Technology & Promotion
By Dana Green
Technology! The word itself is almost infinite! Technology has come so far, and continues to move so quickly, that it boggles the mind. We have many avenues by which to connect the church to the world today.
It all begins from your computer through email, websites, texts, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat…the list is endless. Each form of technology can be requested, advertised, prepared, promoted, changed, designed, and even paid for (if there are any costs involved) while sitting at your computer, tablet, or phone. As I type this article on my phone, I am thinking of everything I do on this gadget. Truly, technology is limitless in this day and time.
Our church promotes many functions through social media. Whether it is a fundraiser, special meeting, or just a special “thank you” message, we choose to do much of our promotion and advertising through social media to keep costs low. Facebook and Instagram connect many people. We have had several visitors come to church because of a dinner they bought that was promoted on Facebook. People have relocated to our area, due to the oil activity around Oklahoma, and the first thing they say is that they saw us on Facebook and/or our website.
One lady whose husband travels with his job recently told me that if a church doesn’t have a website, she doesn’t visit them. She feels this is the best way learn about a church before visiting. If you do not have a church website, don’t be afraid to launch one! With today’s technology, you will find there are services available that are low-cost or even free. There may also be someone in your local church capable of designing a site.
Many people see only the negatives of technology, and to be fair, Satan does usually find a way into it. However, I choose to see the positives. It’s nice, for example, to email our billboard designer and have changes made on our digital billboard from the convenience of my iPhone. It’s great to take orders for our fundraisers, and all I have to do is fax or email a brochure. And it’s really special to receive notes of appreciation, posts with encouraging messages of “great church,” and comments from new visitors, all without having to go check a mailbox. All because of technology!
We have come a long way. Let your fingers do the walking! Pray and ask God to lead you to the best forms of promotion for your church through technology. Help us promote the organization, each department, our districts, and district functions, by posting, tweeting or commenting. We welcome your positive feedback and help!
Since this article itself is another form of technology and promotion, I would like to end with this reminder—the Women’s Esprit Channels of Blessing Offering is due May 31, and can be submitted online at womensesprit.org, or mailed to ALJC headquarters.
Dana Green currently serves as Pastor’s Wife, Oklahoma District WE President, and ALJC WE Secretary. She is married to Bishop Curt Green, who is the ALJC Oklahoma District Superintendent and the Pastor of First Pentecostal Church of Yukon.
The above article, “Technology and Promotion,” was written by Dana Green. The article was excerpted from Apostolic Witness, March 2014. The material is most likely copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.
Online Streaming
By Darren Cooper
At First Apostolic Church of Maryville, we have harnessed technology for the good of reaching our world through the mediums of television and the internet. Each service is recorded and streamed live by our production team, and has far-reaching effects nationally and internationally.
In the past few years, we have reached families around the world with this Apostolic message through these online services. One of those families is the Travers family in Australia. The Travers live in a part of the country where no Apostolic church is available. After finding FAC through our website, they began to watch our services online and feel God’s presence moving on them from half a world away. Both husband and wife accepted the necessity of Jesus’ name baptism and made a trip to Maryville to be baptized by Pastor Carpenter. They are now faithful members of FAC through their giving and their weekly attendance of our online services.
In addition to the Travers family, we met the Dunns through our online ministry. They began to drive five hours every Sunday morning to be in service with us. As a result, the entire family was baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost. There are similar stories from many people all over the country and even the world, who make up the FACtv.org online congregation. These people may not have access to an Apostolic church locally, but are hungry for more of God, and are eager to learn more about this great truth we know as the Apostolic message.
Pastor Carpenter makes the statement often, “We are reaching thousands by going door knocking twenty-first century style.” It is quite common to have more in our “online congregation” than we have in our local assembly at William Blount Drive.
In 2014, we have expanded our global outreach efforts by incorporating subtitles of our weekly broadcast, The Apostolic Connection, in over 70 different languages via YouTube. Volunteers from FAC transcribe every word sung or spoken from our 30 minute broadcast.
With this cutting edge technology, people from all over the world, regardless of language barriers, can watch online, feel the presence of God, and also understand every word being spoken. We have plans in place to expand this technology to all of our services, live and archived, in the near future.
At FAC, we take I Corinthians 9:22 to heart, and are doing everything possible, through technology to “by all means save some:’ While technology is often used for unspeakable evil, we choose to direct it for the common good of promoting the gospel to all the world.
The above article, “Online Streaming,” was written by Darren Cooper.
The article was excerpted from Apostolic Witness, March 2014.
The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.
