In the spring of 2009, I decided I’d like to enter the world of blogging. At the time I was serving First Presbyterian Church in Naples, Florida, and felt blogging would be an easy way to share some of my thoughts with congregants between newsletters and other more formal communications. And, from colleagues I knew who had started blogging ahead of me, I expected my content would have the potential of reaching a much larger audience.
Naming the Blog
Before I could begin, I needed to secure a domain. I drafted a list of around 20 possibilities only to learn the domains for all but four had already been purchased. After pondering the remaining four for a few days, I trimmed the list to three and then sought input from FPC’s marketing and communications guru. When she and I settled on a name, I ran it by a few others, and then purchased the domain sowhatfaith.com.
So What Faith captured the big idea that was motivating me to start bogging – to share my thoughts and ask questions to help generate meaningful conversation about matters of faith that matter. I envisioned it as an opportunity to publicly share my thoughts about newly published information on American religious belief, belonging, and behavior. I wanted to center the conversation on relevant new data, ask probing questions, and provide ways for my readers and me to learn and grow together.
Getting Started
Once I had settled on the name, secured a website, and determined a primary purpose it was time to begin writing.
If you read the last sentence carefully, you’ll notice attention to web design was not a part of the creation account. In 2009 I was simply focused on making sure I knew enough to get a site and put content on it.
First Five Posts
I started off strong, publishing my first five posts in just over two weeks. The first five posts included two book reviews of recently published volumes and three “hot topics” related to religious belief or behavior.
- Review of So Beautiful – book review of So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church by Leonard Sweet (June 11)
- Changing Beliefs – recap of a Barna study on how Americans develop their religious beliefs (June 13)
- The Church on Facebook – thoughts on Facebook as an emerging place for virtual church connections (June 18)
- Review of Mutual Empowerment – book review ofMutual Empowerment: A Theology of Marriage, Intimacy, and Redemption by Kathlyn A. Breazeale’s(June 20)
- The End of the Bible – exploration of the increase in people choosing to access the Bible from a device rather than a book during worship (June 26)
Most Popular Posts
By the end of 2009, I had managed to publish 59 posts – an average of around 8.4 posts a month for the seven months I blogged. While Google Analytics existed when I launched my site, I didn’t add it until a few years later. In the 9 years since doing so, based on page views, the five most popular posts from 2009 follow. Additionally, to help explain where these rank among the nearly 2,000 posts now published on So What Faith, I’ve included their overall ranking as well.
- Prayers of the People – Youth Sunday – prayer written for use at First Presbyterian Church in Naples, Florida on Youth Sunday (October 2009) – notably this post is not simply the most popular from 2009, but is also the most popular blog post ever published on So What Faith
- Middle School Students and Mission Work – recap of a middle school mission trip experienced by students from First Presbyterian Church in Naples, Florida (July 2009) – the 151st most popular post all-time
- Review of Deliberate Simplicity – book review of Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less by Dave Browning (August 2009) – the 220th most popular post all-time
- Review of What Americans Really Believe – book review of What Americans Really Believe by Rodney Stark (July 2009) – the 239th most popular post all-time
- Review of Who Stole my Church? – book review of Who Stole my Church? What to do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century by Gordon MacDonald (July 2009) – the 249th most popular post all-time
So What?
After years of reading blogs published by others, I decided to start my own blog in 2009. Additionally, I greatly expanded the number of blogs I read on a regular basis.
The first year (really first seven months) was a time of finding my way. I learned the technical and practical aspects of blogging primarily by trial and error. And, I received helpful feedback and considerable encouragement.
By the end of 2009 I was starting to find my voice as a blogger. Thankfully, I’d keep growing into that reality in the decade ahead: the 2010s.
Watch for upcoming posts on my experiences blogging in the 2010s and in the 2020s.