With the popularity of social media, email communication is looking outdated and ineffective in sending messages to members and visitors of your church. But is this the case? No. Churches should still use email to reach its members. Email is still relevant and still works quite effectively.

Here are a few reasons why churches can and should take advantage of this form of communication and use email to send information to members and visitors:

Private and Concise Communication

Interaction on social media is often public and useful for general messages. Email is private and allows for one-on-one messaging with your members. With email, you can send messages to different people groups regarding specific things, for example, what the venue will be for the new discipleship class, upcoming meetings, or just about any information that needs to go out. Email becomes the go-to resource for more private conversations that don’t involve the whole congregation. Another reason email works is that there is a “record” of the email conversation that you can refer to at any point.

Sending Relevant Information

When it comes to sending an email, I like to remind people to “send relevant information to relevant people.” In other words, attaching a PDF of your church’s newsletter to an email and expecting the recipient to read it is not realistic. Sending them specific information that is relevant to them is a much better way to catch their attention. You can use one email to communicate several messages at the same time. You can let your members know of a new event, that the latest sermon is uploaded, provide payment information or the latest news, and so much more. Your members can go through the email content on their own time and stay updated on the activities of the church. By using email, members can refer back to the message for the specific details included in the email.  

Nearly Everyone has an Email Address

An email address has become one of the default communication channels used by companies, government, and other organizations. It is at par with the cell phone number as a contact method. People use it to open online accounts when applying for different services and get access to the online portal of various service providers, among many other features. Because of the availability of having access to email on cell phones, people generally check their emails every day and may even have pop up notifications to let them know when they receive a new one.

Easy and Thorough Follow Up

Sometimes you need to follow up a verbal message with an email. Whether you want a group of volunteers to serve again in an event, send links to curriculum to a discipleship class, or remind members about the benefits of giving online, email simplifies this task. You can send emails to a specific group of people or send a follow-up email to a visitor. Email also becomes an excellent way to follow up on an announcement you made during a service. When visitors sign-up at the information booth, an email to welcome them to your church is a lovely way to acknowledge their presence at your church and open communication with them.

Direct Contact

Social media is a great place to connect with your followers and inspire them with the word of God. One downside, though, is that you don’t have access to the contact details of your followers unless they provide it on their profile.  With email, you have direct contact with your members and visitors. You can encourage your followers to subscribe to your email newsletters or e-blasts and provide a sign-up button on your website.

Minimize Unnecessary Meetings

Meetings can take up much of your time. Some of them are unnecessary and only involve information sharing. You can save time by using email to cut back on information-driven meetings that don’t require in-depth or technical responses from leaders and members. 

Email is one of the traditional means of communication with others, but it is still relevant today. In order to have a lasting connection with your members, you should use email services. If you would like to discuss how your church could use email more effectively, contact Tim Baker today at 682-233-5745 x101. MinistryCraft - “Do More Ministry”