Church attendance has been trending downward, leading to greater isolation among people, even as doors remain open in the post-pandemic era.
Recognizing the need to reach those seeking faith and community, one organization is leveraging today’s marketing techniques to revolutionize church outreach and spread the love of Jesus in the digital age.
Gallup data reveals that even before the COVID pandemic, membership in American houses of worship was below 50% for the first time in 80 years.
In the years before the pandemic, total church attendance dropped by 3%. The Pew Research Center attributes these declines, in part, to challenges exacerbated by COVID, with one in five Americans reporting attending church in person less often than before the pandemic. However, Gloo, an online ministry platform, has been working diligently to connect people with local churches amid this downturn.
Gloo Explorer Connections Program Director Devon Kline highlights a new trend emerging as people who became disconnected from their local churches during the pandemic express a willingness to reconnect with their faith communities .
With individuals’ online search activity as its foundation, Gloo leverages modern marketing strategies to connect people with relevant local churches. Relationship help emerges as a top trend in Gloo’s research, and the organization leverages this data to refine its marketing approach. Acting as an online connection engine, Gloo helps faith seekers connect with local churches and Christian organizations.
Churches and organizations that partner with Gloo invest in connecting with people through sponsored ads and search engine optimization. Responders, as Gloo refers to these partners, pay an annual fee ranging from $1,500 to nearly $4,000 to connect with scouts (individuals seeking faith) and fill empty seats in the church with new souls.
Currently, more than 6,300 registered churches are among the 23,000 organizations using Gloo’s tools.
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In just two years, Gloo has connected more than 150,000 people with churches in the United States, matching someone with a church every two and a half minutes. This means that every two and a half minutes a church is introduced to someone in its community who might not have previously considered entering its doors.
Gloo’s prominent partners include He Gets Us, a prominent organization that debuted two ads during the Super Bowl as part of a $100 million advertising campaign aimed at making Jesus more relatable. Other important partners include Churches Care and K-Love Radio. While Gloo’s primary goal is to bring people closer to Christianity, questions arise about the tension between marketing and conversion.
Despite these concerns, participating churches, such as Christ Fellowship Church in Florida, are experiencing the benefits of digital outreach. With Gloo’s help, they’ve connected with over 500 people in the past 18 months, making it easier for them to share the gospel and reach those who might not be actively seeking a church through traditional means.
On average, participating churches can expect approximately 12 new connections each month. As these digital campaigns become successful, outreach efforts are expanding beyond the web to public venues, including professional sporting events and music festivals.
Pastors and churches are often disconnected from their own communities, but thanks to Gloo, they are finding renewed opportunities to build stronger relationships with those who walk through their doors.
As Christians, Hebrews 10:25 reminds us of the importance of meeting together for worship and fellowship: “Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some do, but encourage one another, especially now that it is the day of his return. approaching”. It is in coming together that we can experience the support, encouragement, and growth that comes from fellow believers.
Through innovative approaches like those taken by Gloo, the call to gather and share the love of Jesus continues to be fulfilled in the digital age.
James Lasher is staff editor at Charisma Media.
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