read over your article, I thought that the many different options that you are given through the app are very useful. If there was one thing that I would add, it would be the church’s directory. Through this, new members of the church could match a name to a face.

After reading your article, I saw that the price for creating your own app and continuing to have it run would be a price of about forty to sixty dollars. While I know that this is not that much per month, it would be taking extra money away from the other church bills. Where do you expect this extra money to come from? I don’t think that every church will be able to create their own app.

Thank you for your contribution to the conference!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 2:07:01pm
Good afternoon Adam. Thank you for your comments. We've discussed the idea of including the directory online and on the app. One of the challenges to the fact that the app is open to the public. While church members have agreed to have their contact information available to others connected with the church, we would not want to have all of their contact information available for the public at large to access. It would have to be password protected. The follow up question then is, would anyone actually remember the password to access the directory? We've found that what typically happens is that when people want contact information for someone, or to match a name to a face, they just grab a new directory while at church or email the office for a digital copy. We'll keep considering the idea though.

Regarding the financial side of things, how the app would be funded would vary from church to church. You are right. Not every church will be able to create their own app and I would add, not every church should. Each church should steward the resources God has placed in their hands and consider what is the best way to carry out their ministry.
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Avery Broyles (Martin Luther College) 2018-10-25 9:57:38pm



Pastor Abrahamson,

I really appreciated your idea about creating a Christian app in which people can easily access. It’s convenient for people to have God’s word within their fingertips. I enjoyed the proposal that you said, “ We have the best news this world has ever known (The Gospel) and are part of an organization unlike any other (The Body of Christ).” As Christians, it’s our job to share the Gospel because that is the good news that people want to hear.

After viewing your proposal on the app, I wondered if there was a way to reach out to a group of people from a different country. Is there a way they can be connected and hear God’s Word?

After reading your article, I was curious about how a church knows if they would benefit from this app. You stated in your article, “Each ministry is unique. Take some time to evaluate if an app is a fit for your ministry and what type of app would best suit your needs.” Are there certain signs a church needs to look for, so they can benefit from the app? By using this app, it can help people to find ways to hear God’s Word.

Thank you for sharing this wonderful project!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 2:17:14pm
Good afternoon Avery. Thank you for your comments. Regarding your question about reaching out to people from a different country, I will have to research how to make an app available in other countries. I know our app can be used in other countries. For instance, when I was visiting family in Greece last summer I was able to watch our worship livestream via our app on my smartphone. However, I don't know if phones purchased in Greece or other countries would've had access to the Google Play or Itunes store. I'll have to research that.

Regarding how to know if your church would benefit, this is a very good question. How to get a good read of a congregation will vary from congregation to congregation. When it comes getting a read of our congregation, I like to gather information both formally and informally. For instance, I would put together a formal survey but then I would either personally ask, or designate a few people to ask others one on one if they like the idea of an app and would utilize an app. The question to start with however, may not have anything specifically to do with an app. It may be something, "Do you feel like you are well informed and connected to the ministry?" or "Are there certain avenues of communication that work especially well for you or that you wish we had that you would utilize?" You may find that your congregation already feels pretty well connected or are utilizing another tool. For instance, a church that a friend of mine pastors already utilizes podcast subscriptions quite a bit. Because their members already are connected to the sermons through the podcast subscription service, a sermon archive on an app would not necessarily be that beneficial as it would just be duplicating something they are already doing. Ask a variety of questions in diverse ways.
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Justin Cole (Martin Luther College) 2018-10-25 11:00:33pm
Pastor Abrahamson,


This article is a brilliant insight into both the youth and the way that technology is moving. I appreciated the evidence and assistance that you provided in this article. I liked how you said “An App is More Do-able than You Think”. I found creative the fact that you are providing ways for churches to connect better and help with events and more seamless interaction.

I liked the fact that you provided simple ways for people to understand apps in this piece. Would it be possible for people in the congregation or people in the synod to help in the creation of these apps? This seems like a good way to remain more connected as a church body.

I liked how you pointed out in this article that apps can expire very quickly, especially to give way to newer apps and quicker means of communication. Is there any way to keep track of the usage of an app created for a church? Also, how would a church body and presiding pastor keep up to date on an app? I appreciated the fact that you included specific app developers and retailers. I also appreciated when you said, “There are a number of other app developers for churches that are even easier to use and not that much more expensive”. However, my question would be is do you think there will be better app developers over time?

