A report by Pushpay, with data from over 1,700 organisations has found that while 91% of churches currently livestream worship services on social media, only 47% plan to do the same in the upcoming year.
The report, entitled 'State of Chuctch Tech 2023 is available to download here.
The reason cited for this shift is organisations' lack of control on social media platforms to maintain engagement, as users are bombarded with pop-up windows, notifications, status updates, and more.
This is driving a rise in custom video players, website embeds, mobile app streaming, and other platforms that are better suited to maintain engagement.
Now that the majority of Covid restrictions have gone, churches are using slightly fewer digital tools than the previous year, except for Church and Donor Management software, which actually jumped up.
Churches’ enthusiasm for consolidated Church Management Software (ChMS) and donor platforms not only accounts for the aforementioned drop in tools across the board, but also signals their priorities: instead of a myriad of tools, they want an all-in-one solution built specifically for ministry.
When asked how often their team is evaluating new technology products, both those reporting “annually” and “every two to five years” rose, while “only when the need arises” dropped significantly.
When asked what the three biggest obstacles to adopting a new technology product at a church were, the answers were cost (65%), Implementation/set-up/migrating data (42%) and time (42%).
When asked what type of services they would be providing in 12 months time, the answers were Hybrid (in-person & online) at 81%, In-Person Only was next at 28%, MetaVerse (25%) and last was Online Only (20%).