What Tech Does Your Church Actually Need?

Short answer: Less than you think, and it depends on your size. Under 150 people: a message podcast, a simple website, one Instagram account, and no livestream. 150 to 750: add YouTube live past 500, texting, and your first people system. 750 to 2,500: a streaming provider, online hosts past 1,500, and an app only after that. Your people system and giving platform you pick once a decade.

A question I get constantly is "what tech should our church use, considering our size?" I work at one of the largest churches in the world, but I came to faith at a church under five hundred people, and I know the average church does not have my resources. So I approached this as if I were the pastor of each size of church, spending wisely. Full disclosure: the Christian tech space is small and I know many of these companies. I have tried to be honest, and I apologize in advance if I bug any friends.

What is the framework behind these picks?

The Four S's of Digital: Streaming, Social, Systems, and Strengthening. Most churches just do streaming, maybe online giving, and call it online church. When you do all four, it starts to feel like actual biblical church, because you have a way to reach people, a way to talk with them, a way to know them, and a way to grow them. Every recommendation below is sorted by those four.

What does a church under 150 people need?

Streaming

None. Record audio of the message and publish a weekly podcast for your church family. For message notes, next-step forms, and automated follow-up, use the Nucleus ecosystem. Best design and price point at this stage.

Social

One Instagram account, three posts a week, more Reels than static posts, with the weekend sermon as your main content source. Have a volunteer capture moments during the message or re-record yourself on your phone afterward. Post the Reels as Shorts on a YouTube channel.

Systems

No CRM yet. Track people in your giving tool, your email platform, and a few Google Sheets for volunteer teams. For giving, use Nucleus if you are already in that ecosystem, Tithely second, Pushpay third. Send a weekly email every Thursday about the weekend, and send it from you, not from "the church." A simple website that says who you are, where you meet, and a clear invitation for Sunday. No ads. No app. Sign up for Google Workspace for Nonprofits.

Strengthening

Put every volunteer team on a WhatsApp thread to stay connected during the week, and use Zoom or Google Meet for training rather than another night in the building. Only force an extra in-person night if it is worth getting a babysitter for.

What does a church of 150 to 750 people need?

Streaming

Stay with the podcast, and consider a live YouTube stream once you pass 500. Do not pay for a streaming provider. Stream one service, not all of them, and only if you can execute it well. Keep using the small-church approach for notes and follow-up, but as you approach 500, start watching for a people system that can absorb some of those tools.

Social

Four posts a week plus a few stories. Try some Instagram Lives where you interview leaders. Upload more to YouTube: short devotionals, training, stories of life change, shot on a newer iPhone and edited by an amazing volunteer, probably in their teens or twenties. Introduce texting with a platform like Clearstream or Text In Church, or whatever integrates with the CRM you choose.

Systems

This is where you pick a CRM, and you cannot make this decision lightly. It needs to manage people, volunteer rosters, groups, and ideally giving, and it should be able to grow with you. Take a hard look at Planning Center first. Tithely second for how feature-rich it is. Pushpay third. Giving follows whatever CRM you pick. Keep Mailchimp or switch to what your CRM uses. Run an Instagram ad targeting a twenty-mile radius, and as you approach 500 consider a company like Church Candy or Church Fuel, who can also help you get a Google Ad Grant. Still no mobile app.

Strengthening

Keep the WhatsApp teams and Zoom training. Hold key events in person, but offer a Zoom version once or twice a year for things like membership class so the people who cannot make the schedule work still have a path.

What does a church of 750 to 2,500 people need?

Streaming

Livestream one service to YouTube through a provider like Resi or BoxCast. Start talking to those online during the service as the pastor or host, and as you approach 1,500, consider adding hosts who only speak to the online audience. That requires a new ministry to run it well. Church Online Platform becomes an option above 1,000, but try to keep everything on YouTube. Build your own weekly "program" page on your website with four or five buttons: notes, next step, and anything tied to the weekend.

Social

Same channels, but now with stand-alone volunteer teams owning Instagram, YouTube, and texting, and a leader casting vision for each. Expand ads to include YouTube.

Systems

If you chose the right CRM at medium size, you scale with it. If staff and volunteers never bought in, make the change now, because a flawed system quietly prevents growth. As you approach 2,500, you might need something like Rock RMS, but not before. Expand email so key departments can send, with protocols so members are not buried. Keep the homepage dead simple for a new person and move member content to other pages and your weekly email. Consider an app only past 1,500, and only if your CRM provides one affordably. The one feature that justifies it is mobile check-in for kids and events.

Strengthening

Launch large online small groups quarterly so local people can try groups quickly, and use Zoom for discipleship programs throughout the year.

Website or app?

The website is for new people. It is indexed by Google and is almost always the first thing someone finds while exploring your church. An app requires a download, and really only members will want your church's app on their phone. So the website should be aimed at a first-time visitor, and the app, if you ever get one, should be aimed at member engagement. Most churches should not have an app before 1,500 people.

What is the mistake everyone makes?

Choosing infrastructure for the next three years instead of the next ten. You change a CRM and giving system about once a decade, so ask whether the platform can grow with you for eight to ten years before you commit.

I learned this the hard way. Over twelve months at Saddleback we overhauled our people system, content platform, email client, login authenticator, media platform, and data warehouse, and rebuilt every app experience that touched them. Most of that work was "repiping the house," vital work nobody sees. Two more lessons from it: switching platforms is 50 percent technical change and 50 percent helping your core users understand it, so over-communicate to the point of being a pest. And software is slower than you think. One development cycle runs six to eight weeks, which means you realistically ship about six major ideas a year. Learn to say "not yet" instead of "no."

How do I get my whole team thinking this way?

Walk them through the Alpha Omega Tool, even at the smallest size. Put your six key ministry areas on the x-axis, healthy digital integration from 1 to 100 percent on the y-axis, and without lifting your pen trace a line from Alpha to Omega, honestly rating how digital is integrated into each area. Does it look like an EKG? Do you flatline? The lowest area is where you start. The point is to think beyond streaming and social posts and integrate digital into the deeper parts of the organization.

Where do I go deeper?

• Tech and Digital Strategy Recommendations for Small, Medium, and Large Churches (the full version, with links to every tool)
• Not Just Code: The Hidden Realities of Overhauling Church Tech
• The Unfair Advantage: Building the Right Tech Stack for Your Church
• My Tech Stack for Planting a Church
• Alpha Omega Digital Tool to Help Your Church
• Which Church Management Software Should You Choose?