← General Meeting   THE TALK
0:00

The 5 Min Intro

Short talk · nonprofit spotlights, openers, short slots · target 5:30, never past 7:00 · the one slide · take-home card

Remember six words

1 OPEN2 CANTON3 SHIFT4 VICTOR5 ASK6 ACTS 4

Open with the problem. Tell the Canton story. Explain the shift. Tell Victor's story. Make the ask. Close with Acts 4. If you lose your place, go to the next word. Use Memory mode to rehearse with only the cue words showing.

Beat 1 · Open
0:00 to 0:40

The opener

Micheal Byrd, founder$1 billion a yearReaching the lostFree the Church of that burden

Hi, my name is Micheal Byrd, and I'm the founder of ChurchApps.

The Church in America spends over a billion dollars a year on software. That money could be better spent reaching the lost. Instead, it's going to software companies.PAUSE

ChurchApps exists to free the Church of that burden.

Say the first three sentences slowly. No warm-up, no thank-yous first. Thank the host at the end instead. If others founded it with you, "one of the founders of ChurchApps" works too.
Bridge: "We started fourteen years ago, in 2012..."
Beat 2 · Canton
0:40 to 2:00

How it started

2012, 14 years agoThe Canton storyToday: 39,000+ churches160+ countries

ChurchApps started fourteen years ago, in 2012.

[Tell the Canton story here. About one minute.]

Today, more than 39,000 churches in over 160 countries use the software we build, every single week, and we give all of it away free.

Keep the Canton story to about a minute. Land it on what it taught you, then go straight to the 39,000.
Bridge: "And along the way we realized something."
Beat 3 · Shift
2:00 to 2:45

From one church at a time to every church

Consulting, one church at a timeBuild it onceEverything a church usesFree

When we started, we were consulting with churches one at a time. We'd walk into a church, help them with their technology, and move on to the next one.

We realized we could do far more by building the software every church needs, once, and giving it away. So that's what we do now. Everything a church uses, people, giving, check-in, websites, kids curriculum, worship on the big screen, we provide. For free.

Bridge: "And here's what that looks like on the other side of the world."
Beat 4 · Victor
2:45 to 3:45

A story from Africa

VictorZimbabwe to EswatiniLiberty Church, ManziniFound FreeShowInstalls and trains for freeVolunteers in 6 countries

Let me tell you about a man named Victor. Victor is originally from Zimbabwe, and he serves at Liberty Church in Manzini, in the small country of Eswatini in southern Africa.

Victor found FreeShow, the worship software we build, and it changed what was possible for his church. So now he goes to other churches around him, installs it, and trains their teams how to use it. Completely free. He has already helped five churches.

Victor is one of our volunteer ambassadors, and today we have people like him in six countries outside the U.S., from Honduras to Cameroon to South Korea, doing the same thing.PAUSE

Backup story if you'd rather: Edwin, a multimedia leader at Iglesia de Santidad in Choluteca, Honduras. He found ChurchApps through FreeShow and now brings training and tech support to Honduran churches that couldn't otherwise afford it. Pronounce Eswatini "es-wah-TEE-nee," Manzini "man-ZEE-nee."
Bridge: "None of this happens without people like you."
Beat 5 · Ask
3:45 to 4:45

Will you partner with us

Volunteers and donors like you3 ways to partner1. Pray2. Use it3. GiveCard on your table

ChurchApps is 100 percent powered by volunteers and generous donors like you. So there are three ways you can partner with us.

Pray. Pray for this ministry and the churches we serve.

Use it. If you're part of a church, or you know a pastor, our software is free. Flip your card over, every tool has its own code to get started.

Give. Partner with us financially. Even a small monthly gift serves hundreds of churches.

The codes to pray and to give are on the front of your card. No commitment, just a next step. Take it home with you.

Bridge: "Because this started as something simple."
Beat 6 · Acts 4
4:45 to 5:30

The closing

Help churches, grow the KingdomGod-sized, only HimMore than softwareHow the Church buysActs 4 modelEvery need of every churchThank the host

This started as a way to help churches and help grow the Kingdom. And we're seeing that happen in such a God-sized way that it can only be Him.

We believe this goes further than software. It's a complete change in how the Church buys software and materials. Back to an Acts 4 model, where every need of every church is met as well as we possibly can.

Acts 4 says, "There were no needy persons among them." That's the Church we want to help build.PAUSE

Thank you to [host] for having me. [If you're opening for someone: Enjoy hearing from (speaker).]

Slow down here. This is the line people remember. After "help build," pause, then the thank-you, then step back. Don't add anything after.

Rehearsal plan