Thank you for your contribution to the conference!
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Nate (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 2:26:17pm
Good afternoon Justin. Thank you for your comments.

Regarding your question "Would it be possible for people in the congregation or people in the synod to help in the creation of these apps?" I would say yes. If you have some tech interested people in your congregation or tech savvy people in the synod, you could definitely involve them in the process.

Regarding "Is there any way to keep track of the usage of an app created for a church?" Google analytics can be applied to apps as well. This would give a great deal of usage info. Our app developer is still figuring out how to apply analytics but this should be a tool we can use very soon.

Regarding "how would a church body and presiding pastor keep up to date on an app?" and "do you think there will be better app developers over time?" I'll give a combined answer. Yes, I'm sure better developers will become available. Keeping on touch with other pastors who are using digital communication platforms and occasionally doing some quick research to see if any new resources have become available would be a good way to stay up to date.
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Jakob Casper (MLC) 2018-10-26 11:22:24am
Pastor Abrahamson

I enjoyed reading through your article on how churches can use apps effectively. I have never really been exposed to what goes into running an app, so that interested me. Also, how much the world has changed in just the last few years is incredible. As you say, “Communicating news and connecting people are two of the greatest challenges,” and this really put into perspective just how challenging that is for a church.

I’d be interested to see a church’s reception to the creation of an app. I think the balance of how many notifications to send out would be the toughest aspect and probably require the most thought put into in the development of the app. Like you said in the article, there is a clear balance between informative and obnoxious.

I’m curious to see how many churches already have an app of their own, and how those numbers may increase significantly in the coming years. I also wonder what will come next in the innovation of how to spread God’s message to as many as we can. Because as the world changes, as technology changes, we must adapt and change with it. I think it’s important to realize that as you say, “If you do decide to go with an app, recognize that an app does not replace the other platforms.” This is an addition to the previous methods of spreading the message, and hopefully God blesses us in our ministry.

Thank you for your contribution to the conference!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-10-30 2:33:37pm
Good afternoon Jakob. Thank you for your comments. The reception at Abiding Shepherd has been very positive. People especially seem to appreciate the livestream, sermon archive and select few notifications.

I'm curious as well how many other churches have an app. I believe it's pretty rare for ELS/WELS churches. I definitely agree, it will be interesting to see what tools we will be able to use in the future.
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Kory Kochevar (Bethany Lutheran College) 2018-11-05 6:48:01pm
Pastor Abrahamson,

I think this is a great idea. As a college student, it is sometimes hard to find churches in your area, especially one for a specific religion ex. Catholic or Lutheran. It's great that the app is available to everyone because it means that church is not just for members but to anyone who wants to listen or go to church. As a college student, it's great to know that we have access to church whenever we want and it's a step in the right direction!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-11-10 9:36:59am
Good morning Kory, thank you for your comments. The main motivation for creating the app was to give our highly mobile membership efficient access to resources. College students definitely would be included in our highly mobile membership. The app is definitely available to everyone. However, I would add the clarification that we don't see the app as first level outreach. What I mean by that is that it is not likely for a person to first interact with us because they came across our app. They likely are either already connected with us or gained familiarity with us through an individual, an outreach event or some other marketing tool. The app is a great resource once the initial interaction has taken place.
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Josh (Bethany Lutheran College) 2018-11-05 7:02:47pm
Pastor Abrahamson,

As someone who is definitely reliant on technology for everyday life, the concept of using apps in ministry is a fantastic idea. My whole life basically revolves around my phone and apps, whether it is social media, checking the weather, daily reminders, tracking homework, etc. In this day and age, it is nearly impossible to create engagement with people without the use of technology. My home church has begun embracing technology, and I have seen the positive effects from doing so. Creating an app would only further my church's outreach capabilities while also keeping its congregation engaged in church activities. Another benefit I see is connecting with this new generation that like myself is glued to their technology, and having a church app right on their phones is another great way to reach this generation. Overall, churches joining the digital age can only be seen as a great blessing.
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-11-10 9:38:05am
Good morning Josh. Thank you for your comments. I agree, our phones are where we spend so much of our time. It makes sense to utilize them for the Gospel as much as possible!
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Evan Kluge (Bethany Lutheran College) 2018-11-05 7:04:23pm
Pastor Abrahamson,
It was really interesting to have found an article by you concerning what you've done with your church's online outreach. I remember hearing you talk about your website and the live stream of your services in the past. It was cool to learn more about what you have done with creating an app for Abiding Shepard. I agree that an app is definitely the best way to get church related info out besides the usual social media platforms. It would be cool if more churches were to follow your lead and find new ways to get the Gospel out to as many as possible.

