To be honest: I am biased. In the following lines I will recommend a product whose developers I know very well. We climbed mountains together, we sat in management teams, we partied for too long. And now I am writing about how my friends' idea, which became a company, has become an indispensable part of my job as a pastor. I am not neutral, no. But I am very well informed.
I heard that the world is changing and so is the church. I heard this from people who know more than I do. Because they do surveys or measure the world or have studied sociology. I only know what I experience. And I believe it is true. The world is changing and so is the church.
What I experience is that fewer people are attending church services than before. Not because fewer people are coming. They just don’t come as often. The new regularly is not weeklyWhat I find is that it is nothing short of a miracle to find a free time slot at short notice with five volunteers. Leisure time no longer means that this time free What I experience is that people are registering for events at shorter notice and cancelling at even shorter notice. flexibility has the Long-term in everyday planning. What I experience is that offers want to be perceived asynchronously, so digital. The new sermon is a Podcast and to to take part, you don't necessarily want drive to.
I want all of this to be understood without any reproachful undertone, because the world has changed. Our days have become fuller, our time is shorter, our lives are faster. The demands on performance and quality of life have increased. I hardly meet people anymore who feel under-challenged in their job, who think sport is superfluous and family time is negligible. Instead, I meet people who have many opportunities to spend their time meaningfully and therefore need a good reason why they should do so in church of all places. The sociologist Hartmut Rosa speaks of the growth of our Global reachThere is simply more world happening per unit of time today.
And then I experience something else: people want to feel connected. No question comes up more often in my church than this one: Will I be seen here? Nobody asks this question openly, but almost everyone thrives when they feel noticed or leaves disappointed when this is not the case. The world within reach with all its possibilities and stressors does not seem to make the desire for a home any less important. On the contrary. People want to feel at home in resonance (that's pink again) with the world and other people. This world should speak to us and we want to be heard.
So: Can church connect people in a healthy way, not a sticky way?
Ten years ago, three young people developed an app for our church that was supposed to make it easier to connect people. Today, our Communi app has become systemically relevant. It connects people by making access to our community much easier. With just a few clicks, the newcomer is right in the middle of the church. It doesn't matter where on the globe you are. The whole church is always with you in your pocket. It deliberately promotes horizontal networking among people. Everyone can publish appointments, set up groups, accept or decline offers or find moving helpers. This suits a church that wants to be a living organism rather than an institution. With the Communi app, we value asynchronous community as a real community. You can pray for each other at different times or read a Bible text together. Yesterday I "saw" a person there and wrote him a few lines, whom I haven't seen in a service for a long time.
Is the Communi app the salvation in a changing world? Of course not. But it helps us a lot to live together as a church in a world that will probably be different tomorrow than it is today.
Test Communi risk-free
365-day money-back guarantee
We are convinced that having your own app strengthens the community and significantly improves communication in your municipality. Try Communi now without any risk and see for yourself!
Other communities had these questions
❓Is our community too big/too small for its own app?
Small communities have the advantage of being able to quickly build a lively community using the app. For larger communities, having their own app offers the opportunity to communicate openly and in a structured manner. Even with hundreds of users, the app remains easy to navigate.
❓How do I start with Communi Risk-Free in our community?
- Place a free test app at.
- Try Communi free for 30 days.
- Are you convinced? E-Mail until 15.07.2024 at , with a request to activate the 365-day money-back guarantee.
- Then simply click on Book in your test app!
❓Will people in our community use our own app?
Our high satisfaction rate and the rapidly growing number of users mean that a Communi app will be used by many people in your community. See for yourself and try it out completely risk-free with our 365-day money-back guarantee.
❓We already use church management tools such as Churchtools, Microsoft Teams, etc.
Your own Communi app complements common management tools perfectly. Your own app is easy to understand and can be used by interested parties without registration. Through clever links with your other tools, important information from other systems can be displayed in Communi. The low-threshold access and simple operation mean that people enjoy using your own community app.
❓How is Communi different from a messenger like WhatsApp?
With Communi, your community gets its own app in the app stores and makes it easy for people to experience your community with the digital bulletin board. Communication via Communi is clear and official information doesn't just get lost among other things.
❓How much effort is involved in managing the app?
Because people are active in the app themselves, it is much easier to manage than, for example, an Instagram account. Linking the app to your website and your social media presence also saves a lot of time.
❓Can you connect with other communities using Communi?
Yes, congregations with their own app can work together across groups and thus organize communication within the federation or church district.
❓How much does a community app cost me?
Of course, most communities cannot finance an app that has been developed specifically for them. That's why we have developed an app builder that allows us to quickly and easily provide each community with its own app. Our prices evolve with the use of the platform.
The best thing about it is that every development of the platform benefits everyone. So you can look forward to improvements and new features every 6 weeks. You can find the prices here.
For FEGs and many other associations there are special conditions.
All questions answered? Then let's start here:
