Enhance Outreach Efforts
How Churches Are Expanding Their Reach with Text In Church
Why Enhancing Outreach Efforts Matters
Outreach is about more than inviting people to a service—it’s about connecting with the community in meaningful ways. Whether you’re organizing events, offering support during crises, or building long-term relationships, effective communication plays a vital role. These real stories from Text In Church members show how thoughtful outreach strategies can expand your church’s impact beyond Sunday mornings.
Mobilizing Volunteers and Serving the Community – Josh Antley's Story
Problem
Josh Antley’s church struggled with missed calls, slow voicemail responses, and the challenge of connecting with members needing prayer support outside of office hours. Members often didn’t know how to reach the right person, and staff found it hard to manage requests efficiently.
Solution
By implementing Text In Church’s Calling feature, the team set up a dedicated prayer request line through the Digital Receptionist. Callers could easily navigate to leave a prayer request voicemail or receive a text message with a prayer submission link.
Result
The church coordinated over 200 volunteers for hurricane relief, helping distribute supplies and serve those affected. Text invitations also improved attendance at local events like food drives and youth programs.
Text in Church has been a valuable resource in keeping communication open to our Church members but also to keep visitors informed of upcoming events. Our Children's Outreach has been the greatest benefactor. We are able to keep guests informed about upcoming events which has resulted not only in great attendances to these events but also seeing lives impacted for Jesus.
Reaching the Community with Simple Invites – Angela Smith's Experience
Problem
After Hurricane Helene, Angela’s church wanted to check in on members and offer prayer support, but traditional methods like email weren’t reaching people quickly enough. They needed a way to connect that was immediate and personal.
Solution
Using Text In Church, the team sent out mass texts inviting members to reply with their prayer needs or status updates. The church also set up an automated workflow that responded to each request with a personal acknowledgment and a note of ongoing prayer.
Result
Engagement increased at events like Halloween festivals and local parades. People appreciated the convenience of receiving information on their phones, and follow-up texts helped build lasting relationships.
Text In Church has been a huge help for our smaller congregation. We've used it extensively for communication within the church, but especially for outreach. They've got great automation so you can set up systems in advance. On top of that TIC has fantastic customer service and tons of tools to help you easily get started. If your church is looking to communicate more effectively and reach more people, I highly recommend giving Text In Church a try!
Engaging Families Through Creative Outreach – Terry Romine's Approach
Problem
Terry Romine’s church wanted to foster deeper connections through prayer but found that mass prayer emails often got ignored, and group texts were overwhelming with reply-all notifications.
Solution
With Text In Church, they set up a system where members could text a keyword to submit prayer requests. Replies and follow-ups were directed to a designated prayer leader, ensuring members received personal responses without clogging everyone’s inbox.
Result
In the first year, they gathered 90 new contacts, and 61 the following year. Several families reconnected with the church, attending services and enrolling their children in Sunday school.
One of my roles in the church is to let the community around us know about special events happening here at Redemption. And I’ll tell you what, I could not do what I do as well without the great folks at Text In Church. Everything from email and text marketing, event sign up, even follow-up and follow through is available through Text In Church.
Building a Culture of Prayer
– Donna Paulk’s Church Experience
Problem
Donna’s church lacked a centralized way to collect and manage prayer requests. Members wanted to pray for each other, but the church struggled to facilitate that connection without overwhelming staff with administrative tasks.
Solution
They implemented Text In Church’s prayer request keyword feature, allowing members to easily submit requests. The system also sent out a weekly prayer list to a designated prayer team.
Result
In the first year, they gathered 90 new contacts, and 61 the following year. Several families reconnected with the church, attending services and enrolling their children in Sunday school.
One of my roles in the church is to let the community around us know about special events happening here at Redemption. And I’ll tell you what, I could not do what I do as well without the great folks at Text In Church. Everything from email and text marketing, event sign up, even follow-up and follow through is available through Text In Church.
Problem
Donna’s church wanted to boost community engagement but found that general advertisements weren’t making an impact. Personal invitations were more effective but difficult to scale.
Solution
With Text In Church, they provided pre-written text templates that members could use to invite friends, neighbors, and coworkers. By making the invitation process simple, the church empowered its members to take outreach into their own hands.
Result
First-time guest attendance increased by 28.5 percent, with many visitors citing a personal text invitation as their reason for attending. The approach turned church members into effective outreach ambassadors.
Key Takeaways
Personalized texts foster stronger community connections than generic advertisements.
QR codes and keywords make it easy for people to engage with your church at events.
Text-based raffles and giveaways can be effective tools for gathering contact information.
Empowering members with text templates simplifies personal outreach and boosts engagement.
Timely reminders and follow-up messages increase attendance at outreach events.
Try Text In Church for 14 Days
Ready to strengthen your outreach strategy? Start your 14-day free trial and connect with your community like never before. Try Text In Church now.
