Not Just Code: The Hidden Realities of Overhauling Church Tech
I recently celebrated my one-year anniversary as the Innovative Tech Pastor. Looking back at the last 12 months, a few key lessons really stand out:
Pick the right tech infrastructure once
Over the past year, we overhauled almost everything: our people management tool, our content management platform, our email client, our login authenticator, started transitioning our media management platform, and restructured our data warehouse, while cutting down our Azure costs in the process. This doesn’t include redoing our app experiences, which were all impacted by the above. Switching from a custom people management system to Rock RMS was a massive undertaking in its own right, as it affects staff and volunteers across weekly follow-ups, groups, serve teams, and everything else. A year prior, we had also switched our giving platform, which still had some lingering implications when I stepped into my role.
The takeaway? Don’t choose a key piece of your tech stack unless you know you can roll with it for the long haul. Don’t just select a tool for the next few years; ask yourself if the platform can grow with you over the next eight to ten years. Most of our work over the last 12 months was essentially "repiping the house." It’s vital work that most people will never even see. We are now five months into Rock RMS and can spin up new features quickly, but it took a full 12 months of grinding to get to this point.
Change management with your core users is half the battle
Switching platforms is 50% about the technical change and 50% about ensuring your core users actually understand it. We have hundreds of staff and thousands of volunteers using these tools. To manage this, I over-communicated early and often—honestly, I became a bit of a pest with my email updates. We sent monthly timetable updates, hosted regular training sessions (both in-person and via Google Meet), and held open office hours for people to drop in and ask questions. I was also super honest about the pros and cons of these changes to leadership. Setting expectations upfront is really important. It helped greatly that we focused heavily on training our staff so they felt empowered to train their own volunteers.
I have an amazing team, so I certainly didn't do this alone, but it was a solid six-month process leading up to the launch of being on Rock RMS. The launch date is burned into my mind like my kids' birthdates. Our motto was that no one should be shocked when launch day arrived, and no one was. Never assume your single email blast was read. You have to remind people repeatedly, and yes, someone will still ask an obvious question the week of launch that makes you want to pull your hair out. But remember: everyone is busy, and they aren't thinking about this process the way you are. Pro-tip: Create an on-demand training page to easily direct people to common questions. That was a lifesaver during the Rock RMS rollout.
Software development isn’t as fast as I thought
We are used to the Apple cycle: a new iPhone hardware release every year, but software updates are pushed to our phones monthly. In my mind, if it’s "just code," you should be able to push an update pretty quickly. The reality? Between ideation, building, sandbox testing, and waiting for app store approvals, a single cycle can take 6–8 weeks.
I’ve learned that ideas need serious vetting before entering production. We only have so many development cycles in a calendar year. If one feature takes eight weeks, we can realistically only implement about six major ideas a year. Plus, fixing one thing often breaks another—and that game of whack-a-mole is never fun. Even your iPhone breaks after a new software update. Now, when a staff member or volunteer pitches an idea, I ask how it advances our mission. Is it worth the time and cost? Bringing them into the prioritization process has been incredibly helpful. Since we don’t have an unlimited budget or time, they need to learn to rank their requests from top to bottom and see the hidden costs of development.
Strong conviction is key to cutting through the noise
Everyone is a user, and every user has an opinion on how the website, app, or platform should work. You will hear a lot of noise. To navigate it, you need a strong gut conviction of what the future should look like and a clear, phased development plan for the next 12 months.
When someone gives you the side-eye because a feature isn't working the way they want, the real answer is usually that there are simply more pressing priorities that will have a greater immediate impact than their idea. You have to learn how to communicate a "no" as a "not yet." It takes real leadership to balance frontline user feedback with your budget and big-picture goals. When I stepped into this role, I didn’t have every technical skill, but I had a clear picture of where we were and a steadfast vision of where we needed to go. I had a pretty good idea of what needed to get done in the first 24 months as the Innovative Tech Pastor. You need that inner conviction to lead effectively in this space.
I have truly grown to love improving our tech infrastructure and building out our app experiences. Creating a more delightful overall experience for our staff, volunteers, and congregation is incredibly fun. I am super grateful my church entrusted me with this role, and I can’t wait for the next 12 months.
