How texting and QR Codes can improve small group connection
By Boyd Pelley
Let ' s relate this trend to use of technology in churches . Many check-in , information , and registration areas are furnished with desktops , laptops or tablets for public use . Makes total sense based on where we ' ve come from . As things get more mobile , you are beginning to see QR codes and texting options for the same purposes . If the stats above are right , we are just about to the 50 % tipping point . That means that the future is probably more mobile . We ' ve been preparing for this future for a long time . You might have seen other blogs I ' ve written on our Text-to-Church feature and the use of QR codes . But , as we start the fall ministry season , I thought I would share a few specific ways to use these for connecting people to small groups .
Make the responsible staff person the leader of this group , so that when someone registers , they are automatically notified . They will use the form information to help them find the best match in Groupfinder . When they register the person into that group , Groupfinder will email both the leader and the person who filled out the form . If you want to remove the placement staff person from the process and allow people direct access to Groupfinder , go to Communicate > Website Integration . In section 2 , create a link to just the groups you want people to choose from using the group profile questions . Copy this link and build a QR Code to that web page . It should look something like this .
The first question is , how involved do you want your staff to be in the process of connecting people to groups ? If you want staff to place people in groups , then create an " Interested in Life Groups " group and create a registration with responses that will guide placement . These responses should mirror the Groupfinder profile questions . Then go to the top of the registration settings page to copy the link you need for your website or social . Go ahead and customize your keyword for texting while you ' re there .
Use a QR code generator
like this one to create a QR code that does the same thing that the link or the keyword to text does . This results in four options : 1 ) QR code to a web page ; 2 ) web page or social link ( from registration settings page ); 3 ) text to keyword ( registration settings page ); or 4 ) QR code to open text app and insert keyword .
These links and text options are all live for you to be able to try as you read and share this . Click a link . Text a keyword . Even if you don ' t use Churchteams , you will find it interesting to see what this innovation looks like During his recent online
Church Disruption Summit , Carey Niewhof predicted that the thriving churches of 2032 would be " digital organizations with physical locations " and they would recognize that " community and connection matter more than content ." Our goal is to help yours be one of those churches .
Boyd Pelley is co-founder of
Churchteams . From 1990 to 2008 , he served as a discipleship , administrative and family pastor at churches in New Mexico , Nebraska and Texas .
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