When I say ‘digital discipleship for churches’ or ‘online tools’ — people can quickly jump to say something along the lines of ‘We don’t need tech, I’ll just focus on relationship with people.’ They’re communicating the idea that the use of technology and digital tools will make your church or ministry feel impersonal. That’s definitely a risk. You don’t want people to have to fill out a million forms, watch the sermon exclusively online, or get a bunch of emails from some AI copywriter. However, that kind of tech is not what I mean when I say ‘digital tools.’ Let me explain.
Digital tools work for you. They’re an extension of you and your ministry. The right digital tool will reinforce and foster the personal connection you’ve worked so hard to create in your ministry. For example, imagine if you made your new believer class’s curriculum available on-demand on your church’s website. You’re still teaching them via video or written text, but they’re able to learn and dissect that learning at their own pace. Then imagine if when someone completed that class online, you got a notification to reach out personally to connect. Technology is creating discipleship opportunities, and then nudging you to act on those opportunities. Thus creating a personal connection.
Let’s take a look at the 3 tasks digital tools can help you with.
1. Follow up reminder
You will forget. Don’t stress out, just let digital tools remember for you. Then do the hard work, connecting with people, yourself.
Do you have periodical check-ins with your leaders? Do you have new guests to grab coffee with? How are you tracking all that? In your head, with your phone’s calendar? Odds are you’re probably letting some people slip through the cracks. You can set up automation to ensure that all your people are being cared for in the way Jesus calls us to.
Our brains are just flat-out bad at remembering things. We’re meant to store the big picture, not a bunch of tiny details. The good news is that digital tools are very good at remembering small details. If you create a digital system to automatically remind yourself to check-in with people, you’ll be much more likely to actually do the hard part (and the part you’re probably good at), which is personal connection.
2. On-demand discipleship
Resources beyond Sunday morning and Wednesday night.
If you’re leading a ministry, how are you providing resources to your members beyond the few hours you may have for services? Do you have an intentional curriculum for them to study outside of church? Do you have deeper lessons or devotions that go along with the Sunday or Wednesday group? It’s so easy with modern tools to record some quick videos, dive into a topic or passage and make that available for your people. Some tools even let you see what they’re interested in and watching. Then you can follow up and strike up a deeper discussion.
3. Connection pipelines
Steward people well and make sure every single person gets connected.
How do you get a new attendee to become fully engaged in your ministry? Obviously there’s a lot of interpersonal connection and work, which is irreplaceable. For example, conversations at church, coffee meetings, check-ins, etc. You need to build a relationship, there’s no way around that. But how do you keep track of all the people who are new or want to get involved in your ministry? Is every person in a small group? Are they giving generously? Have a habit of getting into God’s word? Are they serving? You get the point. There’s a lot to keep track of.
You can either wing it (by keeping it all in your head) or you can set up an automated connection pipeline that helps you keep track of where people may be getting lost in your ministry. Using a simple tool like Airtable to ensure that new guests get into the pipeline will actually help you keep track of everyone and make sure they’re cared for. If a new member of your ministry hasn’t joined a small group, you should reach out. You can set up these tools so you’re notified in scenarios like this.