The Pro Church Tools Show with Brady Shearer

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (02:00): How best to use ChatGPT in church? Church leadership? Ministry issues? Question #2 (16:44): Just curious, what are your thoughts on the social media app Lemon8? Do you think it would be beneficial for a church to utilize that app? Question #3 (22:57): Communications Minister here at my church. I have a church member that has gone and made their own custom T-shirts after we just did a church-wide shirt order. They don’t match the same shirts everyone else has and this person is not in a position of leadership. How should I address this with this individual? What's consistent branding worth? The shirts are honestly fine, but I just don't feel like I can have a church member just making whatever they want ESPECIALLY when we've done a church-wide shirt order recently that allowed everyone to have something similar and have a sense of unity. Question #4 (29:09): What are your top 5 favorite sports moments?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (02:06): Any tips on dealing with insecurity as a leader? Question #2 (18:04): What do you do when you feel one of your church's paid staff isn't pulling his weight? Question #3 (31:11): If you could pick one social stigma The Church could magically get past - what would it be? Question #4 (41:23): Any way that Alex recommends to make a latte without any fancy equipment at home? We’re curious if the Chaplain of Caffeine had any tips?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (00:28): I hear you talk frequently about bridge events. We are struggling to get buy-in with our church leadership because, in years past, we had many such events and, while they were well attended, there was rarely ever a person who actually become a regular attendee through such an event. What are your tips for leading our congregation to intentionally see these events as a form of outreach? Question #2 (17:01): Should churches bother with Twitter anymore? Are there any use cases that Twitter would be good for? Question #3 (24:19): We are looking to set up a podcast/video studio, can you share how you would set it up? What’s needed and is there a way to make it portable? We don’t have dedicated studio space. Thank you! Question #4 (31:47):  What is your all-time favorite worship song?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (02:03): I just took the leap from a large student ministry to a small older congregation as a lead pastor. Our church is older, not tech savvy, but is looking to grow. I am 32, pretty tech savvy, and ready to reach our community. What would be your advice on updating our methods of ministry? Question #2 (12:43): How do I increase our reach on TikTok? My Pastor's reels regularly get 10-20k views on Facebook but the same video on TikTok gets around 250. Question #3 (25:53): So I posted on my Instagram Stories - "Collecting church comms nightmare stories. Please share." And it quickly turned into all the times churches have messed up their print materials. Just wanted to share a few. Question #4 (30:11): Time for a new series we're starting today called - "What's Wrong Lately." I'll go first.

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (02:08): How do you bridge the age gap? Our church has a lot older people but they also want to bring in younger people. Unfortunately when they come, they don’t feel comfortable or connected. Question #2 (16:24): How would you go about addressing the social media presence of a church with multiple campuses? For example, we have a church with a “primary” campus and then we have two satellite campuses that currently meet in local schools with the goal of having permanent buildings. Question #3 (18:32): How important do you think it is to have an aesthetically pleasing church Instagram feed? I feel like ours isn’t as uniform as others, but I also think same colors, fonts and presets all the time is boring. Question #4 (23:11): What is your most memorable concert?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (00:30): What is your best tip for churches to encourage people to attend an earlier service? We are experiencing rapid growth and need to make room at our popular second service. Question #2 (06:13): Hey Brady, I work for the US Army where our church body is all transient (average two years on installation). I'm sure I'm not the only kind of church where most of the members don't stay very long. I'm wondering if any of your comms/social media advice would be adjusted for our type of audience where we are constantly seeking new members. Question #3 (13:53): We recently launched a sister campus that is completely unique in terms of events, but we are under the same umbrella of elders, beliefs, etc. What is your strategy for approaching a website that combines both? A main hub domain and links out to a separate domain for each campus? Question #4 (21:38): Hey Brady, it's a new season - what's in the fragrance rotation for Spring 2023?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:51): Can you look at the Instagram Reel that hit one million views and the other videos on our channel and see if there's anything we can be doing better? Also, I accredited you to all the staff for that video that hit one million. Ever since listening to your podcast our engagement has more than tripled!  Question #2 (17:37): Do you have any content on how we can encourage our congregations to actively share and like the church content? I’ll post something and get 2-10 likes and shares from the pastoral staff. But I know posts that have many likes and shares get seen way more often. Is this not a way to help share the gospel as it would be seen more? We're in a church of just under 400 people. Question #3 (24:01): What are thoughts on transformation church purchasing a media studio? How do you feel about churches creating their personal content at a mass scale? Should these profits go to unfortunate instead? Question #4 (39:10): Loved the favourite things about Canada you and Alex shared on the pod. I think it would be a fun follow up question to hear what you guys like about the US, from your travels there and interactions with so many Americans, and for Alex having family there.

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:30): If you were starting over at a new church with little social media presence and an outdated website, what would be your approach/priorities. I think you message is resonating with many people today, but most of us are overwhelmed with where to invest first. Question #2 (12:25): Who or what accounts should our church IG accounts follow? Leadership team? Other churches? Church attendees? Not really sure what makes the most sense. Question #3 (18:06): You mentioned in an earlier podcast that a newsletter style weekly email wasn't a very effective form of church communication, and that it's giving the work to your congregation. Are there any cases in which E-News emails (weekly emails detailing a list of 4 to 5 upcoming events with links to register) are ever effective? Why or why not?  Question #4 (30:33): What are you favourite things about being Canadian?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:02):  What’re your thoughts on Meta’s new paid verification system? As an Aussie getting first access to it is tempting, but do you see it adding value to normal churches / individuals other than the cheap clout? Question #2 (17:36):  We're really battling with getting new volunteers for our Digital Campus and have tried personal asks, asking live during the hosting, social media posts. Any helpful tips or advice?  Question #3A (26:08): We're currently building a second studio and also adding a larger coffee area for our team of 5-10 coffee drinkers in our team each Sunday. I personally have experience with Breville espresso machines, pour over, and Aeropress (and spending a long time to make one single great cup or coffee) but thinking of something maybe easier that still gives us a great coffee experience (Chemex probably?) Would love to know what Alex's thoughts are on this. Question #3B (31:17): Money is tight right now. What is your recommended low-cost whole bean coffee for French press/pour over? Costcos Colombian Supreme? Walmart? Trader Joe's? Question #4 (38:44):  What has helped you be as confident as you are with your big, and successful, decisions?! Like: starting Pro Church Tools, creating a work culture that seems beyond healthy and incredible, launch a website builder, social media analysis, etc. How did you know those things would work out for you and how have you stayed focused and motivated to build all that you have?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Got a question from a listener asking us to comment on Doug Smith - author and software engineer - on the podcast “Theology in the Raw” with Preston Sprinkle. The listener goes on to say "I’d love to hear your considered response in light of Smith's argument that many of the emerging digital platforms are designed to be addictive and hamper discipleship and our mission rather than further it in healthy ways."