Welcome to Chapel Hill Connect
Did you know that, in the month of March, Chapel Hill’s website was visited a little over 7,000 times? On average, those visits lasted two-and-a-half minutes long. That means people spent 292 hours on our website in March alone!
Also in March, sermons were streamed 796 times from the website or our app, and every time an e-bulletin (like this one) was sent out, about 1,000 people looked at it.
There’s no doubt about it, a lot of what we do as a church happens online. That’s why I’m excited to talk about a new software tool we’re calling Chapel Hill Connect.
Before I get into the nitty-gritty of Chapel Hill Connect, let me tell you why I think it’s important that you log in. Our mission at Chapel Hill is “Working together to present everyone mature in Christ,” which boils down to making disciples who make disciples. We believe so much of disciple-making happens in LifeGroups and in service and ultimately in the relationships that happen in those two things. As we become more and more used to using tools online, where are the online tools that help us do LifeGroups? That help us connect to one another as a church? That’s where Chapel Hill Connect comes in.
Okay, so hopefully you’re on board, but you’re probably wondering what Chapel Hill Connect does (let’s start calling it CHC for short). By no means is CHC a replacement for something like Facebook; rather, CHC is your hub for the life of our church. Once your LifeGroup is added into CHC, you will be able to easily communicate with your LifeGroup members, plan events and send out RSVPs for them, and post needs within your LifeGroup. Chapel Hill Connect will allow you to see, in one place, open volunteer positions in which you can serve, and even help you match them to your own gifts and passions. Your giving history will also be available within CHC, and you’ll have easy access to your giving statement and an online portal to make gifts. You’ll be able to search for other congregation members that you want to reach out to in an online directory. And so much more.
You may be wondering if all this information is safe and private. Absolutely! Chapel Hill Connect is powered by Church Community Builder, a trusted organization that uses enterprise-level data encryption certificates and requires industry standard alphanumeric passwords. As a user, you can always control what information is available to other users of Chapel Hill Connect, which is why it’s vital that you look at your privacy settings when you first log in (more on that in a little bit). Other users will only be able to see your name, email address, day and month of birth (not year), and gender by default, unless they are in a group with you. But you can change your own privacy defaults at any time and even remove yourself from being searchable at all. Children under 12 will never show up in the directory except to their families and to staff who have undergone background checks. You can feel assured that we’ve taken steps to make sure CHC is reasonably accessible but also privacy conscious and safe.
How do you sign up? Click HERE and fill out your information. You will immediately receive an email that allows you to create a password. Once you have created your password, use that password and your email address to login at www.chapelhillpc.org/connect.
Once you’re logged in, click around and explore! Don’t worry, you won’t break anything. You’ll notice on your home page there’s a video, so take the time to watch it; it’ll give you the lay of the land. Then click on your name in the upper right of the screen and edit your profile, check your communication settings, and your privacy settings. Of particular note, make sure you add your wireless carrier and phone number to receive emergency texts under your communications settings. Also, notice the “My Fit” tab when you edit your profile. If you fill out your fit, you’ll see the volunteer opportunities best suited for you first on the “Serve” page.
I know there’s a lot to learn, but there’s plenty of help to be found. There’s a nice walk-through of all the basics you’ll need that you can read HERE. You can always email Betsy Hunt, our database coordinator, at bhunt@chapelhillpc.org (or call her during office hours at 253.853.0225) for help with Chapel Hill Connect. But there’s also a really robust support site where you can browse topics or search for answers to your problem HERE.
Over the coming months, you’ll see more and more of Chapel Hill Connect. The more congregation members that log in and begin using CHC, the more useful it will be to us as a church body, but one way or another, I believe it will make a significant difference in how we’re able to work together to present everyone mature in Christ.
Pastor Larry