4/7InkzHVUEQeEdU9vpc1tikzEhChrKmPfvXI-FSDBrBQ

Social Media and the Church

Scalability: Religion Seeks It But Can’t Embrace It

Exponential Growth vs Scalable Growth

The Christian Church has recently focused on the Gospel account of Jesus sending his disciples into the world 2×2.

Jesus’ concept of mission was built on exponential growth. If two people are each successful in reaching two people — for a total of four — and they in turn form teams of two reaching four more— that’s exponential growth. The effort and cost must be repeated again and again. The church will grow with hard work and dedication.

This was remarkably effective. Within a few hundred years, the Gospel spread to the farthest borders of the known world.

Scalability is a bit different. It is a term that centers on the power of technology. How can teams of two reach a thousand or more people using the same effort it takes them to reach four?

The answer is incalculable—and entirely possible. The tools are in our hands to make mission work scalable beyond the wildest dreams of the early Christian apostles. The same work required to reach or teach 100 people can also reach or teach a million for basically the same outlay of resources.

So why aren’t we doing it?

Roadblocks to Scalability

Sadly, the church is not set up to take advantage of scalability.

Try this, for example. Take an idea to a religious institution. They will have a great deal of difficulty thinking beyond their own constituency. “But don’t you see,” you might argue, “you have the power to reach beyond your congregation, beyond your geographic territory, beyond your denomination.”

They will respond with confusion. “But it’s our job to serve our constituency. We work for [name the regional entity.]”  

They will try to be helpful. Scratching their heads, they will suggest, “Take your idea to [another territorial constituency that might be a bit bigger]. Maybe they can help you.”

Any denomination can reach congregations and clergy of all denominations all over the world with truly helpful information—all for the same effort that they might put into a local symposium or workshop which they would charge 50 people $25 each to attend. They won’t, though, because tradition outweighs potential.

Oddly, the efforts to take advantage of the power of the internet are not coming from the higher echelons of the Church. Many regional web sites are of poor quality and virtually all are self-focused. Some of the flashiest regional web sites focus on only their own work—not the work of their members. They are ignoring the potential to strengthen community. They are also ignoring the potential to reach the unchurched — which is their mission.

Church leadership is accustomed to publishing and teaching coming from top down. There was a time when this was necessary. Not everyone owned a printing press and distribution system. There grew to be a comfort in the control which was part of this outdated system. Because control was once possible in publishing they mistakenly believe that it is necessary. It is not only unnecessary in today’s world; it is impossible.

The system of the past is clumsy and archaic, but the Church’s entire structure is built around it.

Smaller entities—individual institutions, small congregations and even individual church members are making stronger headway.

Examples

One example,  www.workingpreacher.org, a project of Luther Seminary, features guest theologians from many backgrounds, analyzing the weekly lectionary. Directed towards pastors, anyone can study the week’s scripture guided by the insights of a seminary professor.

Another: ministry-to-children.com is a web site started by Tony Kummer, a youth/family pastor. It is a lively, interdenominational exchange of ministry ideas and resources that has a large community participating and helping one another. A small church in Africa asked for 2×2’s help in finding affordable educational resources. We directed them to this web site and they were delighted!

Jason Stambaugh writes a blog, www.heartyourchurch.com. He is an individual layperson who works in social media and is a member of a small congregation. He writes about social media in the church and other church issues.

A college student in Texas, Virginia Smith, has used the internet to help small congregations access used Vacation Bible School resources. She’s just one young person passionately engaged in mission, armed with the web. (www.vbs247.webs.com/) Virginia has been very helpful to 2×2 in networking.

And then there is this site, 2×2, the project of Redeemer Lutheran Church, East Falls, Philadelphia, a church the Lutheran denomination (ELCA) determined was too small to fulfill its mission (the old-fashioned way). Three years after locking our members out of our church building, 2×2 is reaching more than a thousand readers a month with a significant local readership with global reach. (And we are just beginning.) We offer ideas for small church ministry and attempt to prompt dialog on small church issues.

Scalable projects are our passion—not to make vast amounts of money, as is often the aim of online enterprise, but to build an new infrastructure that will provide hope and help for neighborhood ministries that we believe are the strength of the Christian Church. We believe there is fiscal potential that would provide the hands-on resources to neighborhood churches that can’t afford them the old-fashioned way. (And this is a large number of churches!)

