“Imagine how much more effective church leadership could be if we had access to the congregation’s thoughts, struggles and reactions whenever they gathered together,” said Tom Stuart, founding and senior pastor at Bridgewood Community Church in Blaine. “For a church leader desiring to identify his/her people’s needs, provide a consensus of understanding, and engage them at a deeper level of thought and action, this would be a dream come true.”

As a pastor, Stuart said he is living that very dream through Audience Response System technology.

“We offer each person entering our worship center a wireless keypad similar to a TV remote,” he said. “Even visitors love the anonymity and opportunity to participate.”

ARS technology integrates the speaker’s questions into a PowerPoint presentation that is projected on a screen. When a question is posed, the congregation is invited to respond by entering their keypad response.

“Invariably, it is a captivating moment when the results are instantly revealed in the form of percentage graphs, and both the preacher and the congregation see them simultaneously,” Stuart said.

“It amazed me how candid the answers seemed to be,” said Larry Chapple, a church leadership team member.


Varied uses
At Bridgewood, ARS is used during Sunday messages, for altar calls, youth events, surveys and building campaign decision-making.

Stuart designs sermons with three to five interactive questions, each with their own set of key points. Depending on audience response, Stuart will focus on what the congregation indicates is most important to them.

“For instance, one Sunday I asked the congregation to prioritize a list of the seven biggest hindrances to prayer,” he explained. “In my preparation I developed answers to each of the hindrances. In both services, by overwhelming numbers, the top two hindrances indicated were ‘too easily distracted’ and ‘difficult to find the time.’ Those choices became the focus of what proved to be an effective message.”

During announcements one Sunday, church leaders asked the question, “When you woke up this morning and prepared for church, which phrase best describes your attitude? 1) Good morning Lord! or 2) Good Lord, it’s morning!” In both services, 42 percent of the congregation answered number 2.

“That stat gave me pause in realizing that on any given Sunday we could have nearly half of our people struggling just to enter into worship,” Stuart said.

“The biggest benefit is letting people see that they are not alone, whether it be a specific belief regarding faith, or just personal or emotional struggles they are dealing with,” said Dave Rasmussen, a member of the church leadership team at Bridgewood. “People might be more inclined to reach out for help knowing they are not alone.”


The business
In August of 2006, Stuart founded a consulting ministry called Interactive Church Resources to help other churches embrace ARS technology. ICR provides the consultation, setup and use of three different systems on a rental basis.

“Probably the best introductory use is a congregational survey,” Stuart said. “The immediate translation of all the input into an Excel spreadsheet providing a number of comparisons of data is an invaluable strategic planning tool.”

The cost for daily rental and facilitation of an ARS system can range from $10 to $20 per keypad, depending on the complexity of the system.

Stuart described the overall rental cost to be comparable to what a church might pay for an outside speaker.

Stuart believes that as video projection and PowerPoint have revolutionized church communication in the last 15 years, so also will ARS technology in the next 15 years.

“Probably one of the most impacting ways we can revolutionize church communication is for church leaders to stop talking and start listening. ARS technology enables leaders to do just that,” Stuart said. “No more wondering where people are really at. No more guess work. No more paper surveys. ARS provides a fast, accurate means for leaders to really hear people express their thoughts, needs, reactions—the very condition of their souls—in an anonymous yet communal context.”


To learn more about ARS technology and ICR, visit www.theinteractivechurch.com. Tom Stuart can be reached by e-mail at tom@theinteractivechurch.com.