Every major religion has at least one sacred text which inspires their members and tells the story of their faith. Evangelicals are also fond of handing out pamphlets and tracts to hopefully convert a soul or two.

Heck, the first printed book in Western civilization was the Bible and today, it remains a best seller.

It’s pretty well established that printed products can help spread a particular faith or dogma. But in the digital world, will small text fields and short attention spans limit or change what we can learn? Can faith be affirmed in 160 characters or less, compared to the 800,000-plus words in the Bible?

The answer, like most spiritual questions, will likely be debated for years, if not decades. But what churches can do now is use the power of text messaging for churches to improve communication within their respective congregations.

Modern mass texting services can combine elements of a traditional bulletin with a community bulletin board and maybe the classic church phone tree/prayer chain. And texting can also connect with church members on the go – they may forget the words of last week’s sermon but they’ll always remember their phones.

Here’s how a sms text program can be a part of your ministry efforts:

• Information about the status of congregation members. Beyond any particular dogma, a church is all about helping others in the community. Texting can share information quickly about congregation members – perhaps someone is in the hospital and needs prayers. Perhaps someone just passed away and funeral arrangements have been set. It doesn’t have to be a two-way text either – just information for those who subscribe.
  
  
• Daily/weekly inspiration. A text sent on Monday can reinforce the message shared on Saturday or Sunday services. Or at least remind people what the topic was about if they can’t remember or weren’t able to attend. The message can also include a link to the complete reading or other related reference material.
  
  
• SMS Reminders of upcoming activities.  Larger congregations often have multiple events taking place in multiple locations, not just services but study groups, craft guilds, youth groups and other meetings and ministry efforts. One's sms text should be of the main events that day can let people know some of the gatherings coming up, especially if there’s anything special with any of them.
  
  
•  Opportunities to help. A local institution always has opportunities to spend money, whether it goes directly to the church, such as a building fund to accommodate future growth. Or regional or state needs if the church is part of a larger faith organization. Church officials can contract with a texting service to receive what’s called a short code, a string of numbers that you can text to and pledge money to. The church can also designate a certain charity or non-profit to receive the funds. Church officials can start spreading the word about this particular charity effort by publicizing the digits for the short code.
  
  
• Separate/segmented profiles. Texting services allow you to create several lists of recipients and their smartphone numbers, divided up by interest or subject categories. People in separate groups can still receive the “main” messages that everyone receives, but they can also sign up for texts having to do with their particular interest or organization.
  
  
• Fun with automation. Some texting services allow you create automatic responses so you don’t have to send the same texts by hand, such as a birthday greeting to thousands of audience members. An audience database can also connect information about each recipient and it includes it in the text – such as the person’s name. There definitely could be some added motivation to a commercial text if you’re referenced in it.  “Hey ____ ! Do you want to get involved in this topic?”
  
  
• Suggest boundaries for chronic texting. Along the lines of “can’t beat them, join them,” it reflects that sms text is such a new and uncertain experience among older users but a normal way of interacting with younger users. Rather than declaring personal texting a bad thing to best be avoided, church leaders can focus on its benefits and speak right to the people texting – younger people in the congregation. The value and pitfalls of texting can even be discussed at a church meeting which can be educational.
  
  

Overall, there’s a lot of uncharted water with regards to texting in a religious setting. SMS could be a new and innovative way to spread the respective good news of one’s faith to members who are already plugged in. For more details on mass texting options for any organization visit www.trumpia.com.

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