I wonder if even small churches rely too much on digital resources and not enough on paper.
How many of the smallest churches could manage with hand-written checks and bookkeeping systems? (Like these.) An evergreen and simple website, sure, but reinforced by a well-maintained voicemail message? A standard order of service pasted into the hymnal (or handed out and reused) with announcements and hymn boards to fill in the variable bits. A newsletter printed on paper and handed out or mailed monthly? Or if that’s too much, a quarterly or annual calendar? Birthday cards send out, rather than Facebook? And a leadership roster to be stuck on the fridge, or even a church directory? Maybe even the neglected corkboard called back into use, as much a focus for shy persons at church functions as an information source.
These old, stand-by solutions took workers and resources, but I suspect in the smallest churches there are more people who can help this way than if all the systems are pushed through the bottleneck of comfort with computers, smartphones and social media.
So yes, my small and rural church actually does some of these things you described. We have a simple half-page order of service. We just swap out the hymn numbers each week, but mostly the rest of the template stays the same. We also include about 3 very timely announcements on the back, plus calendar info related to the next 2 weeks at church. Our covenant is on a very large sign to the right to the altar, and we can read it aloud at the proper time in the liturgy. People tend to take the bulletins home, and they end up being reminders. Quite often on the refrigerator with a magnet.
We bring birthday cards to church, put them on the altar rail after worship, and people can walk by and sign them. Then one of us drops them in the postbox on the way out. We’ve found that people (especially those shut-ins and children) really enjoy getting physical cards.
Our website is a single page with a few nice photos, and a brief overview. It’s mostly like a billboard for the curious, and an invitation to come learn more. We don’t really have expertise to keep freshening online content, nor do we have the money to pay for a social media coordinator. So we keep it very basic.
We pay for most things with a checkbook, so that more than one signatory can pay bills (in the event the official Treasurer is sick or away). No messing with the crisis of trying to get hold of passwords for the online payment system.
Some would say that we are behind the times. And yet… We’re low tech in a way that is adaptable, with low hurdles for participants. And we don’t pretend that we can compete with more tech heavy and professionalized faith communities. Our strengths are very local, high touch, and relational. This allows us to put more of our efforts into the relationships that makes our congregation a community of faith.
Click my name, and it will take you to our church’s little website.
A fine website it is! I’m especially fond of the link of Google Maps at the top. Vory useful.
I really like that idea with the birthday cards, and I think that’s something other small churches can easily pick up.
“Back in the day” you could get boxes of birthday cards, or mixed sets (birthday, thank you, sympathy) but less so now. I’d commend to anyone with easy access to a Trader Joe’s to raid them for greeting cards. Good quality but inexpensive (99 cents) with sentiments that are kind or occasionally quirky (as in, have fun like you were going to a zoo!) but neutral in the best way, and not over-the-top (or expensive) as so many have become. Good, gentle sympathy and new-baby cards, too, as well as seasonal holidays.
A fine website it is! I’m especially fond of the link of Google Maps at the top. Vory useful.
I really like that idea with the birthday cards, and I think that’s something other small churches can easily pick up.
“Back in the day” you could get boxes of birthday cards, or mixed sets (birthday, thank you, sympathy) but less so now. I’d commend to anyone with easy access to a Trader Joe’s to raid them for greeting cards. Good quality but inexpensive (99 cents) with sentiments that are kind or occasionally quirky (as in, have fun like you were going to a zoo!) but neutral in the best way, and not over-the-top (or expensive) as so many have become. Good, gentle sympathy and new-baby cards, too, as well as seasonal holidays.