Each year a theme is selected for the Catholic Church’s World Social Communications Day: 2011: “Truth, Proclamation and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age" 2012: “Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization” So What? While many found the pope's message this year to be progressive and thoughtful, next year's topic is the sort that could have been selected for any of the prior years in the day's forty-five year history. However, according to a Catholic News Agency Read More …
social media
Do Church Members View Your Website? (#0508)
In the July/August 2011 edition of Presbyterians Today, Joelle Anderson and Ida Smith-Williams wrote an article about trends in how Presbyterian congregations communicate digitally. They reported on research that shows a significant increase, between 2001 and 2008, in the percentage of congregations who use e-mail and websites to communicate with members. So What? While congregations have moved toward websites, perhaps congregants have moved beyond them. More specifically, Read More …
Reflecting on 500 Blog Posts (#0499)
In 2009, I moved from an observer to a participant in the growing world known as social media. In January, I joined Facebook. Within a few months, I was logging in to Facebook several times a day. In May, I secured a domain name. In June, I launched this blog. Initially, I wrote a few posts a week In September, I joined Twitter. Within a few months, I was tweeting several times a day. As I wind down my third year in social media, I recognize that statistics tell a Read More …
Review of The Church and New Media (#0481)
Meet the Authors Brandon Vogt is a Catholic layperson who blogs about theology, technology, social justice and books at ThinVeil.net. Vogt contributes the text's introduction and conclusion while relying on authors with varied backgrounds and expertise to contribute the chapters: Father Robert Barron, Jennifer Fulwiler, Marcel LeJeune, Mark P. Shea, Taylor Marshall, Father Dwight Longenecker, Scot Landry, Matt Warner, Lisa M. Hendey, Thomas Peters, Shawn Carney. Additionally, Read More …
New Church Growth Via Social Media (#0473)
Out of the Box Worship Center in Hillsville, VA is a non-traditional United Methodist small town church that is gaining attention for its dramatic social media driven growth. Launched in January 2011 as an extension of First United Methodist Church of Hillsville, VA, the new church start has grown enough to need two services in their 180 seat worship center. So What? Out of the Box's pastor, Ronnie G. Collins, stated, "When the church first started, we placed one full-page ad Read More …
The Biggest Question About Social Media (#0465)
Steve Thorngate, assistant editor of the Christian Century, recently wrote these words: The biggest question about social media and the church is not how the church can harness the power of social media for good ends while safeguarding against bad ones (useful as such discussions may be). It's how social media is changing what it means to be church. So What? It is important to understand what it means to be church in America today. More specifically, church leaders should understand Read More …
Your Church’s Social Media Goals (#0446)
Adam Bowers, owner of Adam Bowers Media, recently blogged about the advice he gives churches about creating social media goals. Since there is no universally accepted standard of success and no simple way for parishes to determine how their results compare to other churches, he presents a solid framework for developing a social media strategy: Do your homework – research pre-existing social media use at your church. Before you can formulate goals, you need to make sure Read More …
The First Rule of Social Media (#0432)
Michael Buckingham is the founder of Holy Cow Creative (a church creativity and design studio) and the creative director for the Center for Church Communication and Church Marketing Sucks. Last week he wrote about the importance and power of the question mark in social media. He writes: The very first rule of social media that I put in place with the churches I work with: There should be more question marks than periods on your page. Now of course this is a rule of Read More …
Church Website Checklist (#0423)
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 …
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 …