Pro Church Podcast With Brady Shearer

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (02:52): If you were going to CHOOSE a name for a church - what options might you consider? Question #2 (14:31): I’m a first time communications director! There’s so much advice for what to do in communications but I really just need advice on what I should focus on for the first 6 months. Question #3 (20:46): Should churches be setting up giving options for Crypto/bitcoin?  If so, what do you recommend? Question #4 (26:40): Brady, how's your wife's pregnancy going? Any update?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (02:06): Why do some church giving providers charge zero dollars per month? What's that about? Question #2 (10:44): Brady, can't companies just charge what they want? Question #3 (12:45): Brady, aren't you just talking about this because your company stands to make money? Question #4 (33:25): Brady, this isn't a good look. Why attack a company like this in public? The Church needs to unite as one, not divide itself.

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:20): How do we use pictures appropriately and deal with privacy issues?  Question #2 (10:53): Do you know of any good best practices for engaging older, not really technically inclined?  Question #3 (24:17): If a church wants to set a coffee station/connection area in the lobby, but you don't want to serve Folgers; what's the best all around blend that everyone will enjoy? Question #4 (31:48): Do you keep track of the other companies that do similar work that your company does? How do you actively compete with a flooded market?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (00:49): For a church of about 60, what do you recommend you focus on with social media when trying to grow your church? Question #2 (13:36): As the staff leader of the production team at my church, how do I balance the growth of volunteer leaders with over asking them?  Question #3 (18:13): Last year we launched a TikTok account as a way to connect with our community. However, we have seem to hit a wall when it comes to the views we are getting on our videos, usually around 300, and adding new subscribers. Any advice you might have to help us push through this wall? Question #4 (25:45): How many times weekly should a medium-sized church send promotional text messages?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:25): I am a church planter and we've been meeting with our launch team for over three months. What kind of social posts should we be doing? I really want the social media launch to be intentional. Question #2 (09:48): When reviewing your advice on Facebook ads, the tendency was towards still images advertising for bridge events. How would you use a series of interviews with church attendees to advertise most effectively on social? Question #3 (20:55): How often should a church be posting on social media? Question #4 (21:28): What is your opinion on outsourcing creative tasks to an outside agent or using something like Fiverr? 

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:21): Our new guest follow-up system is working. But how do we now transition people from returning guests to integrated members? Question #2 (13:20): Ways for churches to build online through video without having one person become "the face"? Question #3 (21:26): Any recommendations, advice, best practices for  internal communications (e.g. between core staff / key volunteers)? Question #4 (26:36): I started a midweek podcast for my church. We have been calling it a midweek podcast but I would like to give it a name. Would love some ideas or maybe a process you have done to get a name for something like this.

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:00): Do you post for the congregation you have or for the congregation you want? Question #2 (09:38): Do you think it’s a good move for a church’s IG to follow back everyone who follows you? Question #3 (13:26): What would you say is the best way to institute change in people's perceptions of social media? Question #4 (23:32): Brady, as you get ready to have your second child, what's one piece of parenting advice you'd pass on?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (00:50): What are good ways to get feedback and a pulse on your community? Do you use surveys (and if so, what should they include?), focus groups, something else? How do you invite community feedback? Question #2 (08:00): I’m putting together a presentation to advocate for more hours in my role at my church citing that social media needs more of my time and more resources as we need to be more intentional with making it great. What are some key points I need to hit?  Question #3 (15:07): What's the best time for posting to Instagram Reels? Question #4 (16:38): Is it worth the time to add captions to videos (actually burned into the video). Premiere pro can do automatic captioning, is it actually beneficial for videos? Does it differ for YT, FB, IG, TT, etc?  

