Posts Tagged ‘Blogging’

The Blogging Church, Chapter 3

Posted: June 10, 2009 in Book Reviews
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“Information is a drug” is how Brian Bailey opens chapter three in The Blogging Church. Are you addicted? An example is the “fast-moving data tickets” at the bottom of your news channels. The source for most quick fixes is on-line. Churches have websites where sermons can be downloaded, members can give, register for classes, etc. FellowshipChurch.com is given as an example in chapter 3 where Ed Young is pastor.

Rather than being in competition to websites, blogs can enhance church websites, of course, if they are kept current.

WHY A BLOG?

The reason is simple, blogs are cheap. One well known web page designer’s quote to me was $2500 to create a website. Compare that price to $.0 to start a blog. The only cost in blogging is passion and commitment.

Blogs are simple, which is the next reason. If you can open a web browser (and you can or you would not be reading this post), type (your post) and click “publish” you are credentialed.

Blogs are personal. Blogging enables you to communicate one on one to hundreds or thousands. I love having former students, some from years back, comment on my posts and we find out what each is doing. Cool!

WHAT WOULD CHURCHES BLOG ABOUT?

Upcoming Events

Baptisms, Fellowship Meals, Churchwide picnics, Fellowship Meals, mother-daughter banquets, Fellowship Meals, concerts, Fellowship Meals.

Testimonies and Stories of Life Change

“It’s one thing to talk about how important students are to the church; it’s quite another to write about a high school student who accepted Christ during a recent retreat.” You can let your members tell what God is doing in their marriages, etc.

Ministries News

I just posted about a new ministry that I will start this coming Sunday. Not only can blogs help communicate ministry information to the entire church, which is always helpful, but specific ministries can create their own blogs and get more specific in reporting what God is doing. Special-event blogs can be created to cover certain events, such as a mission trip, with a steady stream of pictures and updates.

Pictures

“People love photos. If you start publishing photos, they will quickly become the most popular part of your site.” Ed Young’s blog is an example of pictures and videos. Some of his posts are just videos:

Weekend Messages

Some churches post the full sermon online before Sunday and ask people to comment and feedback, some of which, will be included in the sermon. “The blog is the perfect place to get people excited about what’s coming next. “Perry Noble, senior pastor of NewSpring Community Church, does a great job of this: ‘I am going to say it over and over again this week. GET PEOPLE TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY! I promise it will be one of the clearest presentations of the Gospel ever given at NewSpring. AND get there early—it is going to be jam packed from beginning to end. We all know people who need Jesus…and this week give them the full court press. I promise it will be very unique, very creative, and very powerful’…The next week fifty people accepted Christ and NewSpring set a new weekend attendance record.”

Ed Stetzer interviewed Perry Noble on his church and technology.

John Piper in his blog post Why and How I am Tweeting defends social networking, inspite of its dangers, which includes tweeting, facebooking, and blogging.

The Blogging Church, 5 Questions with Mark Driscoll

Posted: May 28, 2009 in Book Reviews
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In addition to telling us why and how to blog, The Blogging Church interviews blogging pastors or leaders. There are 5 questions in each interview. The first blogging pastor interviewed was Mark Driscoll. Driscoll’s blog is www.theresurgence.com/blog and his church’s blog is www.marshillchurch.org.

First Question:  After a short bio, Driscoll is asked “What pushed you over the edge and made you decide to start blogging?” His reply, “I started blogging to drop ideas I had that were timely and needed to get out immediately, and also because it’s cheaper than medication to work out some angst.”

Second Question: “Your blog doesn’t include comments; how did you make that decision?”  Driscoll’s states that “The last thing I want is to spend hours every day with some wing nut in the middle of nowhere who has decided to be a rock in my shoe.”

Third Question: “How does blogging compare to developing a sermon or book?” Driscoll says that blogs are the “hybrid of a gut-level radio rant and a (newspaper) column.”  Also, where a sermon takes hours of research, he can crank out five blogs in 30-45 minutes.

Fourth Question: “How and why do you blog?” Driscoll’s answer is currently illustrated by his blog: “I want to plug events and resources that I think are helpful, I want to have an immediate way to speak on theological and cultural issues, and I want to be able to share what I’m thinking in a global way, free of charge.” On his blog, The Resurgence, Driscoll plugs the Advance09 conference in Durham, N.C., his newsletter, a video series by Steve Timmis titled Total Church Media, and his podcasts and vodcasts that you can subscribe to. His current blog series is on Spiritual Gifts. Posted now is Spiritual Gifts: Discernment, Part 7. There are also recommended books.

Fifth Question: “How else is Mars Hill using technology and the Web to reach people, and what’s coming next?” “We will use whatever technology trend emerges,” Driscoll answers. “I hope we will be one of the first to use it for the gospel of Jesus to reach as many as possible through what Paul called ‘all methods available.’”

In his new book Vintage Church, Driscoll has one chapter that addresses technology: “How Can a Church Utilize Technology?” About chapter eleven, Driscoll reviews, “I offer this chapter as something of a field guide for those churches that want to wisely determine how to utilize various technologies for the benefit of the gospel.”

The Blogging Church, Chapter Two

Posted: May 24, 2009 in Book Reviews
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Brian Bailey and Terry Storch answer the question, “Should my church become a blogging church?” Before Bailey and Storch tell us how to blog they want us to answer “Why?” Actually there are three questions to answer before your church adds this technology to your ministry.

IS IT A TOOL OR A TOY?

Technology is a toy when you play with it more than use it for ministry. Technology is a tool when it helps you solve problems. Is blogging a toy or a tool? It is a tool when every other alternative is not as effective and every other objection to using it is answered.

WHAT PROBLEM ARE YOU TRYING TO SOLVE?

If blogging is the solution, what is the problem? The problem blogging can solve is communication. The new generation communicates via the Internet. Chapter two describes blogging as online hospitality—opening your door and inviting people inside. From the first question ask, “Is there an alternative that can connect members and engage curious tire kickers like blogging?” Will expensive websites, bulk mailings, or e-newsletters accomplish the same as interactive blogging with our interactive generation?

WHAT IS THE RETURN ON MINISTRY?

What is the measurable ministry benefit? Blogging can help your church cast the vision of the church again and again, connect the volunteer staff with the paid staff, and help a big church become small by remaining personal with personality. This chapter concludes with this clincher: “Simply put, there is immense power in transparent communication. A blog with an honest, passionate, personal voice is worth so much more that another brochure or direct mail piece.” The answer to the opening question, “Should my church become a blogging church?” is “Yes!”

Brian Bailey’s blog, leaveitbehind.com,  has a current post on “Twitter and the Blogging Church.” At this post, Brian describes how “Churches have moved quickly from blogging to podcasting, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. They’ve gone from offering a MP3 download of the weekend sermon to video streaming to internet campuses.” He also lists many twitter accounts and tells you how to set up a twitter account. My twitter account is drtimwhite@gmail.com.

Problogger.com has the latest twitter tips.