Meanwhile, denominations concentrate on building Christian communities of a certain number so that they can afford a pastor/building and support their regional and national denomination.

This is not scalable. And it is failing. But it’s still how the Church measures success!

09 Jul 2012

Short Posts or Long Posts — Which Are Better?

How do you write for today’s audiences?

Common answer: In short posts of 200-500 words.

Better answer: It depends.

Who is your audience? Are your readers busy people scanning a dozen blogs like yours every morning in hopes of finding one useful piece of information? Are your readers people searching for information that is not easy to find?

One exasperated institutional Church blogger threw her hands in the air. She was following the common advice and looking for guest bloggers among clergy. “It’s impossible to get preachers to limit themselves to 500 words,” she concluded as she waded through the lengthy submissions.

Getting people who tote Bibles to limit their message to shorter thoughts is a new discipline—and there is value in it.

But wait! Who made this rule? The fact is there is no rule. Some of the most popular bloggers take a thousand words to introduce their topic.

Most blog posts that are bookmarked are probably those that truly define an issue.

More people may be attracted to shorter posts, but serious readers (the kind you hope will consider you an authority) are looking for truly helpful information. They don’t want to be spoon-fed answers to their questions in five posts spread across two weeks.

The wonderful thing about blogging is that creative people are no longer bound by the costs of paper and production. [Tweet this!]

You can write the article you want to write without leaving room for advertising space within a newsletter’s budgeted pages.

So what happens? We finally have the freedom to do what we want, and the sages come in with new “rules.”

Phooey!

Write with your audience in mind. If your audience is diverse, mix it up. A short post here; a long post there.

Guard against falling in love with your own words, but otherwise, type away.

Final answer: If you have something to share, by all means—share it!

photo credit: philipp daun via photo pin cc
23 Jun 2012

Social Media and the Social Graces

The goal of Social Media is to engage others in a topic of mutual interest.

Social media is just beginning to be explored by churches. Judging from 2×2’s analytics, there is great interest. Much of it may come from lurkers just starting to remove their socks so they can dip their big toe in the water. We recommend diving in!

There is great potential for the church in the use of social media, but it requires engagement. Engagement requires time. More important, engagement requires sincerity and the careful exercise of the social graces.

Think of Facebook dialog as if you were at a party. How far would your conversation go if all you did was acknowledge someone else’s comment? If there is to be a flicker of life at this digital party, you must foster dialog. When you acknowledge a comment, leave the door open a crack to let your virtual guests come in — if and when they feel comfortable.

Here are some simple social graces to use in engaging with your readers.

  • Respond with a question.
    Glad you enjoyed our review of “We Have a Pope.” How did you like the ending?
  • Answer a question.
    Good question! Thanks for asking! Here’s our answer: . . . .
  • Add some additional information to the comment, even if it means sending them to another site. This is expected on the web and can be helpful to you, too.
    Glad you enjoyed our post on children’s sermons. You might also enjoy this web site (add link).
  • Make an invitation. 
    If you are interested in movies, you might like to attend our movie night next Friday. We’re showing….
  • Acknowledge a commenter’s expertise.
    Thanks for pointing out our mistake in today’s post. We corrected it right away. Overall, did you like what we are trying to say? Please, if you disagree, let us know!
  • Invite participation.
    Thanks for your comment. You seem to know what you are talking about. Would you like to contribute a post to our site? Our readers would love to hear your point of view!
  • Ask for links.
    Thanks for telling us about that youth project. Do you have a link we can share with our readers? 

One caution: readers expect the owner of a Facebook page to be a real, live person. If they share serious concerns, you must be prepared to have the most qualified person in the church respond with true empathy and unselfish advice.

Your guests may choose to remain anonymous, but there should be real names attached to the responses from your congregation. Truth and transparency are vital.

Engaging in social media is work, but it is the easiest way for the church to reach the most people. It is well worth the effort.

If you don’t invest the appropriate time and resources and have an open attitude, your Facebook presence will be as effective as the generic caveat on every church bulletin board. “All welcome.”

21 Jun 2012

Blogging for Your Church This Summer

Many churches run on fumes all summer. Pity! Summer is the time of year that people tend to make big changes in their lives. They wait for summer to move and change jobs. They may begin their search for a new church home, right when many churches are all but closed, except for Sunday worship.

