Using iKnow to care for your Church
In Church Leadership, we’re well aware that there are seasons for all things. There are times of growth and expansion, times of consolidation and development and times of regression. One thing we can learn from the scriptures is that the we can’t rule out bad stuff happening. As the writer of Ecclesiastes puts it, there is a time for everything. Whether its times of celebration, or times of mourning, there is a season for all things. What can often define a Church and its impact in its community is how it responds to each season.
Whether it’s a ‘time of growth’ or a ‘time of mourning’, as the Church, it’s our duty to be there for people and to provide them not only with encouragement, but the support they need whatever they’re facing. Often this duty has become the stereotypical image of a Church minister. Cycling around some quaint English village doing their rounds. But we all know that the calling into Pastoral care is so much more than that. As someone who’s previously been involved hands on in Church Ministry, I’m well aware of the privilege that it is to speak life into someone’s darkness, to mourn alongside those weeping and to celebrate alongside another when they succeed. Sometimes all in one day! Pastoral Care is the day to day ‘Bread and Butter’ of Church life. It is fundamental to our institutional identity and is crucial to us fulfilling the Great Commission laid out to us in the Gospel of Matthew.
At iKnow Church, Pastoral care is foundational to everything we do. Our vision is centered around John 10:14 ‘I am the good Shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me’. Our heart is to see that no one is lost in Church. That everyone who comes to a Church not only finds a building, but finds a community that they can belong in. Everything we do with our software is birthed out of the question ‘How does this help the Church care for its flock?’
To help you make the most of your iKnow package, here’s the 3 top areas which iKnow can not only help with your Pastoral Care, but can even improve your current practices!
1- Groups:
Many Churches have no adopted the pattern of midweek small groups. Whether you call these House Groups, Life Groups, Cell Groups, or something else entirely, These groups can be great places for community to be grown, relationships to be cultivated and life to be shared. Whilst you may not wish to, some Churches choose to record the attendance for their group members, allowing them to check in on when people are interacting within the life of the Church. iKnow Church can facilitate this for you, allowing each Group Leader to take attendance. If a group member is listed as not attending three times in a row, iKnow will give a friendly notice to the Group Leader informing them of this so that they can follow up. Group Leaders are also able to pass any sensitive conversations ‘up the chain’ to Group Overseers.
2- Journey:
Whether it’s completing an Alpha Course, taking Communion for the first time or committing your life to Jesus. Every Church has particular landmarks that it chooses to celebrate. These can be spiritual landmarks as well as personal ones. Within iKnow, you can add each of these Landmarks personalised to your Church. You can also record the date which each one was ‘celebrated’ on each Church Member’s profile making it really easy to track someones Discipleship journey within the Church. What’s even better about this, is that it can linked into Processes!
3- Processes:
Imagine how much easier Pastoral Care across the Church would be if you could easily and effectively delegate some of the workload to your wider team allowing you to focus of the bigger picture. Well, iKnow can help with that! Processes is a simple tool which allows you to set up automated notifications and workflow systems between teams and individuals. Whether it’s automating your visitors procedure, setting a reminder for the anniversary of a bereavement or a request to join a serving team, you can set these up within iKnow. Choose who is responsible for following this up and how you want this process to be initiated. Its as simple as that! Of course, you’re able to have oversight to make sure that everyone is doing the tasks assigned to them, to make sure that people aren’t falling through the cracks.
If you’re a current iKnow Church user, we’d love to hear how you use iKnow to help with your Pastoral Care. get in touch with us on Facebook and let us know!
