Earlier this week, Justin Wise wrote an article for Church Marketing Sucks about his congregation's experience using Facebook ads. It is a brief but informative look at both the basics of setting up an ad and his congregation's positive initial experience. He concludes his article recommending that all churches consider trying Facebook ads: If you’re in a church that has a small budget for marketing, you need to give Facebook ads a try. If you’re in a church that has plenty of Read More …
Trends
Bible Reading – There is an App for That (#0192)
LifeChurch.tv is one of the most technologically innovative churches in the United States. With over 26,000 in average weekly worship attendance, they are also the second largest congregation in the country according to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. This multi-site congregation doesn't simply create leading edge hi-tech creative edge resources, they also share them for free via Open. In 2008, the church launched their own Bible app called YouVersion in response Read More …
Catholics to Recognize Protestant Baptisms (#0189)
After working for the last six years on a means to provide mutual recognition of baptism with several Reformed Protestant denominations, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted in favor of the measure at their annual Fall General Assembly. While similar agreements have been reached in other countries, this is the first of its kind in the United States. According to Religion News Service, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, chairman of the ecumenical and Read More …
Churches Embracing Social Media (#0185)
Catholics and Protestants are uniting around the importance of social media. Earlier this week at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops annual Fall General Assembly, Bishop Ronald Herzog of Alexandria, Louisiana, a member of the Communications Committee, gave a speech in which he said: Although social media has been around for less than 10 years, it doesn’t have the makings of a fad. We’re being told that it is causing as fundamental a shift in communication patterns and behavior as Read More …
Initial Experiences with RockMelt (#0179)
Meet RockMelt RockMelt is the new web browser everyone is talking about. Founded and financed by a group of Netscape alumni, which includes Marc Andreessen, RockMelt is based on Chromium: the open source project behind Google’s Chrome browser. RockMelt has been constructed with the understanding that most online activity today revolves around socializing on Facebook, searching on Google, tweeting on Twitter, and monitoring a handful of favorite websites. It is currently Read More …
The Missing Millennials (#0178)
Many denominations and local congregations worry about the increasing age of their members. Differing sources provide a variety of explanations for why fewer young people attend church or choose to affiliate with a religion. According to the graphic below, provided by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life, the youngest generations have the highest level of religious non-affiliation. By generation the numbers for those who claim no religious Read More …
Social Networking is . . . (#0177)
Yesterday, I explored the ever changing social network map. Today, I want to explore the meaning of the map as a whole: to consider what social networking means to you based on your own experiences. Spence Smith was the drummer for Big Tent Revival in the 1990s and has become a social networking guru in the 2000s. He currently works in artist relations for Compassion International and thinks of himself as "a connector, influencer, and thinker in the worlds of Read More …
Managing the Social Network Map (#0176)
Two maps offer a compelling visual case for the changing geography of social networking. The first map was created for XKCD in 2007. The second map was created by Ethan Bloch, Co-Founder and CEO of Flowtown. So What? Christian community has always been about helping people become and remain connected. Most local churches tend toward the extremes of being incredibly savvy or only marginally interested in social Read More …
How Ideas Spread (#0175)
Seth Godin is the author of twelve books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change, and work. He earned his MBA from Stanford, and was called "the Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age" by Business Week. For more information visit his website or read his blog. He recently listed 20 reasons why people choose to spread ideas: I spread your idea because it makes me feel generous. ...because I feel smart Read More …
Common Strategic and Pastoral Myths (#0174)
Will Mancini is the founder of Auxano - a church consulting group with a unique approach to developing a church's vision frame before providing traditional consulting services. Mancini's pastoral experience includes helping lead two congregations to grow to over 3,000 in weekend attendance: Clear Creek Community Church and FaithBridge UMC. He is the author of Church Unique: How Mission Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement. To connect with Read More …