You send the email. It lands in an inbox. And for a growing share of your congregation, it sits there — unopened, buried under everything else competing for their attention — not because email stopped working, but because it was never built to carry every kind of message. A number of churches are adding texting alongside email, not instead of it, and giving each channel the job it’s actually good at.

The Trend
Platforms built around texting — offering text-to-church features where members can text in prayer requests, get service reminders, and receive announcements directly — are gaining real traction as a second channel alongside email, not a replacement for it. The shift reflects a simple behavioral fact: people open texts fast. Email is still where longer, more detailed content belongs — it’s just not the right tool for everything.

The Translation
This is about matching the message to the channel, not picking a winner. Your newsletter, a detailed ministry update, anything someone needs to read, save, or come back to — that’s still email’s job, and it does it well. A same-day service change, a last-minute volunteer request, a time-sensitive reminder — that’s a text’s job, because it cuts through in the moment an email simply can’t. Running both well means neither channel is being asked to do something it’s bad at.

Verdict: Worth a Shot
Worth testing deliberately alongside what you’re already doing. If your church already sends texts informally — a staff member’s personal number for reminders — that’s a sign the channel already works and just needs a proper home. Keep your newsletter and longer updates in email where they belong, and add texting specifically for the time-sensitive messages that have been getting lost.

One Move
Pick one thing you currently only send by email that’s genuinely time-sensitive — a same-day reminder or a last-minute change — and send it by text as well for the next three weeks, alongside your normal email. Compare how people actually respond. Let that result decide where texting earns a permanent place next to what’s already working.

If you feel like you need more hand-on communicaitons coaching, just reach out! We can start a consulting and/or coaching relationship that fits your church culture.

Until next week,

Josh
The Church Comms Guy

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