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (00:45): Our average attendance is around 60 people. Over half of those are students ages 16 to 22. The students run sound, do set up tear down, and do the all the food and drinks for fellowship. Most of our adults are every other week maybe in attendance. I so badly wish I had a fresh set of eyes to see what I could do to keep our adults engaged. We are a student led church. Question #2 (09:41): What are your thoughts on which tithing options to offer? How many are too many? Is it seen outdated to pass a physical plate? Question #3 (19:36): How do you feel about "Text CONNECT to 00000" as a CTA versus go to "graceky.org"? Is it better to just stick with the website url? Question #4 (22:48): Any advice for my first time managing interns?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (00:44): Is the perfect URL as important as it used to be? Are we past the days of needing the perfect URL or is it still just as important as always? Question #2 (09:29): Would you suggest to move to *just* Reels on Instagram? What pointers if any could you pass along? Question #3 (15:33): Do you struggle with keeping strategies away from manipulation? Question #4 (25:35): If you didn't start Pro Church Tools (Brady) or work as a pastor or at Pro Church Tools (Alex) what would you be doing instead?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (06:57): How can we use Facebook Ads as the new IG/FB rules do not allow interests related to religion anymore? Question #2 (13:52): What are some of the "easy to miss" elements of an effective and successful online ministry? Question #3 (23:47): What do you think about different ministries having social media pages? Question #4 (25:37): What do you do to relax? Are you a golfer like most ministers? 

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:07): How do I encourage growth and evolution in the way we use social media in a church that likes to stay with tradition?  Question #2 (10:21): Do you think a church can post too many clips from a sermon per week? Is there a point where you push out too much content? Question #3 (17:30): Anyone have any thoughts on the "ideal" number of next steps in the Launcher? Any thoughts on a max number? I have been wondering if the Launcher can have too many and get cluttered. Question #4 (28:11): I am trying to create a cohesive feed for all of our church's social media. However, the lighting varies greatly depending on where the photo was taken. Do you have any Lightroom presets you recommend? 

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (00:54): When posting about church events or announcements on social, how does one communicate information about the event, while keeping the graphics interesting each time, and without turning every announcement post into something promotional? Question #2 (11:23): Suggestions on how to handle a senior pastor creating/posting his own rogue branding/marketing/reels to his own FB/IG? Question #3 (16:05): How do you think churches should respond to negative comments on social media?  Question #4 (28:00): What camera/lens/mic combination are you using for your TikToks and Reels?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (02:20): How do I get a job in church when I'm first starting out? Question #2 (16:41): If a church has no tech or media presence at all...what should be their first step? Question #3 (26:15): What keeps you invested in the North American church model?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (02:25): How do I improve my website SEO? Question #2 (11:38): Any advice for putting together sermon bumper videos? Question #3 (19:49): It seems like churches are either able to serve young adults, or every other age demographic, but not both. Are there any churches that are truly intergenerational anymore? Is this a realistic goal? Question #4 (29:12): What's something you worried about entering your 30s that ended up not being a big deal?  

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (03:38): What is a good open rate for my church's email newsletters? Question #2 (18:18): What are some best practices for church newsletter email subject lines? Question #3 (23:05): In last week's podcast you mentioned cleaning your email list.  How would you recommend churches do this?  Question #4 (27:15): How is it actually like living in Niagara? It feels real far from Toronto.

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:58): What are your thoughts on the relevancy of email newsletters? Question #2 (15:58): What's the #1 thing for an overwhelmed comms/media person to focus on this year? Question #3 (20:55): What's a social media prediction that turned out differently than you expected in the past few years? Question #4 (27:04): When you were just starting with PCT, what do you wish you did earlier/different?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (03:03): How do you move people from being consumers of content to communicating with you to being contributors?  Question #2 (15:34): Best tips for worship leader song transitions? Question #3 (19:44): Tips for using social for outreach to people in the city? Question #4 (25:32): What's a gap in knowledge you have? Meaning, something everyone else knows, but you don't?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:45): What level of engagement is realistic for a “text your question” or “text a prayer” next step? How long should we try it or other strategies? What is a realistic level of engagement? Question #2 (12:51): Have you ever felt so burnt out that you want to quit? If so, what did you do? If not, any advice? Question #3 (27:30): What's your take on QR codes, their effectiveness, and whether or not they should be on graphics? Question #4 (35:48): When you’re feeling bougie, what is your number one splurge purchase?

Send in your question via text to 1-800-485-3139. Question #1 (01:27): What is the strategy to communicate a lot of things that are happening? And then follow-up question, how many times can/should you repeat an announcement leading up to an event? Is there an effective window of time? Question #2 (25:08): How do you recommend dealing with haters online? Question #3 (35:27): If you could only choose one camera and lens combo right now - what would it be? Question #4 (39:32): As an ultra-productive, what's your sleep schedule/strategy?