Consider this when planning summer ministry. There is a lot to think about. The church web site or blog is a good place to prepare for summer ministry.

Review your site and make sure that any summer events or services that might attract visitors are well-publicized and that the events are truly welcoming to new people. Explain the events on your web site as if the reader knows nothing about your church. If you are doing a good job with your web site or blog, many readers will be learning about your church for the first time.

From Advent in late November and December, to Easter in March or April, followed by the Ascension and Pentecost, all church activities revolve around events in the life of Christ. This is followed by the long church season of ordinary time or in many traditions the season of or after Pentecost. This is the longest season of the liturgical year (June through most of November) or about half the calendar year.

The lectionary typically explores the everyday ministry of Jesus during this time. It is an opportunity for your congregation to be creative.

As you blog this summer, begin with the church lectionary for ideas. Try to tie them into ministry. For example, if the gospel is about healing miracles, explore your congregation’s or denomination’s ministry to those dealing with illness.

Summer is often a time when the favorite hymns are sung. Explore the hymns of Pentecost. Look up the history of a hymn and share it. Run a poll on favorite hymns.

Look at the congregation’s calendar. Will you have a Vacation Bible School? Publicize it. Read the curriculum and share ideas from it. (Give proper credit!) You may not be able to get older children or adults involved during your VBS, but many VBS curriculums publish material for older kids and adults. Get a copy and write posts on the topics presented. Make sure every parent gets the link, so they can learn along with their children.

Scan the church calendar for picnics, service projects and church camp events. Publicize them beforehand. Follow up with photos and testimonials from participants.

In late summer, start to write about back-to-school events. Let people know that activities will soon resume. Work at attracting support for them.

Plan a Rally Day and start to publicize it.

Make sure that any reader who happens across your summer web site is introduced to your church at its most vibrant.

11 Jun 2012

Qualitative Church Statistics vs Quantitative Church Statistics

2×2 has discussed this issue before, but yesterday we heard a social media expert say the same things we were saying from a marketing perspective.

Brian Solis, a leading market analyst, uses the terms qualitative measurement as compared to quantitative measurements.

He discussed how the quantitative statistics of the past mean less in the world that is evolving.

How many members you have on your congregational roster means little compared to the engagement you can measure among both members and nonmembers. There are new possibilities for building relationships with the community that do not fit the old church model. The borders of your community are expanding. (2×2 is just a little church, but we get ministry questions from all over the world.)

This will affect church institutions as well. Supporting Lutheran Social Ministry agencies was a popular option for churches in decades past. Often a representative would attend a service to give a Temple Talk and report on their agency’s good work. Today many churches get involved in local humanitarian efforts through their associations in the community and work. They hear their frequent messages outside of church, are attracted to their causes, and sense they can help. The church’s social agencies (which do a great job!) will get short shrift —unless they too learn to engage with the community in new ways. Secular Social Service agencies are very good at this and will get church members’ attention.

Engagement is a new emphasis. It’s always been important to ministry. Before the advent of Social Media there was no way to measure it. You never know how many people read your fliers and newspaper ads. You can only guess how many people might have listened to your radio spot. Pastors had no idea if their sermons had any lasting effect whatsoever. We shaped our ministries on tradition and guesswork.

Engagement can now be measured. You know how many people visit your web site. You know what topics led them to you. You know which pages they visit and how long they spend on each page. You can engage your visitors with comments, polls and forms long before you meet them.

In some ways it is good that the Church tends to lag behind. We can be beneficiaries of other people’s trailblazing.

But the Church cannot afford to lag too far behind. All churches compete against an overwhelming amount of secular competition.

When our Ambassadors plan a visit, we visit a congregation’s web site first. You can bet that other potential visitors are doing the same thing. We are surprised at how many churches still have NO web site. Many who have web sites have not updated them in years. We clicked on a link for “latest newsletter” and read news from 2009. Even the best SEPA congregational web site we visited was just beginning to get on board with its web potential. They were paying a firm to curate secular feature-type news, a good thing, but still missing the interactive potential of Social Media.

We can’t say it too often or too loud. All congregations must get involved in Social Media if they are to be taken seriously in coming years.

