When I was a kid, my parish implemented speakers throughout the church so that people sitting in the back could hear the priest clearly. Those jet black boxes adorned corners of old wood that were rotting away, depicting an image of the modern era starting to come in to a traditional world. I remember being impressed with this simple implementation of technology. That feeling came over me again when I watched an interview this week on theCUBE at the Tableau Conference with LifeChurch.tv’s Operations Leader Kevin Penry and Data Analyst Amber Smart.

LifeChurch.tv has been around for about 18 years, has 20 locations in six different states and boasts a weekend physical attendance of a little over 60,000. In terms of online presence, it has about 12,000 people connecting every weekend on its website. LifeChurch.tv is also the developer of the Bible App, which currently has approximately 151 million downloads.

Whether a person is experiencing LifeChurch.tv online or on mobile, the organization works to make its virtual presence personal and more connected. Speakers address the cameras and speak directly to those watching. Penry also mentioned that physical attendees even “see it as a part of their sacrifice to realize that the experience is going to be geared for the person that may not even be in the room that day.”

In terms of data, LifeChurch.tv uses it to make its experience for users more relational. “With it being a church, it is very relational and it should be relational. But, we believe that data has a place at the table,” said Smart. Penry added that LifeChurch.tv’s organizational culture is geared towards high feedback. He stated, “We want to be self-aware. We don’t want to convince ourselves that we may doing something well if, in fact, we’re not.”

LifeChurch.tv wants information that comes from its followers and users so that it can understand what’s working and what’s not. Whether it’s through data or speakers in an old church, the key to connecting with an audience is by implementing changes for them. Penry said that too often it becomes about the speaker rather than the person that they’re trying to get to listen.