I hope everything is going well for you and your family. Best regards,

Evan Kluge
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-11-10 9:40:34am
Evan, great to hear from you! An app may not be the best way for other congregations but it definitely has worked well for us! That's why I just wanted to share our experience in case it can be of help to others. Thanks for commenting! I trust you're having a great experience at Bethany!
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Sam Thoma (Wisconsin Lutheran College) 2018-11-07 3:20:34pm
Pastor Abrahamson:

This was a very intriguing piece and something that I had never really given much thought to before. Generally I had just assumed that an app would require too much upkeep or technical know-how for most churches to reasonably pursue, though you proved that assumption to be false. Social media has been an incredibly positive tool for many churches and brands in general, but clearly the diversity of the platforms and the users on them make it really difficult for one brand, especially brands like churches, to have a strong presence on each one. Certainly having an application to be the hub of that information and all the social media platforms at once can help to mitigate this issue. You have noted in your comments that you understand the difficulty of getting the word out about the app effectively, and that the most reliable way to do it is repetition and variance in the media with which you promote it, something I wholeheartedly agree with. Additionally, you mentioned that the need for a church app isn't universal. Obviously the generational demographics of the church are a major consideration, but I would posit that geographical and certainly economic demographics of a congregation are ultimately just as important to consider. A congregation of people mostly aged 50+ can still be well-served by an app, just as an upstart congregation with many 18-34 year-olds may not benefit from one.

Thank you for your contribution to the conference, and God's blessings on your continued ministry!
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-11-10 9:48:22am
Sam, thank you for your comments. One clarification I would give is that our website is still essentially our hub. Information is initially placed on our website and then our app serves as a sort of efficient intersection for getting info from the site out to people and then people to the information on the site. This is part of why it has worked so well for us to use the same developer for both our site and our app. When we upload sermons, for instance, to our website archive, it automatically populates in our app archive as well.

I appreciate your comments about considering geographical and economic demographics in addition to age. People sometimes wrongly assume that all people within a certain age demographic are the same but that is certainly not the same. One example is the current trend with social media use. While younger people are trending away from Facebook towards Instagram & Snapchat, my experience has been that rural younger people are using Facebook more than their suburban or urban counterparts. Geographic and economic demographics are certainly important.
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Logan Schroeder & Leah Mielke (Wisconsin Lutheran College) 2018-11-07 4:38:16pm
Pastor Abrahamson,

We think this is a fantastic idea that deserves a lot of attention throughout the Lutheran and WELS community. For a class project we once did in college, we looked into the possible benefits to implementing an app for WLC. It would include information like event calendars, upcoming cafeteria schedules, and games. Much like you mentioned, we were surprised to find a good variety of viable options that wouldn't cause the school to go deep into debt if it were carried out. We see a similar trend happening in our own churches that you pointed out early on in your presentation. It actually doesn't seem that church attendance is dramatically decreasing; rather, the same people come almost every Sunday, with a large number of infrequent church-goers making up the rest of membership. The weekly goers are always in the loop, but the ones not going as often are usually left out. I think that an added benefit to keeping these people updated is that an app with updates might encourage them to come back. Perhaps these people feel left out our ostracized at church and have therefore quit making church a habit for fear of feeling unwelcome. An app supplying the same amount of information to everyone might make them feel that they're still a part of the church body and that they can still get involved in upcoming events.

A couple questions we have regarding this idea: Do you think many church members would need to learn a whole lot about the functionality of the app itself if it were implemented. This is to say, would it be relatively simple to make frequent updates, or would it require a member within the church with superior IT and computer knowledge? Second, it is clear that the implementation of an app can go a long way in keeping members in the loop. Do you think the audience for such an app could be extended toward completely unchurched people?

