Could your church use text messaging to save lives?

What do you do when someone apologizes for their behavior by telling you that their uncle committed suicide yesterday?

One of our PastorsLine staff members, Lisa Aharon, also works as a university English teacher. Several weeks ago, after their morning quiz, one of her students came up to her. The student told her she thinks she may have done poorly because her uncle committed suicide out of the blue yesterday. Asked why she was even in class today, this serious student replied: “But it is English.”

Gently holding the student’s hand (with her permission), Lisa quietly asked questions to allow the student to tell her story. It seems the uncle, a businessman, was depressed at his financial situation during the ongoing pandemic. He leaves behind grieving parents and relatives.

At first, the student was trembling all over. Just a few minutes later, the student was calm. She was able to rejoin class and work well, putting aside her grief for the moment.

This is the power of human contact.

It looks like the corona pandemic is going to be with us for longer than we expected. Now, more than ever, people need the Good News of Jesus Christ to support them in their time of need.

Unfortunately, physical, face-to-face contact continues to be problematic. As Carey Nieuwhof discussed in her recent article, 8 Disruptive Church Trends That Will Rule 2021 (The Rise of the Post-Pandemic Church), “the majority of the attendees may no longer be in the room.”

So, how do pastors and church leaders connect with their congregations? How do they support people in crisis? How can they keep their flocks positive and empowered to continue God’s work?

This is where a text messaging service for churches can be a lifesaver.

WWJD

Jesus went to where the people were. He spoke to them in a way they could understand.

Today, people are on their phones. For the majority, it is their #1 form of communication. Ministries can use a text messaging service for churches to connect with people where they are and in a way they can understand.

Not just SMS

PastorsLine allows you to send almost anything. In addition to text (SMS), you can send multimedia messages (MMS). Attachments include file types such as PDF, PPT, DOC, and DOCS.

This means you can send things like “cards” with birthday greetings, material for at home study, inspiring Bible quotes set on beautiful backgrounds, and informative slideshows.

Integrate with the church apps you already use

PastorsLine integrations extend apps which you are already using, so you can save time, minimize human error and reduce data silos as you automate your workflow. Using integrations allows you to mix and match apps, choosing the one best suited for the task at hand.

At the moment, PastorsLine integrates with Church Community Builder, Mailchimp, Rebrandly, Breeze, Planning Center, and Tithley ChMS (Elvanto). More are on the way.

More than text

It’s nice to hear the sound of someone’s voice, right? While that is important for all of us, it is especially significant for multi-generational churches whose older members may be more comfortable with voice than text.

One of PastorsLine’s many features is voice calling.

You can make an “old-fashioned” 1-to-1 voice call. This is an excellent way to keep in touch with “at risk” ministry members since a voice call is one of the most personal methods of communication after physical face-to-face.

You can also create a group voice message (aka robo call). However, the group message will not feel spammy to the receivers because it is relevant (only sent to group members) and from someone they trust (their church). A great example of this is prayer requests which are passed on to the prayer group.

Priced for ministry budgets by people who know churches

The PastorsLine platform is a church-driven, bulk texting platform developed and managed by church ‘insiders’. We know churches intimately. We’ve attended them, been part of their management teams and worked with them for many years. Our goal is to serve you by helping you spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. We’ve positioned ourselves to be your in-house, IT team for solutions to your communication issues. In addition to everything our platform can do, our partners love our responsiveness to their needs and fast tech support.

Our paid plans start from just $10 per month. We also offer a full access, 30-day free trial (no credit card required), so you can check out PastorsLine for yourself.

Find out more about the PastorsLine text messaging service for churches now.