Top Church Technology Blogs

The Best in Church Technology Blogs

Church SMO (Church Social Media Optimization)

Church Crunch by John Saddington in Atlanta, GA

Digital Sanctuary

Creative Fusion Media covers Church 2.0 and Church Social Media

Prayer 2.0: Kindle Joy

One of the many Church 2.0 opportunities is social praying. We can pray for people all over the world. Kindle Joy has launched with mission in mind.

Reasons Why Online Ministries have Failed in the Past

Christian Ministry Marketing and Preventing Ministry Failure

The Christian groups, writers, and churches has experience a number successes and failures online. I thought it would be helpful to think about the reasons church efforts online perhaps haven’t been successful in the past so that they aren’t repeated in the future–in other words to prevent ministry failure:

• Disorganization and lack of strategic thinking
• Failure to devote time or resources to either content development or marketing
• Not understanding the customer base and examining online user data
• Failure to understand online communities and to adapt Christian content to the audience.
• Failure to understand the Google algorithm
• Having expectations that the internet was magic. Buying into the hype too much.
• Ignoring the role of design in their online ministry efforts

Why do you think ministry marketing has missed the mark in the past?

Church Social Media and Internet Ministry Marketing: Seven Simple Strategies for Success

Listen. Check out what others are doing online. This will help you get a lay of the land and will allow you to focus on creating unique content, which is what Google and your audience will be looking for.

Launch. If you’re writing, write 3 to 6 articles (you may certainly write more). No need to rush this part of the process, focus on your God given passion and creating great content.

Relationship Marketing. Once you have your articles or content, reach out. Don’t be afraid to reach out with a phone call to ask for advice on how to create more useful or engaging content.

Mentorship and Guidance. Seek the advice of experienced and successful online Christian content creators. Drawing on the expertise and wisdom of someone who has been in the trenches and has been living in the digital environment ecosystem can be incredibly helpful to your efforts. Online communication is slightly different and the dynamics of the online world are slightly different.

Big Picture Thinking. I think the content process breaks down into four component parts:

• Framing and packaging (your story, your voice—this is what makes your content unique)
• Design and photography
• Marketing via person to person outreach (email, phone, social media, letter via snail mail) and via search engine traffic

Community. Think about how you can collaborate with others. Maybe you don’t need to launch a blog because you don’t have the time to devote to it, but maybe you can guest post on someone elses blog who is talking about the same issues you are or perhaps you can interview them so their readers can get a better perspective of who they are and how they see Gods story playing out in their lives. This can give you a jump start on your efforts. As humans and Christians we are members of a community and finding our role in that community is important for a host of reasons.

Purpose Driven Online Ministry and Missions:
I think keeping these ideas in mind will help you maximize the. Ultimately, being in the word and getting on your knees (both actually and metaphorically) can also help guide your Christian missions and church social media adventures. Pursue your gift and ministry passion and have fun.

Church Social Media Resources and Church 2.0 Tools:
• Digital Media Literacy
• Check out Facebook for Pastors
• Church Social Media

If you are interested or passionate about the area of church ministry via the internet and digital social media missions, please feel free to leave a comment or to call me. I’m always delighted to hear other people’s visions and what they want to do online.

Christian Missions, Christian Non profits, and Social Networking

Social Networking and Social Media Technology in Christian Missions

Now more than ever the barriers to global communications are coming down as social media and social networking go mainstream. The effect of these changes is increasingly being felt in Christian Missions and Christian non profits. One example of the use of Ning by Helping Hands International.

I think the value of Ning and social media communications for missions extends beyond its use by Helping Hands International. For instance, a community which allowed Christian non profits and others that serve the bottom of the pyramid would be incredibly helpful. Also, with the rise of the Business as Missions movement, the outreach and collaboration opportunities for charities and non profits that are financially strapped is increasing.

Check out the missions and social justice opportunities for the Christian nonprofit Helping Hands International who works in Baja Mexico, Kenya, Uganda, Dominican Republic, San Francisco, Honduras, Guadalara, and Bosnia.

(to be continued…)

Missions technology is something I’m very passionate about. If you are interested or passionate about this issue, please feel free to contact me by calling or by leaving a comment. Thanks!

Also you might check out two of the resources below, which are incredibly helpful and informative.

Related Posts and Resources
• How to Fundraise with YouTube. Aaron Marshall also added two videos he used to raise money to go to Africa.
• Social Media in Ministry which discusses some of the tools for Ministry 2.0, Missions 2.0, and Church 2.0.

Church 2.0, Church Relevance, and Link love from Rob Singleton!

I helped pastor Rob Singleton in an effort to increase his readership, and he showed me some link love. I though I should tell you, he’s also doing some innovative things with Utterz. The Utterz frenzy is really spreading like gangbusters, because a trucker who blogs that reads Rob’s blog also joined the Utterz community. In even bigger cultural issue, he’s taking up Church Relevance and cultural engagement as well.

Church 2.0, Digital Secrets, and Spiritual Healing

One of the more innovative churches in the country is Lifechurch.  They are a multi-site church and have something like 12 campuses, including one locally in Hendersonville as well as an internet campus.  How is that for post-modern?  One of their more recent and creative ideas has been their launching of a digital confession, which was written up at The Rev online. Even from a communication or technology perspective this is a very fascinating way to reach the public.

What do you think of the idea of a digital internet confessional?  Does it help or hurt the confessional process?  How about the emotional healing process? Can this help foster personal spiritual peace? Thoughts?

Hopefully, more on Lifechurch’s Church 2.0 innovation later…