It is a common issue to receive pushback when a church tries to adopt new technology, and for good reason, technology can be complicated. It can be especially complicated for older generations that did not grow up with iPhones or have the latest PC at work.
The Here I Am team has compiled a list of 5 tips to help churches that are struggling with their older population using technology. We hope these tips help!
Tip One: Keep it Simple
The word ‘technology’ can be very overwhelming and mean a lot of different things to people. Pick 1-3 technologies that are easy for your church staff to maintain (i.e., Facebook, Email, YouTube, or Smartphone App) and focus on these. Once these avenues are established, it will be easier to show people in the congregation there usefulness.
Tip Two: Help People Out
Church staff, or ideally volunteers, can hold help sessions with older folks who need help on how to use these platforms. Individuals can have vastly different needs with technology so patience and 1-1 help is key. This can also be a great opportunity for the youth of the church to get involved and share their tech skills.
Tip Three: Stay Consistent
New adoption of technology can take time, so be consistent and give clear steps on how to access certain platforms. Once these steps are established, keep them the same so that people can get into a routine. A good example of this is posting a link to the churches livestream in the same places every week.
Tip Four: Make it Accessible
New tech trends pop up every single day, but the latest and greatest tech is not needed to reap the benefits. Use platforms that are simple and easy to maintain, not only for church staff, but for the congregation as well.
Tip Five: Make it Easy to Interact With
Tech can get complex quickly, so focus on digestible material with large and easy to read font! For platforms like Facebook, that don’t have adjustable font, create graphics and images with key parts of information on them to better stand out on the feed.
Conclusion
We hope that these tips help in the pursuit of making church technology accessible to all generations. If you have any tips to add to this list, or need help with creating a digital plan for your church, please reach out to us on our contact form.
