Client Spotlight: LifeGate Denver

It was only a year ago that Pastor Nirup Alphonse and his family moved from Indiana to plant a church in the busy, urban center of Denver. With support from back home, he and his wife, Hannah, settled into one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. with the hope of advancing the kingdom of God, and helping people start new lives in Jesus. At LifeGate Denver, their deepest desire is to “make Jesus famous and to make heaven crowded.”

Subsplash (aka The Church App) has been working with LifeGate Denver almost as long as the church has been in existence, and it has been a joy to partner with them to see the Gospel move forward, and the good news of Jesus spread throughout the city of Denver.

LifeGate Denver utilizes Subsplash mobile apps and it has made a huge impact on their ministry. Nirup and his team have definitely maximized the use of their app to reinforce their church’s vision. Though the church is still growing and averaging about 250 people in weekly attendance, their app has been downloaded nearly 600 times and has received close to 15,500 impressions.

Here’s what Nirup had to say about how their app has helped them move the message of the Gospel forward:

TCA: What goals are you aiming to accomplish with your app?

NA: We really want people to know what’s going on at our church, so we make full use of the Events feature and social integration so that people can stay connected to the life of our church. We just started using the app as a “program” of sorts so that as soon as people show up on Sundays they can open their app and know what that week’s service is going to look like.

TCA: How has your app added value to LifeGate Denver?

NA: The app is a great way for people to learn what we are about. We even market our app separately. It’s one of the first things I tell people about when I first meet them. When I tell them about our church, I tell them about the app right away. So many people are taken back by the quality of the app. In a city like Denver, where it is difficult to see the Gospel take root, it is so helpful to have a high-quality app to show to people who really value creativity and commerce.

TCA: What results have you seen through the app?

NA: Hundreds of people have downloaded our app. I get emails all of the time from people all over the world who have downloaded the LifeGate Denver app. It’s a really attractive aspect of our ministry.

TCA: Would you like to share any other comments about your app or the Subsplash Platform, and how you’re using it to engage your audience?

NA: I love the simple design of the Subsplash Dashboard. The push notifications are so helpful. I’ve always really appreciated the quality of customer service at Subsplash. Everyone always goes above and beyond to answer my questions and the support team are some of the most patient people in the world to talk with. They walk with you step by step.

I really appreciate that the Subsplash Dashboard allows you to create an app that is unique and customizable. The Subsplash Platform allows churches to showcase their personality. In the future, we hope to focus on getting more messages out on push notifications and take advantage of music, blogs, and other features as our church grows.
 

We love partnering with churches like LifeGate Denver and seeing how different ministries’ apps bless people all over the world. Learn more about The Church App and find out how a customized app can benefit your organization. We’d love to hear from you!

Android Tablet on The Church App Platform

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Introducing Android Tablet to the Subsplash Platform. Last year, Android tablet accounted for 61% of all tablet sales. And today, there’s a tablet in nearly 2/3rds of every US household. There are more ways to engage people today than ever before, and tablets have become a preferred avenue for experiencing media. With that in mind, we’ve thoughtfully spent the last year developing a rich and intuitive experience on Android tablet. Every detail in our apps are crafted with the end user in mind. From incredibly fast speeds, visually stunning media delivery, and a new robust sharing experience tailored to each unique user and their desired sharing outlets.

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Android Tablet on the Subsplash Platform:

+ Available on a plethora of devices including: Nexus 7, Nexus 10, Samsung Note, Samsung Note, Samsung Galaxy and many more. + We wanted to build something that displayed media beautifully. Leveraging the capabilities of the Android Tablet UX, your media experience has never been better. + Video experience improvements. + Audio experience improvements. + Updated Now Playing experience. + Your large high res artwork looks brilliant within the app. + We've revamped the download experience. Managing and viewing your downloads is simple and intuitive. + Our improved sharing experience is delightful! Your audio and video content can now be shared from more places within the app than ever before, and to all of your social networks.

Available for download in the Google Play Store.

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Are you ready to go mobile? With the Subsplash platform, you can now offer your own customized app on iPhone, iPad, Android Phone, Windows Phone, and Android Tablet. Sign up for the Subsplash Platform today.

Already one of our wonderful clients? Upgrade to add Android Tablet to your suite of apps today.

Stories from The Church: One Life Church

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"Gotta love technology that serves larger purposes. Thanks for a job well done. Great success. 600 downloads in first week and the first week of giving was 3 times the monthly expense. I will tell the world"

-Bob Seymore, One Life Church

One Life Church in Henderson, Kentucky, was started in late 2010 after months of prayer and preparation. In just 3 short years they have grown to 2,000 in attendance most Sundays. Not only that, but they are currently establishing their third campus and don't have any plans of slowing down!

When we began working with One Life Church in 2011 they were still a relatively new church with 1000 members. The One Life Church App launched right before Christmas in 2011, and the results were incredible. At the time of their launch, Bob Seymore, CFO at One Life Church, had this to say; "Just a quick report of our Subsplash App. We launched on 12/23/11 (2 days before Christmas) and even with the holidays we have seen 1008 downloads in the first month with almost $2000 in giving through the app."

We decided to do a follow up with Bob to see how they'd been able to maximize their app over the past 18 months.

Q: What was the purpose or focus of creating the app?

A: "I was searching for a year for an app that integrated with our current systems - that was the selling point for me. There is a very young demographic at our church and mobile is huge, so we wanted to be able to reach them. Our big objective was that we wanted to be sure that our app was not just a go to once situation but that is was part of the life of our church."