A good denominational goal would be to help every congregation get started and learn to keep up with this vital but fast-changing communication/evangelism medium. You will have to hold a lot of hands in this venture, but it is necessary and worth it. This is concrete help that congregations need and denominations are best positioned to supply.

2×2 can help!

photo credit: slightly everything via photo pin cc
09 May 2012

Creating an Online Bridge Between Church and Community

Church happens on Sunday, right? Sunday is only one seventh of the church week. But old habits are hard to break. Even the deepest theological thinkers tend to concentrate on Sunday church activities.

If your message goes out to only Sunday morning Christians,
you have a very narrow audience. 

Social Media hands church leaders all the tools needed to extend the church week.

In the past, communicating with people who are not in church on Sunday was a challenge.

  • Newsletters are cumbersome to put together and circulate. They are expensive, too.
  • Phone chains serve a purpose for critical news of death or serious misfortune requiring community prayer.
  • Knocking on doors — it’s just not done anymore!
  • Advertising is expensive and requires planning ahead.

Out of sight Monday through Saturday tends to be out of mind. This has influenced our expectations of ministry.

Social Media changes this. You can and should be communicating daily with church members in a conversation anyone can join.

There are many Social Media tools to consider. Let’s concentrate on three —Facebook, Blogging and Google+.

Facebook

Your members are likely to be spending more than an hour every day checking their Facebook accounts. Statistics show most people spend 20 minutes at a time on Facebook, but they check their account several times a day. The Facebook demographics are growing in every age category. Even the elderly are finding they can connect with distant children and grandchildren.

Develop a strategy that will be welcome to followers, not intrusive.

Churches can share their Sunday morning world in many ways. They can:

  • Post pictures
  • Post video
  • Highlight sermon summaries
  • Tell about activities
  • Pose thought-provoking questions
  • Excerpt a Bible study
  • Feature a meaningful quote
  • Post a teaser question from an upcoming sermon
  • Ask for help on a project
  • Promote an upcoming event

Remember to engage, engage, engage.

Blogs

Blogs are effective, too. Used properly, they will attract an audience of people you do not see on Sunday morning. They are not limited in length and can have a longer “shelf life.”

Blogs are most effective when they address topics of broad interest — not just parish news. Your focus must be outward. If you limit your topics to current church activities, you will burn out. Results will be poor.

We recommend using both a blog and Facebook.

Google+

This is the new kid on the Social Media block and it is up against a well-established giant (Facebook). Nevertheless, it is gaining ground and has definite potential advantages.

  • Google “owns” the search engine world! Activity on their Social Media platform will help you find traffic.
  • Google also owns YouTube, which is growing incredibly fast.
  • Google has pledged to keep their Social Media platform advertising free. (Facebook is all about advertising).

Google+ is beginning to gain acceptance.

photo credit: joyosity via photo pin cc
05 May 2012

Let Go and Let God. It was never more possible!

Social Media is going to change the Church—whether or not the Church participates.

The Church is slow to embrace the power of this influence in our lives. It goes against the way the Church has worked for a very long time.

Trust and obey. Foundational words of faith. It means to trust and obey God, by the way.

Somehow the God part gets forgotten. Keeping Christians in line becomes an emphasis of anyone feeling empowered. The lines drawn by church leaders can be moving targets. Ideas change from century to century, decade to decade, and nowadays, year to year.

No one dares to quote the Bible to justify slavery anymore, but it worked for nearly 2000 years.

It worked when slaves had no voice.

Centuries of habit are going to be hard to break, but the time has come to trust the people of God. If we do something egregiously heretical, there are any number of forums for redress. There is no longer a need to monitor the thinking and voice of individual Christians.

We have always believed in this. It’s just been hard to practice.

We teach every three-year-old — Let your light shine.

Then we start to add the “buts” until their little lights are snuffed out.

The Church has never had more potential power. It can motivate and move EVERY member. You don’t have to roster us. You don’t have to qualify us. You don’t have to sort us out by race, age, status, or genitalia. We’ve been structuring our faith around such nonsense for a long time. Someday we are either going to laugh at our historical efforts to limit or exclude (thereby protecting power) — or hang our heads in shame.

This potential power of social media should spur our efforts to effectively share our faith outside the church. We are going to have to be part of the dialog outside our walls — because that’s where the conversations are taking place.

