As the Apostle Paul told us, we need to learn to be "all things to all people that we might win some," and today that often means making use of new communication technologies. Texting is one of the most popular ways to communicate today, but few church offices make effective use of it.
I just discovered a company, (actually they discovered me, more about that later) call-em-all that will text for you with a system that allows you to create text messages on your computer and then broadcast them to the people who on your list. They also have broadcast phone systems that you can do from your computer or a toll-free number.
Though I personally haven't tried them, I don't have a use for this service presently--I like them. I know that is a subjective opinion, but they contacted me because they wanted some material to help their church customers communicate in different ways to churches. I liked it that they weren't pushy in thinking that they had the only answer to church communication. I talked to one of their staff--very nice, helpful person and I then spent some time on their website. They have great little instructional videos that show how to use all aspects of their system--take a look at them to understand the process.
The prices are reasonable and the products definitely worth checking out as an additional way to communicate to your congregation.
One more thing--they have a free trial so you can see how it works. Here is their website, check them out:
http://www.call-em-all.com/
Please share your thoughts, comments, questions!