Josh Henry, Managing Partner with The Church Business Guys, recently shared his list of basic do's and don'ts for church websites: Don’t overcomplicate your domain name . . . Use caution when hiring a relative, close friend, high school student or church member who says they can do it . . . Use free tools sparingly . . . Consider the website an investment . . . Utilize your website as a ministry of your church . . . Take advantage of the communication opportunity. Read More …
Social Media
Facebook Users Are . . . (#0419)
The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project recently released Social Networking Sites and our Lives, which is a report based on the findings of a survey on Americans' use of the internet conducted from October 20 to November 28, 2010 with a sample of 2,255 adults, age 18 and older who were contacted via both landline and cellular phones. The research supports the commonly held view that Facebook is currently the dominant social networking option with some Read More …
Social Networking Users Double in 2 Years (#0418)
The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project recently released Social Networking Sites and our Lives, which is a report based on the findings of a survey on Americans' use of the internet conducted from October 20 to November 28, 2010 with a sample of 2,255 adults, age 18 and older who were contacted via both landline and cellular phones. The research shows: "The number of those using social networking sites has nearly doubled since 2008 and the population Read More …
Demand for Intelligent Internet Video (#0412)
TED is "is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading." TED conferences "bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less)." Writing for Mashable, Sarah Kessler shares the story of how recordings of these talks have now been viewed 500 million times: When Director of TED Media June Cohen shopped around the idea for a television show featuring lectures from the organization’s famously elite Read More …
Church Communication – from Print to Social Media (#0404)
Dave Travis, Managing Director of Leadership Network, recently interviewed DJ Chuang, a web and social media coach, on the topic of how churches use social media: What are the biggest challenges for churches? [ and how do you help solve them] One of the biggest challenges for churches large and small is to get church communications to flow more rapidly. Social Media is practically instant, yet much of typical church communications is developed for a weekly event or produced over weeks and Read More …
Your Church’s Facebook Page (#0395)
Eric S. Anderson, Minister of Communications and Technology for the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ recently posted an excellent guide to creating and effectively utilizing your church's Facebook page. He encourages those congregations that have not yet created a presence on Facebook to do so, especially in light of recent research that shows the majority of Americans age 12 and older now have Facebook accounts. Newcomers will benefit from his step-by-step Read More …
Twitter for Middle School Students (#0393)
CNN.com recently featured Dan Simon's report on how one eighth grade history teacher is using Twitter in the classroom on the news site's home page. Enrique Legaspi reminds his students to BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology), but his classroom also includes computers for any students without a device that connects to the internet. During class, he asks students to tweet their responses to his questions. Legaspi finds that using Twitter in this manner helps students find their Read More …
Sowhatfaith.com – The First 2 Years (#0391)
Happy 2nd birthday to sowhatfaith.com! Over the course of the last two years, a great deal has changed in my life and with this site. I have transitioned from full-time to part-time ministry in a local congregation transitioned from serving a Presbyterian (PCUSA) parish to serving one affiliated with the United Church of Christ (UCC) started working full-time for a university Sowhatfaith.com has transitioned from posting new content twice a week (101 posts in the Read More …
Baptist Dance Party Goes Viral (#0377)
Second Baptist Church in Houston, TX has over 53,000 members and some 22,000 people attend worship at one of their five locations on a typical weekend. This year more than 2,000 people affiliated with the church gathered at Discovery Glenn in the heart of Houston to participate in a flash mob with a purpose. The video of this event has gone viral with over 750,000 views to date. Writing for Church Marketing Sucks, Kevin D. Hendricks summarizes the effort: The video featured more Read More …
Technology and the Church: Crisis or Opportunity (#0373)
Lisa Miller is the author of Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife (2010), and formerly served as religion editor at Newsweek. She recently wrote "My Take: how technology could bring down the church," for CNN's Belief Blog. In this article Miller argues that the printing press was the key technology that enabled the success of the Protestant Reformation and the current move away from print editions of the Bible to digital ones like YouVersion may enable Read More …