How Saddleback Church Connected and Inspired Parishioners Across the Globe

Senior Pastor Rick Warren and his wife Kay Warren founded the church in 1980 — then grew it into 14 Southern California locations, four international campuses. Plus, they broadcast services in multiple languages online and on television.

Spanning the globe with such a large and devoted following, Saddleback Church wanted to streamline the ways they connect with parishioners and foster a greater sense of community for worshippers tuning in to services on television, radio, and online.

EZ Texting answered Saddleback Church’s needs with a low-cost, efficient, powerful API, connecting the church’s membership database to the SMS marketing platform. During major holidays, like Easter and Christmas where services have been held at the Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA, Saddleback integrates text messaging by announcing Keywords for church members to opt-in for updates and more information. As many of our church and religious organization customers have found, real-time texting offers an unparalleled sense of intimacy and personal connection.

To encourage engagement, the church has run trivia contests during special services and sends inspiring daily Bible verses — straight to the device they’re likely to see first thing in the morning. In fact, 72% of cellphone users check their screens for new messages soon as they awake.

By integrating SMS solutions, Saddleback Church has continued to grow and further their mission to connect with parishioners. EZ Texting has also been able to save the church time and money. For instance, texting parents real-time alerts and updates instead of clunky, costly pagers used for youth service drop-offs.

Saddleback Church can now funnel those resources into tending to their continually burgeoning community and connecting with devotees across the world.