ChristWay Community Church has a clear mission: to apply biblical truth, create disciples, invest in families, and reach the world with God’s love. With a thriving discipleship ministry, young adult groups, and growing women’s and men’s ministries, Courtney Vitanza, Discipleship Ministries Coordinator, always looks for effective ways to stay connected and communicate more efficiently. With a growing congregation of 1,500 attendees each weekend and a robust discipleship program, staying connected with her members is critical.
However, as the church grew, so did the challenges of effective communication. Courtney noticed challenges when traditional communication methods, like email and announcements, weren’t reaching everyone.
Here’s how ChristWay solved their communication struggles and deepened their ministry impact with Gloo.
The Challenge
Like many churches, ChristWay struggled to ensure their congregation received important updates. Despite using email newsletters, they noticed that only about 50% of people opened them. This left many members unaware of key events, group meetings, and church activities. The team also realized that announcements made during Sunday services were often missed, especially during the summer months when attendance was inconsistent.
“We noticed that email just wasn’t reaching everyone. Many people didn’t hear about our events, and announcements weren’t always landing,” said Courtney Vitanza, Discipleship Ministries Coordinator at ChristWay.
Meanwhile, their previous texting platform, Clearstream, came with its own set of limitations. With message caps in place, the church was forced to purchase extra credits to maintain communication, creating an unnecessary barrier to keeping their congregation informed. The church needed a solution that could streamline communication, increase engagement, and remove the barriers they were facing with limited messaging capacity.
Like many churches, ChristWay needed a better, more effective way to connect with their members.
The Solution
When the Discipleship Team heard about Gloo from a fellow pastor, they decided to give it a try—and the results were immediate. “We were on Clearstream, and then we found out about Gloo, and we were like, this is exactly what we’ve been needing,” said Courtney.
Gloo’s texting platform allowed ChristWay to send unlimited text messages with no character limits, which opened up new possibilities for communicating with their congregation. The team quickly transitioned their lists and began using Gloo for their primary ministries: life groups, young adults, and women’s ministry.
“We love that we can send unlimited text characters to as many people as we need,” they shared. This flexibility allowed them to expand their reach without worrying about additional costs or restrictions.
How They’re Using Gloo
Courtney now uses Gloo primarily for group communication, especially with life group leaders. With over 50 life groups and 100 leaders to stay in contact with, keeping everyone informed and equipped is critical. Gloo’s platform made it simple to send out these updates, ensuring that leaders received timely information each week.
“We’ve been using Gloo to send out a weekly memo to our life group leaders, and it’s been a great way to make sure they’re getting important information,” Courtney noted.
In addition to life groups, ChristWay also leveraged Gloo to communicate with young adults and women’s ministries. For young adults, they migrated their texting list from Clearstream and now send regular updates to keep everyone in the loop. For the women’s ministry, they’ve used QR codes to encourage opt-ins, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
The Results
Since switching to Gloo, ChristWay has seen significant improvements in communication and engagement across the board. One of the biggest changes has been the response time. “With emails, it took me three or four days to get things sorted out. With texting, I had too many people volunteering within two hours,” they shared.
The church also noticed that people were more engaged and responsive when receiving texts.
“Texting is really what we found to be one of the most effective ways to get the information we want in front of them. People are always on their phones, even if they aren’t checking email.”
In fact, they’ve been so impressed with the effectiveness of Gloo’s texting that they’ve started using it to communicate for major church events and to reach different ministries. “Texting is the way of communication in this world, so why would we not use that if that’s where people are?”
Additionally, Gloo’s sub-account feature has allowed ChristWay to start expanding its usage to other ministries like Children’s Ministry. “We’re excited for them to get on Gloo and use it for kids as well,” they said.
Empowering Ministries to Grow
The discipleship team at ChristWay has been particularly excited about how Gloo empowers leaders to take ownership of their communication. By streamlining communication through Gloo, leaders are able to easily send updates, stay connected with their groups, and address questions quickly.
“We’re getting a lot more responses, and we’re able to come to solutions faster,” they explained. For ChristWay, Gloo has become a critical tool in ensuring that their ministries continue to thrive.
Looking Ahead
ChristWay’s journey with Gloo is far from over. As they continue to expand the use of the platform across various ministries, the church is excited to explore new ways to use Gloo’s features to enhance communication and foster deeper connections. “We’ve started experimenting with mass communication, and we’re excited about the potential,” they said.
The church also plans to incorporate texting into their kids' ministry and possibly even more areas as they see continued success. “We love the flexibility and how quickly people respond. It’s made a huge difference for us.”
Conclusion
For ChristWay Community Church, Gloo has been a game-changer. By providing a reliable, easy-to-use texting platform with unlimited capabilities, Gloo has helped ChristWay overcome their communication challenges and engage with their congregation in new, impactful ways.
“Texting is the way of communication in this world, and Gloo makes it possible for us to connect with people where they are,” they concluded. ChristWay Community Church is now more connected, engaged, and prepared to continue fulfilling its mission, thanks to Gloo