Utilizing Automation Tools to Support Your Ministry Without Losing Your Human Touch
In a world filled with automated messages and AI-generated content, real human connection is more valuable than ever. The church should be one of the clearest places people experience this. That doesn’t mean we need to avoid these newer technologies altogether; we should use them strategically to strengthen relationships, not replace them. Because every church needs automation to scale its communication effectively, we’ll focus on that specifically in this article.
Unsure of where to start? You’re not alone. The truth is this: there is an art to maintaining authenticity within automated processes. It all begins with figuring out what your church “sounds” like. This involves developing the language and tone that align with the mission, vision, and values of your church. It requires some experience in human psychology and communication. Coincidentally, these are skills you’d need to exercise whether you use automation or not!
Once you’ve done the work to craft your messaging purposefully, here are a few areas where automation can help you scale without feeling robotic:
Perfecting Your Guest Journey
Using digital connect cards is a great starting point in a church’s guest journey. However, the real value comes after it’s filled out. Where does it go? How is it used? Who follows up? Automation can make sure no one slips through the cracks by routing contact info to the right platforms, triggering a thoughtful guest follow-up workflow.
You can create workflows that share new contact entries with multiple platforms, including church management and communications programs. Additionally, you can program guest journeys that send scheduled messages to your guests. There are even opportunities to funnel contacts into the right email and SMS lists so they get messages tailored to them. Automation can and should be used to make sure you follow up with every guest and no one gets lost.
Ensuring No Message is Left Unread
We have our follow-up process, and we’ve put our contacts in the right place. But what happens when a contact replies to you? You can try to keep up with every message, but you can’t monitor your communications 24/7. Automation can help here, too.
On the front end, you can reassure your guests that you will get back to them promptly with general auto-replies. You can also use keyword auto-replies on platforms like Clearstream to send links, coordinate prayer requests, add contacts to new lists, and much more!
On the back end, you can trigger tasks for personnel to reply to messages assigned to them. This could look like having a smoother prayer request process or small group leaders getting potential member contacts automatically. It can increase the level of accountability and ownership team members hold in the communications process, making the work more manageable for everyone involved.
Keeping Your Teams Informed and Accountable
Automation isn’t just for guest communications; it is a powerful tool for aligning your staff and volunteer teams. Without it, church leaders often find themselves scrambling to coordinate groups and manually chase down responses in real time. With it, you can delegate tasks, send timely updates, and free up your time to focus on leading people (rather than chasing details).
Platforms like Planning Center Online have automated functions for assigning repeated tasks, scheduling services from templates, and helping small group leaders manage their groups. They can also integrate with many email and SMS communications platforms to bring all of your communications together as a network.
There are many other areas where automation tools and even AI can assist beyond communications. Whether it’s assisting in writing technical documentation, generating reports, or building projects, these tools grant your church more time to care for others. It’s not about leaning on tech to do the hard work; it’s about removing friction so you and your teams can focus on the real work.
Want to free up your time, energy, and effort with automation optimized for your church? We can help! Hit the Let’s Talk button!