Because of their emphasis on fellowship and gathering, churches were uniquely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. As new health and safety protocols focusing on social distancing and limiting the number of people able to gather increased, more churches turned to digital technology to stay connected with congregations. In fact, just 3% of churches were fully open as late as March of 2020, showing that most had found other options of meeting their congregations’ needs.
Digital services turned out to be beneficial for the church community, even after the lifting of restrictions allowed for traditional services to return. Offering digital outreach allows the home-bound to connect more closely with their church families and appeals to the nearly 40% of currently unchurched adults who would prefer to attend church online.
Pandemic aside, technologies such as audio-visual tech, business phone systems, and IT services play a vital role in helping churches to reach and serve their membership more easily and cost-effectively, helping church committees and management achieve responsible stewardship of funds as well as providing church members better access to education and assistance.
3 Comprehensive Ways Managed IT Can Benefit Your Church Community
There are many ways that technology can bring a new, richer dimension to church outreach and services, but it takes knowledge to gain full access to these benefits in a cost-effective manner. Partnering with a Managed IT provider helps religious organizations realize the full spectrum of technological advantages while saving money and reducing stress on overburdened staff. Here are just a few ways a managed services provider (MSP) can help:
Strategic Planning
Your church has an overall mission and a vision for how you wish to reach current members and provide outreach to your community. To be effective in today’s post-pandemic environment, you need an overall plan for technology that will dovetail with your church’s objectives but keep costs under control. Your MSP can develop a focused plan that will upgrade historic or legacy systems, help you get the most from emerging technologies, and address key areas of concern such as security, staff structure, and even business continuity.
Multi-Site Services
Many churches have more than one campus, and some even have satellite schools that are connected with their organization. Through these sites, churches can expand their services and reach a greater portion of their local communities — but only if they are able to coordinate activities seamlessly from one campus to another. The ability to stream and share content from site to site securely can have a positive impact on ministry outreach. Your MSP can help you choose the right services to achieve this goal — from implementing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone systems to connect offices or providing a network architecture that spans multiple sites to accommodate data sharing needs.
Security and Content Filtering
As recent events have proven, churches are not immune to the predatory actions of hackers and cybercriminals. In addition to phishing scams and other hacking techniques, a more digital presence can provide opportunities for malicious actors to cause disruption and mayhem. Recently, the new trend of hacking video conference calls and streaming video to interject pornographic or racist messages can cause real embarrassment for church organizations.
An MSP can put strong security fail-safes and protocols in place to protect your organization from unauthorized access, as well as ensure that no unauthorized content is streamed through your network.
Partner with RJ Young for Managed IT You Can Trust
At RJ Young, we understand how overwhelming the proliferation of digital technologies can be for church organizations, particularly when you have a small, or even no, in-house IT department to assist. Our team of experts can help relieve that burden on in-house staff and help your church achieve outreach and service goals while emphasizing good monetary stewardship.
Our services range from comprehensive assessments of your current infrastructure to the creation of comprehensive architecture and security programs. In addition, we offer a wide range of value-added services such as scanning, managed print, document management, audio-visual, and printing.
Let our team of experts guide your organization smoothly into the digital world. Touch base with an RJ Young consultant today and explore the many ways our services can help your church organization thrive.