Q: What has been the greatest use of the app?

A: "The interaction with community with the daily bible reading has been really important to us. Also, giving has been crazy. We've seen over $100,000 given through the app alone in the last 18 months. The costs are absolutely worth it. For us, the bottom line (from a giving standpoint) is the young market doesn’t carry cash. Being able to connect with them through the app has been really valuable."

Q: Have there been any extra benefits?

A: "I don’t understand why churches wouldn't (get an app). It’s been a great integration of our resources. We've gone down to one page, once a month for our bulletin and seen a lot of savings through that."

Q: How many downloads?

A: Almost 6,500 downloads in less than two years. The response has been crazy."

Q: Have you heard of any stories through the app?

A: "The coolest stories are like the one where I caught a pastor in our office after he had helped a brand new believer come to Christ and he immediately asked her to get her phone out, download the app and showed her how to read our explorers resources and daily Bible readings to help her start her journey. Gotta love technology that serves larger purposes."

Q: What has been the commitment for maintaining the app?

A: "I love that we don’t need developers in house to maintain the app. If your receptionist can answer the phone, they can update the app."

Q: Any closing remarks?

A: “I think the interesting piece is that Subsplash has an infrastructure that facilitates some of the best and brightest in the country. You work with the best minds and top 10 churches in the country. With the framework we can plug and play and customize to make it ‘us’. You guys are pretty seamless in it all. It's awesome that we can customize what Saddleback does and make it One Life."

Download the One Life Church App here.

Stories from The Church: The Village Church

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"Thank you to all the Subsplash staff who worked to get our mobile app live this week. We’ve received rave reviews already about it because it provides one more medium to extend our messages about the gospel out to the world. Your team worked tirelessly and patiently with us to get this accomplished. I cannot thank you enough for all you guys have done. We love you guys and pray the Lord’s rich blessings on you and your team members. May the gospel be shared over and over through the work you guys do and may our great King’s name be glorified.”

-Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor of The Village Church

The Village Church, lead by Pastor Matt Chandler, is a church of 10,000 people across four campuses in the Dallas, Texas area. "The Village Church exists to bring glory to God by making disciples through gospel-centered worship, gospel-centered community, gospel-centered service and gospel-centered multiplication. The gospel is the story of God reconciling and redeeming a broken creation and fallen creatures to Himself through the life, death, resurrection and future return of Jesus Christ. Our hope and desire is that the gospel would stand at the center of all that we do. It is what directs and defines us. It is our identity." Since launching in May of 2012 The Village Church App has had almost 150,000 downloads, 15x more than their congregation.

I was able to catch up with Scott Ballard, Web Manager at The Village Church, to talk about the impact that The Church App has been having on their church.

Q: What was the heart behind creating your app?

A:“The purpose of creating the app for us was another way to get the Gospel out to an audience we may or may not have been reaching in the first place. We really appreciate the ease of getting the Gospel in the hands and hearts of people through The Church App. We’ve really enjoyed the experience so far and it is serving us really well.” said Ballard.

Q: Have there been any surprising benefits of the app?

A:“We have been especially pleased with the amount of traffic/impressions coming through the app. Social traffic has been huge and much greater than anticipated. Not only that, but the global impact has been really tangible through the app.”

Q: Do you have anything you'd like to share about your experience with The Church App?

A:“Your level of service has been exceptional. TCA is fantastic and your heart to get the gospel out really struck me. We like to partner with people that love the Lord and the Gospel. There is nothing remotely negative to list. The Church App has been a welcomed addition to our family, and has really met our need and served the body well.”

 Download The Village Church App here.

Redeemer Presbyterian: +100,000 Downloads

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Most churches make it a goal to reach out and serve their cities and communities well. What does that look like when your church just so happens to be located in Manhattan? In the case of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, they actually formed out of a heart for serving the city instead of the other way around. In 1989, a group of 15 Christians were meeting as a home bible study group and were praying for an opportunity to start a church. By 1993, 400-500 people were meeting for church each Sunday, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church was thriving in the city center with Tim Keller as the Senior Pastor.

“While no one had doubted God's direction in establishing a new church in Manhattan, neither had anyone expected an authentic revival. But so it seemed. New believers were being added weekly, skeptics were thronging to the services, every decision seemed blessed, and God provided for every need, sometimes before we even knew we had it. From its first morning worship service, Redeemer has grown to an average Sunday attendance of around 4500 per week, although it would be more accurate to say that there are about double that number who attend on a regular basis. Sunday services are held in different locations around the city and many ministries have been developed to address human needs in the city. ”

As our culture has become most readily accessible on mobile, Redeemer knew that was exactly where they needed to be. In 2011, Redeemer built the Redeemer Presbyterian App with The Church App Platform. Since the launch in 2011, they have just recently passed 100,000 downloads.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Cregan Cooke, Director of Communications and Media at Redeemer, about their experience using The Church App Platform. The app was originally intended to be just another channel to get content out, and the actual results "have been far beyond what was expected" said Cooke. Not only has Redeemer's visibility been extended significantly in the tri-state area, but the impact both nationally and internationally has been really tangible. Redeemer has also seen a “significant savings by printing fewer bulletins” said Cooke, as their organization and congregation utilizes the full potential of the app. "There has been a very positive reaction to the app, and Tim (Keller) really likes the app and has been excited about the impact."

Inside the Redeemer App users are able to access hundreds of Redeemer's free sermons, the Redeemer Report monthly newsletter, Sunday worship bulletins, and a customized bible reading plan, among many other things.

Download the Redeemer Presbyterian App here.