How Church Plants Can Find Success with an App

Tyler Gorsline is the co-founding Pastor of A Seattle Church, a growing community in the heart of the city that Subsplash also calls home. We got to chat with Tyler about the impact their app has had on helping their church community stay connected as well as alleviate some of the burden of the staff so that they aren't spread too thin when loving and serving a church that is still in the early stages of growth.

Subsplash: What goal is your app aiming to accomplish?

TG: We want to meet people where they are at. People are constantly on their phones nowadays, so we want to give people the opportunity to get information easily and provide as many inroads as possible to staying connected and committed to our community. Ultimately, though, we want to share the Gospel with people near and far and our app helps us do that.

Subsplash: How has your app added value to A Seattle Church? 

TG: I've been really delighted and surprised to find out how many people are discovering our app. I got some feedback from a guy I hadn't talked to in 12 years about how encouraged he was by one of my sermons. It's crazy that a childhood friend was able to hear the Gospel through the app. The app makes our content super accessible!

People can struggle to be physically present at church each week, but the app helps frequently remind people about what we are doing as a community. Features like push notifications have helped us engage people in the community.

Subsplash: As a church plant, specifically, what are the benefits of having app?

TG: One of the biggest challenges our team faces is moving towards long term sustainability. The use of technology can ease the the pressures of the pastoral team. Generally speaking, a small church staff can carry a lot of weight in the beginning, but having an app helps us to stay connected even if we don't have the bandwidth to meet with everyone one-on-one all the time. The unique challenge (and blessing) is we have a lot of people to serve and care for than we are sometimes able, but we try to encourage people to lean into the resources available in the app when it's appropriate.

Also, the fact that the app is so user friendly helps empower our congregation to serve. The intuitiveness of the platform makes it so that almost anyone can volunteer to help upload content, even if they aren't super tech-oriented. The usability of the platform empowers busy leaders to delegate tasks related to the app without too much direction.

Subsplash: Being a small church, how did you come to the decision to create an app even though you are just getting started and resources are tight at times?

TG: There was definitely a back and forth since taking on a new project means taking cost and time management into consideration, but ultimately we decided having the ability to connect with people in new and relevant ways was a huge value add for our church. With easy access to things like baptism signups, community group info, giving, and sharing prayer requests, our people are able to be connected as they'd like.

You can download their app here! We are really grateful for the community at A Seattle Church. We'd love to hear from you if you want to explore the benefits of an app for your church. 

Exciting News for Google Cast Users!

When we announced support for Google Cast a few months ago, Android app users had the exciting opportunity to stream their favorite media right to their Chromecast, Android TV, speakers, and other compatible devices.

The convenience of being able to share content from the comfort of your own home was a much anticipated feature. Well, we have an exciting update to share…..We’ve added Google Cast support for iOS!

For groups with a variety of devices, this handy feature will encourage community engagement in a whole new way - allowing bible studies to share clips, community groups to share sermons, music to be played at social gatherings, and much more!

For all current clients: make sure to update your branding in the Subsplash Dashboard to see these changes go live in your app!

For everybody else, call us today to see what other exciting features are available for your own customized app!

Expand the reach of your Gospel content with the Web Player

The name of the game is…. technology. As our news sources, blogs, social spheres, and work communication all become digitalized, our time spent on our phones, tablets, and desktops has increased dramatically.

As a pastor, you should know that your congregation is a part of this trend as well. With this in mind, we wanted to develop a solution to help you reach more people in the most efficient and effective way possible. That’s why we created the Subsplash Web Player, and here’s how it can make your job a whole lot easier: 

What is the Subsplash Web Player?

The Subsplash Web Player is an intuitive media player built to beautifully display your media on your website–no need to worry about designing media pages or pulling media files from different sources. Simply upload your media and custom artwork into the Subsplash Dashboard, and publish it live on your website with a single click. Spend less time worrying about publishing, and more time reaching people for the Gospel.

What's the Benefit?

1. Save lots of time

The Subsplash Web Player allows you have your sermons available as soon as possible by uploading your content to the Subsplash Dashboard. Quickly upload, manage, and publish your media to your website.

Whether it’s your tech team, communications team, or yourself doing the maintenance, the Web Player allows anyone to easily present media online, and update regularly. Pastors who have used our Web Player have reported saving hours in media management and publishing!

2. Delight your audience

The Subsplash Web Player allows you to delight your congregation with an intuitive web experience for your media. The Web Player showcases your media with a beautifully designed layout, attracting visitors to engage with your content. By making your content easily available and attractive to engage with, your congregation has a greater opportunity to stay connected to your church messages.

3. Empower your community, increase your impact

Give your congregation the power to spread the Gospel in the online space. With built-in social sharing capabilities, our Web Player allows your audience to easily share content to their social channels. This gives them opportunity to instantly share sermons with people they think would benefit from the message.

Our heart is to provide the best solutions that combine the power of technology with the power of your message to reach more people for the Gospel. Get started with your own Subsplash Web Player today!

The Mobile Revolution and the Church

7:00am hits, phone alarm goes off. Eat breakfast and check Twitter for morning news. Play your favorite Spotify playlist on your morning commute. Check notifications on your lunch break. Pay for coffee with the Starbucks app. Text family about dinner plans. Watch the hilarious Jimmy Fallon video your friend sent. Snap a pic of the breathtaking sunset. And much more in-between.

Sound familiar? Maybe the details differ for everyone, but one thing is the same for us all: mobile has become woven into our daily lives. With mobile passing the TV as “America’s first screen”, and people spending almost 2.5 hours daily engaging with apps alone, content consumed on a mobile device isn’t something to brush off as a passing trend.

In fact, we say with confidence that mobile has become vital. With the revolution of apps, mobile devices can now sync our daily, necessary, and leisurely activities all in one control center. People are relying on their devices to consume and communicate what is useful, helpful, and empowering in their daily lives.

[Enter the Church] These are the people that make up your congregation. These are the people that are actively seeking how to use their devices in greater and better ways. These are the people that can greatly benefit from your church’s resources beyond the Sunday service. With the global reach of the app stores, churches and ministries now have an amazing opportunity to enter the space of mobile technology and use it to provide a vital function in their congregation’s daily lives: hearing the Gospel, and staying connected to Christ’s Church.

This is a call to action. An action that we’ve seen countless churches use to fulfill their mission to spread the good news of Jesus, and use technology to be an active presence in the lives of those they shepherd. From more app downloads than members in their congregation, to increases in sermon downloads, to increases in giving, we’ve seen churches like The Village Church, Elevation Church, Fresh Life, and many others find great success through The Church App Platform. By making sermon archives, blogs, push notifications, giving, and other resources instantly accessible, apps can help you meet your audience in their context, on their time.

Think about the people that work weekends and can’t make it to Sunday services. Think about those that need your pastor’s weekly blog post to encourage their spirits. Think about the people who will share sermons via their social channels and will reach their friends and families as a result.

While there are a lot of overwhelming and uncertain ramifications that may accompany the mobile revolution, we challenge you to look at the great and powerful ways technology can be used for good. Here at Subsplash, we are passionate about using technology and delightful design to help make the most of your Gospel content. We want to see the Gospel shared to the ends of the earth. With The Church App Platform you can easily create and manage your own mobile apps, putting your content in the hands of a wider audience. We’d love to help you get started.

Stories from The Church

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Here at Subsplash we love hearing stories about how churches and ministries are using our Platform to improve engagement, reduce costs, increase giving, and share the Gospel. Check it out in this one minute video.