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A Rethinking Evangelism®

Success Story

About Anderson SDA Church


Since 1884, Anderson SDA Church continues to work diligently to help families in their community to live more abundantly through Jesus.


Beliefs:
We believe that God Loves, Creates, Redeems, Inhabits, Transforms, and Triumphs.

Website:
 
Address:
1122 W 8th Street
Anderson, IN 46011

THE OPPORTUNITY

 

When COVID-19 struck with unpredictable devastation, it caught the world completely unprepared. Anderson SDA Church was no exception. When church leadership made the decision to pause in-person services to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, everything had to change ... and quickly.

The challenge of not meeting in person quickly surfaced a number of obstacles for staying connected to Anderson SDA Church’s congregation and the community.

Communication

Communication

When your primary mode of communication is through in-person announcements or a printed bulletin passed out during church service and then you suddenly stop meeting in person, staying connected becomes an enormous challenge.

Evangelism

Evangelism

How do you develop personal relationships with individuals who you can’t meet with or study the Bible with in person? “We were in the middle of several outreach programs that had been done in person. The Anderson SDA Church Board wanted to find a way to keep people engaged,” said Brent Schalk, Anderson SDA Church Head Elder.

Tithes and Offerings

Tithe & Offering

When you have previously collected tithe and offering in person and then must switch to a virtual world, it creates an obstacle.

Brent-Schalk
We were in the middle of several outreach programs that had been done in person. The Anderson SDA Church Board wanted to find a way to keep people engaged.
Brent Schalk
Head Elder | Anderson SDA Church

THE ANSWER

 

“As we began to try to put all the pieces together, providentially the Anderson SDA Church Board began to work with Chris Dellen, a member who leads Rethinking Evangelism®,” said Brent Schalk.

Rethinking Evangelism® quickly began mapping out a strategy to modernize the way Anderson SDA Church stays connected to its congregation and community in completely new and different ways.

Brent-Schalk
As we began to try to put all the pieces together, providentially the Anderson SDA Church Board began to work with Chris Dellen, a member who leads Rethinking Evangelism®.
Brent Schalk
Head Elder | Anderson SDA Church

The Journey

 

The first step was setting up the right foundational technologies where needed. When it was impossible for Anderson SDA Church to meet in person or use printed weekly bulletins to stay connected with the congregation, the church had to switch from “analog” communications to “digital” communications. “I am not an expert on this type of technology, but the Rethinking Evangelism® team is,'' said Brent Schalk.

1

Implement HubSpot CRM

 

image

This first step was to implement a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. This is a powerful, cloud-based database that organizes and segments all the individuals that Anderson SDA Church desires to communicate with. Rethinking Evangelism® worked closely with church leadership to collect members' contact information and organize it in HubSpot. In addition, Rethinking Evangelism® worked to collect all known contacts who had previously responded to Evangelism and outreach efforts and organized them in HubSpot CRM. Over time, HubSpot CRM has become Anderson SDA Church’s Modern Evangelism Engine.

2

Develop and Maintain a Consistent Identity (brand)

 

3

Implement Integrated Digital Communication Channels with CRM

 

Modern Marketing Email Platform: Rethinking Evangelism® developed a responsive, branded email marketing template that is being used twice a week as a personalized invitation to Prayer Meeting, Friday Vespers and Church Service for both members and every individual who has responded to previous Evangelism efforts.


text

Text Messaging (SMS)

 

Text messages are a personal and immediate form of communication. Rethinking Evangelism® implemented a text messaging platform for Anderson SDA Church, which is used to invite individuals to weekly Church Service. In addition, Rethinking Evangelism® integrated the text messaging platform with the CRM to store all past text messages within an individual’s database record.


Facebook & Instagram

Integrated Social Campaigns

 

With the guidance of Rethinking Evangelism®, Anderson SDA Church launched a number of targeted Social Media advertising campaigns in the community. Every time an individual responds to a campaign, they are automatically added to Anderson SDA Church's CRM and enrolled in a number of continuous weekly outreach efforts.


website

Website

 

Rethinking Evangelism® integrated Anderson SDA Churchs website with HubSpot CRM. This helps provide insight on the topics, sermons and content that individuals are interacting with, which can be used to proactively reach out to interested individuals in the future.


forms

Online Forms

 

Rethinking Evangelism® helped Anderson SDA Church launch a number of forms on their website for individuals, including submitting prayer requests, contacting church leadership or even requesting specific information on an individual sermon. This information is automatically added to Anderson SDA Church’s database. Furthermore, if the contact is new, the individual is immediately added to future weekly communications and outreach initiatives.


bible study

Automated Bible Study Scheduling

 

In a virtual world, making it easy for individuals to schedule a Bible study was very important to Anderson SDA Church and their Bible Worker. Rethinking Evangelism® helped integrate HubSpot CRM, Zoom and the Bible Worker’s calendar to allow individuals to easily schedule a one-on-one Bible study.

4

New Website

 

With the increased focus on “virtual engagement” and a desire to create an engaging experience online, Rethinking Evangelism® created a new website that is optimized for both desktop computers and the mobile experience. It was created in order to host Anderson SDA Church’s online content in a way that is more engaging, immersive and optimized for search engines.

 

 

 

Desktop Website

Anderson_website

 

 

 

Mobile Website

Anderson_mobile

 

Pastor-Anthony-Nix-Anderson-SDA-Church
Rethinking Evangelism® has revolutionized the way I track guest relations and has made connecting with guests easier and more efficient.
Pastor Anthony Nix
Pastor | Anderson SDA Church

 

Anderson SDA Calendar

 

 

 

 

Website

Anderson Ad Clicks
 

 

 

Website Traffic

Anderson Website Traffic1
 

RESULTS

 

Within six months of Rethinking Evangelism® working with Anderson SDA Church, the church’s database grew to over 1,000 contacts. Its social followership is growing at a rate of 8.8x faster than it was previous to working with Rethinking Evangelism®.

Lastly, even after Anderson SDA Church resumed in-person service, its livestream viewership has grown 29x. “Rethinking Evangelism® has revolutionized the way I track guest relations and has made connecting with guests easier and more efficient,” said Pastor Anthony Nix.

Anderson SDA Church is consistently reaching more people in its community more often and in more ways than ever before. And it’s working. Brent Schalk shared, “What looked like a big setback turned out to be a blessing, drawing more interest. If any church needs help in these areas, I would recommend a consultation with Rethinking Evangelism®!”

 
Brent-Schalk
What looked like a big setback turned out to be a blessing, drawing more interest. If any church needs help in these areas, I would recommend a consultation with Rethinking Evangelism!
Brent Schalk
Head Elder | Anderson SDA Church

Download Success Story

 

Anderson SDA Church Modernizes Evangelism Approach with Rethinking Evangelism®.

 

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