Thank you for your work, and continued blessings on your ministry.
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-11-10 10:01:48am
Logan and Leah, thank you for your comments.

Regarding: "Do you think many church members would need to learn a whole lot about the functionality of the app itself if it were implemented. This is to say, would it be relatively simple to make frequent updates, or would it require a member within the church with superior IT and computer knowledge?" The answer to this question would vary depending on the app. My experience, however, has been that the app has been relatively simple to maintain and to use. Creating notifications is really quite simple. It's one more addition to an already busy to-do list, but is really not challenging to do. From a user standpoint, part of why the app is great is that it is intuitive and simple to use. Now, with that said, there will always be some who struggle with technology or get frustrated more quickly. Here's an example: some people will tell me that our livestream via the app has been working great. Others will tell me that it isn't working at all. Often, the reality is that both are needing to refresh the app page 2-3 times a service but for one, this isn't a big deal but for the other it is extremely frustrating.

Regarding: "it is clear that the implementation of an app can go a long way in keeping members in the loop. Do you think the audience for such an app could be extended toward completely unchurched people?" Yes, I believe the app can absolutely serve those who are unchurched. Today people would rather check out almost everything online before attending in person. The idea of being able to watch sermons on an app before stepping into a church would be very attractive. However, it's important to remember that an app is not first level outreach. People need to be engaged by your church in some other way, whether through an individual, an outreach event or marketing materials and then can be referred to the app as a resource.

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Nathan Skrade (Wisconsin Lutheran College) 2018-11-11 2:17:33pm
This was a very interesting article. I never knew that an app could be used for the purpose of church announcements. I also found it interesting that due to certain services making an app is easier than some people might think. I thought about that issue before I read that part of the article. Also, in the digital age there is no shortage of software developers.
At my college there is always a ten day forecast email every week and promotional posters around campus. I have always wondered how many people have paid attention to this. I wonder what it would be like for my college to get an app for promotional purposes.
There was another article on this website of how it is difficult to suppress technology that has already been created. Due to this difficulty, it is best to embrace current technology and see the positives that it has created rather than completely reject it.
Nathan Skrade
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Nate (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-11-11 8:40:43pm
Nathan, thank you for you comments. We do really have some great technological opportunities that we are blessed to utilize!
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Brenden Conigliaro (Wisconsin Lutheran College) 2018-11-11 10:32:48pm
Pastor Abrahamson,
I believe you have discovered a very effective way to attract the younger generations of adults. The idea to develop an app to spread the word on events and news is something that I feel will greatly impact activeness in the younger members. I believe that ways of spreading news and events through email are becoming more less effective especially in younger generations. I personally am often just marking my emails as read and not necessarily reading through them. I personally appreciated how you compared the use of current social media apps to fuel the desire for your own app to draw in more followers to your ministry and others like wise.

I am curious is to how effective the app has done for your ministry. In theory it sounds like a great idea and I for one am all for it. The amount of time spent on updating and posting in the app leaves me to question the worth if there is little interest within the app by the users.
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Nate Abrahamson (Abiding Shepherd Lutheran Church) 2018-11-12 2:52:36pm
Brenden, thank you for your comments. One clarification I would make is that an app isn't really meant to "attract" people but rather serve as a resource for people. A prior connection with them would need to be made through personal contact, outreach event or marketing materials. The initial contact could then direct someone towards the app.

Regarding how effective the app has been and whether it is worth the time. I don't have formal statistics on usage rates for our congregation. However, informally I've received personal feedback that people are appreciating and using the app. This may vary from congregation to congregation which is why each individual church should evaluate whether or not an app is a fit for them. That is also why it is important to evaluate the various app developers to make sure you are choosing an app that is not only simple for your church members and friends to use but also efficient for the person posting in the app.

Thanks again!
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Annan Gari (Bethany lutheran college ) 2018-11-12 11:51:36pm
Creating an app for a church to use would be a wonderful resource that would benefit the christian community. Social media is an ever growing trend that continues to develop over time and using it as a tool to spread the gospel is beneficial. This generation is constantly relaying upon social media platforms in their daily life. Communication is increasingly becoming easier. Keeping the christian community connected through a newly developed app could help many churches.
Thanks for your article!