First impressions are very important. We spend a vast amount of time considering how a first time guest may perceive our church. As a result, we make sure there is someone to greet arrivals. We buy flowers, restock candles and generally make sure the church looks good. But what about our website? Your church's website is the virtual first impression for your church. 

Think about the last newsletter you received in your inbox. Was it a newsletter you looked forward to or just another e-mail to add to the daily clutter in your inbox?

If it was clutter, then I would suggest that the information provided in the newsletter did not give you any value. So how do you give your newsletter value and avoid being added to the daily pile of junk? We have put together 10 ideas for you to help you create a great newsletter that gives value to your congregation.

Technology, love it or hate it, it is a part of all our lives...

Would you say your church is technologically advanced? When was the last piece of new technology implemented in your church, honestly. Was it a success? If not, did you really give it a chance and if no, then why not?

The congregations' communication expectations are growing. Delivery should be at agreed intervals, via various platforms, email, text and of course social media. The church is not immune to these expectations and this provides both new opportunities and new challenges. These new opportunities and challenges place huge demands on a church that does not have the tools to cope. This is why we are proud to be launching our new tool for church communication.

Naturally at ChurchDesk, we get excited by innovation, hence our continuous development of a world class Church Management System. When we started to hear about Twitter's new acquisition of Periscope, back in March of this year, we thought of the endless possibilities for churches. Streaming church services/concerts in the USA, is big business, with some church groups spending vast amounts of money on production and delivery. What if every church, no matter how simple their service; was able to broadcast to an interested audience; welcome to Periscope!

We often hear that poor information flow and slow communication means that it is hard to do work in the church. It may be that the office is closed or that you are not near a computer. That makes it hard hard to see if a room is available or to send a group message! It basically puts a limit both activity and motivation when you cannot access the tools required to make your church work fun and easy.

Google has big changes coming up in the way they prioritize their search results. April 21, 2015, Google changes significantly. The company just announced that a mobile friendly version will be an important parameter to be prioritized in the search results in the world's most popular search engine. From now on it will become key to support mobile versions for mobiles and smartphones - also for the church.