Digital Signage for Church: Best Practices to Engage Your Members

A study by IFS revealed that by 2021 regular churchgoers had reduced to 28% from 34% in 2019. Therefore, places of worship sought ways to keep congregation members engaged and increase church attendance.

Most churches are learning that digital signage for churches is one solution that will help churches solve this predicament. So, if you’re wondering how to start, read on to discover the best practices you can apply to keep church members engaged.

1. Welcome and Direct Church Members

Churches can leverage digital signage solutions to create an unforgettable first impression on new members. A message at the entrance welcoming visitors and other church members to your service can give members something to look forward to every Sabbath.

Additionally, you can help members navigate the church by installing wayfinding digital kiosks with a map of your premises. For instance, have a directory of your building containing room numbers, owners of those rooms, and activities taking place at any given time. This way, church members have an easy time finding rooms and meetings that they should attend.

2. Enhance the Worship Experience

The worship experience is one of the primary reasons your church members attend church every Sunday. You interact with them through songs, hymns, and sermons. Traditionally, books like the Golden Bells and program bulletins helped the congregation follow the proceedings.

However, it’s expensive to print weekly bulletins, and sometimes congregants forget their hymn books at home. Other times, the worship team introduces new songs that church members don’t know. Therefore, you’ll find some members missing out on the flow of your service.

Thanks to digital signage, you can eliminate these challenges and ensure a wonderful experience at places of worship. Use digital screens to display lyrics to hymns and other songs, bible verses used during the sermon, and liturgical readings.

Moreover, digital signage displays promote inclusivity even for those who are hard of hearing. They can follow the mass proceedings on your digital screens. Live stream coverage also helps mothers in lactating rooms who have to feed their children during service time.

3. Digital Bulletin Boards

Bulletin boards are a tool of internal communication in churches. Traditionally, they were boards where churches pinned posters about upcoming church events, seminars, or holiday celebrations. However, modernized churches are reducing paper and printing costs by digitizing their bulletin boards using digital signage.

In fact, statistics indicate that humans retain 65% of visual content compared to static texts. Therefore, the best way to ensure church members remember announcements is through digital signs. You can creatively present your content to ensure it’s attention-grabbing for your viewers.

What’s more, create playlists with content in the form of slideshows, videos, and images with your digital signage software to keep content interesting. Some digital signage software has the text ticker app that allows you to fit important announcements alongside other content on your screen. As church members repeatedly view this information, it becomes difficult to forget.

Cloud-based content management software also helps you update content remotely and on a real-time basis. This way, your congregation members always receive accurate information. Additionally, display the ministers’ office hours and contacts on your digital bulletin boards for congregants who need pastoral care sessions.

4. Social Media Messaging

Social media has become part of everyday life as people spend an average of 2.5 hours on social media. Undoubtedly, social media is the fastest way to communicate with individuals. Therefore, if places of worship aim to interact with their members, they must pay attention to social media’s role in society.

You can leverage digital signage to engage your congregation through social media pages. For example, have a video wall in the church that displays social media posts where church members tag the church. Display posts with positive comments and feedback from congregation members.

Post photos of the Sunday Service, ongoing projects, bible study meetings, and Sunday School sessions on your social media sites. Ask church members to like, share and comment on these posts. Also, use your social media sites to celebrate your accomplishments as a church.

This way, you’ll keep your congregants updated on the church’s progress and keep the conversation alive throughout the week. Through digital signage and social media, you’ll create a community that’s always connected.

5. Modernize Fundraising

While church members may be willing to participate in fundraising events, some are unaware of their existence. Furthermore, failure to provide follow-up information may dissuade some from participating in fundraising activities.

Digital church signs can help you communicate upcoming fundraising events in a way that evokes a response from your congregants. You can play a video showcasing why a specific cause needs funds and how it benefits the affected individuals.

Moreover, after raising funds and accomplishing your objectives, provide a follow-up video showing how the individuals benefited from the funds. This way, more congregation members will willingly participate and contribute their funds.

Also, embrace the cashless economy by allowing online and digital wallet payments in church. Indeed, studies show that churches that accept online payments notice a 32% increase in donations. Include a QR code on your content and display it on your digital screens. If the church sells any merchandise, you can advertise these products on your digital screens for members to purchase.

6. Community Involvement

In most cases, the majority of the church members are part of your immediate community. As a result, the best way to engage with them is to have the church participate in and support community events. Digital signage solutions are an excellent way of helping your community.

You can inform church members of upcoming events through indoor and outdoor digital displays. Moreover, you can use digital signage to advertise employment and volunteer opportunities in the community. Consequently, your church remains a vital part of the community, and society constantly refers new members to it.

7. Digital Religious Library

Interactive digital booths in your church can house your church’s digital library. This feature would benefit the tech-savvy millennials in your house of worship. They can find eBooks, historical church information, and other educational content as they interact with these digital kiosks.

Additionally, you can upload videos and slideshows that instructors can use as they teach bible studies or other classes offered at church. Furthermore, you can help children in Sunday school comprehend teaching better through visual aids.

What’s more, you can use your video wall for educational purposes. When church services delay, keep congregants engaged with exciting religious facts or inspirational bible verses. You can access Christian websites that share a fresh approach to Christian culture or have religious discussions through RSS feeds.

This way, church members constantly receive spiritual information as long as they are within the church premises. Additionally, this content can reduce perceived wait time if the service starts late.

8. Digitize Outreach

Religious organizations rely on new membership for their longevity. Therefore, they must find platforms to help them find new church members and retain them. You can grow your outreach and increase membership using digital signage.

Digital outdoor display signs can display content informing passersby about your services and midweek fellowships and welcome them to join you. Additionally, use these outdoor signs to direct them to church social media pages that invite them to join you in church.

With digital signage, you don’t have to wait for specific outreach days. You can reach out to new members 24/7.

9. Celebrate and Appreciate Church Members

A church consists of a group of people who gather to worship frequently. So, friendships will form in this community. Part of engaging your congregation members is by celebrating the milestones they achieve on a personal and community level.

Some of these celebrations will include baptism, weddings, birthdays, graduations, childbirth, anniversaries, and christening, among others. For instance, display some congratulatory messages on your digital church signs to celebrate your members. You’ll make them feel like valued members of the church community.

Also, appreciate members who serve in various leadership capacities, essential donors, and those who work in the church through digital signage. You can display the service they offer and a thank you message to show that the church appreciates their efforts.

Engage Church Members with Digital Signage

Undeniably, digital signage is the way for any church that hopes to enhance its worship experience. As a result, there are numerous ways you can leverage digital signs to foster active member participation. Installing digital church signs will help you engage and retain your church members. With the above nine practices to engage your members, you’re ready to use digital signage in your church.