You’re an active member of your church and working hard to increase church attendance. But whatever you try, it seems like it just isn’t working.

It can be hard to attract new members to your church family, especially in such a busy world. However, are you using the right techniques?

When growing your church, you need to use modern tools to find success. But how can a church, such a traditional institution, find a place in an online, digital world?

Keep reading to find out. Here are the top tips for growing your church in modern times—try them out and see how they can benefit your church.

Create Social Media Groups to Keep Your Church Family Connected

In the 21st Century, everyone is online. Is your church?

Don’t be afraid to take your fellowship online! A great way to grow church communities online is through social media.

Create a group on Facebook for your church—you can use it to share announcements, photos, achievements, and daily inspirational messages. Members can talk to one another, start discussion threads, and ask questions, all via the group.

Not only will the group help church members stay connected to each other but you can use your social media account to create advertising campaigns.

Target particular demographics that your church wants to attract and start an ad campaign to let people local to your area know about the fantastic opportunities your church offers.

Live Stream Services

In a busy world, it’s getting harder and harder for people to make time each week for church services. So, why not stream church services live?

By bringing your church online, members can tune in from home, or from anywhere in the world. You can increase member attendance since they won’t need to physically travel to attend, a great perk for many attendees looking for flexible church options.

If collections and giving are something your church is looking to increase, there are plenty of online options that can act as a virtual collection plate.

Encourage Newcomers to Get Involved

When growing your church, you need new members to not only join but stay involved. One way to do this is to encourage them to volunteer or get involved.

This helps them feel valued and connected, plus, it gives your church extra helping hands.

Try to find out the interests and skills of new members as they join, then see if you can come up with a task for them that will put their skills to use.

This could include anything from helping run the church’s website, helping with Sunday School, baking for a bake sale, or joining a church committee.

Set Up a Marketing Plan

If you want your church to grow, you need to have a plan. Unfortunately, having a lovely, welcoming church just isn’t enough—you need to actively promote it in your community.

In the modern world, you need to include digital as part of your marketing plan. This should include a functional, detailed church website, optimized for SEO.

Also try online advertising, such as Google Ads, a strong social media presence, and try to get the church listed in online community directories, so people can find you easily.

Target Sermons to Current Events

In an increasingly complex world, many people are seeking understanding, hope, and clarity.

To help attract more churchgoers, can you tailor sermons to current events? This can help people relate and they can use the teachings of God to better understand daily life.

Why not try advertising the themes or topics for each sermon in advance? That way, attendees know what to look forward to each week and can plan to attend.

You can also try hosting an informal discussion group after the service, either in person or online. For particularly engaging or complex topics, church members may enjoy the opportunity to dive into the topic in more detail and share their thoughts.

Acknowledge and Welcome New Members

It may seem obvious, but always be sure to extend a warm welcome to new church members. They’ve selected your church above all others, so thank them for coming!

Also, it can feel intimidating sometimes to walk into a church for the first time, so why not ask a few volunteers to help greet newcomers and answer any of their questions. You can also welcome them publicly on social media.

Over 50% of churchgoers come to church because they want to become part of a faith-based community. The church is a popular way to meet new people and become involved, so make sure your church feels inclusive to new arrivals.

Start a Church E-Newsletter

You can help your congregation stay connected by starting a church e-newsletter, sent out via email.

Creating an e-newsletter is much more affordable than a printed newsletter, as you don’t need to pay for postage or paper. It’s also more likely to be read, as most of us check our email frequently throughout the day.

A newsletter is a fun way to share highlights from recent church functions, notify members of important upcoming dates, and any other relevant information.

Try to collect email addresses from all members so they can receive the updates. However, keep in mind that a few members, often of older generations, may not be online— print off a few copies for them to read so they don’t miss out.

Start Expanding Your Church With These Helpful Tips

As you can see, parts of the church experience now look very different than a few decades ago! Thanks to digital and online tools, we can take our church online, offering flexibility, convenience, and online sermons.

If you’re hoping to grow your church family using digital tools, why not try out some of the tips above? You can even create a digital marketing committee to develop new procedures and opportunities to help your church expand via the internet.

Before you know it, you’ll start to attract new members and your church will benefit from a growing fellowship, new ideas, and a larger sense of community.

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