eChurch Project Hits Lagos, Empowers More Ministries

Technology no doubt is changing the way we do things and there has been several call for institutions and organisations to leverage on the use of emerging technologies to drive institutional/ business growth.

One of such platforms is the eChurch project geared towards engaging ministers of the gospel on proper and adequate use of emerging technologies to drive church growth across Africa; first launched in Ibadan the project is set to hit the 36 states of the federation with a vision to reach 5,000 churches in six months.

As eChurch project continues in her quest to train and equip more than five thousand ministers of the gospel in the next six months, eChurch project 2.0 was launched in Lagos.

This also saw the unveiling of eChurch Project Apps; a one stop shop for all church services, set of tools designed to help ministers grow their ministry in the 21st century.

The launch of eChurch project 2.0 ushers in more ministers to be empowered with emerging technologies required to build future church.

Seyi Olaleye, chief executive officer, Neo-Skill Consulting limited and convener of the project, while speaking at the launch tagged: ‘The future Church’ said that eChurch project platform is a conversational platform for ministers of the Gospel.

He added that it is not only a platform for engaging ministers of the gospel on how well to use emerging technologies, but also a platform that showcases simple technologies to help them grow their ministries.

He also said that as technology continues to shape our world and affect our congregation, ministers need to pay attention to its impact and leverage on it to take their gospel out of the four walls of the church.

According to Olaleye, “eChurch Project Apps is a must have for ministers of the gospel who want to reach the unreached and taking their ministry to next level.

Gbenga Sesan, CEO, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN), speaking on the topic: “Building the future church”, said technology is at the front burner of every industry. So ministers need to recognise this and use it to their own advantage.

He added that in reaching new generation congregation, certain strategies have to be employed as ministers’ move towards building the future churches.  Gbenga however emphasised the need for ministers/pastors to automate their processes as to streamline ministry processes to increase productivity and effectiveness.

Speaking in the same vein, Stephen Akintayo, CEO GileadBalm, who spoke on “building quality digital contents to attract online converts and ministry growth”, stressed that ministers should link their storytelling with contemporary messages.

According to him, “If the congregation spends more time with their computer/mobile devices than pastors, who will they be loyal to? The point is that this kind of congregation requires great engagement and connection outside the four walls of the church.

“There is need for ministers/pastors to start creating value-driven contents and to package the gospel of Christ creatively and professionally to the unsaved in order to increase the kingdom of God”.

He added that ministers should digitalize and personalize their sermons using applications such as Auto compose to get their messages to the unreached.

Chukuemeka Fred Agbata, CFA, presenter Trends TV, while speaking on “internet evangelism” said that as content remains king, ministers/pastors should place premium on content creation and consumption within and outside the church.

“In this dynamic and content driven world, ministers should use contents about the gospel of Christ to woo and lead the unsaved to Christ using social media platforms; this is called evangelism,” he said.

In addition, Chimdi Chiezukwa, lead consultant, Generation Network, who spoke on “analytics for your church” said, “this platform is not all about pushing content on the internet, but measuring your impact is crucial. So having a measuring strategy plus tools is key to ministry success on the internet”.

He added that the more your data, the more intelligent decisions you can make about your ministry. The eChurch project project 2.0 launch was however supported by Evernote.