We have to be educators in many forums. We have to mix with the rest of the human race.

That approach has been taken before!

Let Go and Let God.

photo credit (retouched): crazyluca69 via photo pin cc

02 May 2012

Getting Over the Fear of Facebook

If you want to drive the message of the Church, hop in. But you won't be the only car on the road.

Facebook remains an enigma to the Church.

The few churches using it seem to use it as nothing but a digital bulletin board.

There is power in Facebook. The power is twofold.

  1. Facebook can build relationships.
  2. Facebook has reach.

Building Relationships with Facebook

Jason Stambaugh of heartyourchurch.com talks about Facebook as the Weekday Bridge of the Church. It can be used to foster relationships that happen Monday through Saturday. Face-to-face encounters are invaluable, he recognizes. But the little midweek interchanges help to build the connections that make face-to-face interactions more possible, more frequent, and foster more tightly knit community.

The discussion will not be led or moderated as is the custom in the world of religion. That may be why the Church doesn’t understand it. There’s nothing stopping anyone from adding their two cents.

Part of the hesitance of the church to embrace Facebook is fear of losing control.

The fact is the Church lost control of its message a long time ago.

Yesterday, you could control your message with cumbersome qualifying hoops and censorship. Hard habits to break.

Today, the only way to control the message is to be part of the dialogue.

If you want to drive, hop in. But you won’t be the only car on the road!

The Incredible Reach of Facebook

Looking at rough and round numbers, the average Facebook user has nearly 200 friends (a number which continues to grow). Allowing for overlap, each of those friends adds another 100 or so to the network. So if your congregation has 50 people using Facebook during the week, your community has the potential to reach 10,000 people at the first tier of the network and 1,000,000 at the second tier of the network.

  • What is your Sunday attendance?
  • What is the circulation or readership of your parish newsletter?
  • What’s the circulation of your denominational magazine (which probably reaches only those already involved in Church)?

Just do the math and stop spinning your wheels.

photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photo pin cc

25 Apr 2012

Telling Your Church’s Story — the Real Story

During a recent panel discussion, a reporter explained the process of ferreting out the news. She described the many story pitches that come to her every week from enthusiastic, community-minded groups that are doing “worthy” things — but not “newsworthy” things.

Your walk for charity is not “news.” Lots of people are doing this — every weekend.

She went on to say that when an interested party calls, she begins to engage the caller in conversation about the upcoming event. The caller, with great passion begins to talk about the people, and suddenly, the reporter senses there is something newsworthy in telling the story about the people involved — not the event itself.

Church communicators can learn from this. Our story is often best told through our people. When we tell our church story we should focus on our people and their faith stories. If church makes a difference in their lives, it may make a difference in someone else’s life. You don’t have to use names (although it’s nice when you can). Tell the story of your people on their faith journey and you will be teaching the Gospel.

Facebook is a good place to tell the people side of your story.

One Maryland church applauded a 12-year-old member who made and served the congregation lunch after church one Sunday. It’s Facebook page encourages the readers to press the “Like” button on the story to show the young man how much his work is appreciated. (It’s in the scroll bar on the left of the linked page.) Just that one short note on their web page tells any reader that their church values and encourages the contributions of their young people. It is likely to be far more effective than any newsletter or bulletin kudo.

You can use the same technique in focusing on your members’ faith stories.

Tell your story . . and make it personal!

“I love to tell the story, for those who know it best,
seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.”

23 Apr 2012

20 Rules for Online Engagement —Do’s and Don’ts

What messages of love are you sending?

Many people get involved in internet dialogue with hesitation. Typically, they lurk for a while, reading but not daring to comment. It is daunting to press that first submit key. It gets easier with practice.

Marketers and other self-interested web users can be tempted to use online forums for self-promotion. Congregations can be tempted, too. Beware! Your readers can spot self-serving comments with 5G rapidity. It can harm your reputation more than it can help. Enter the conversation carefully and keep the readers of the online community in mind. Remember, no one likes to be sold!

Pinterest entered the scene with its image sharing social media platform. It was received as a breath of fresh air. Marketers quickly saw a new advertising tool. Now there is talk about how marketers have ruined the fun. It remains to be seen if marketers will curb their own behavior or if Pinterest will revise community rules.

2×2 encourages online dialog. Here are a few basic guidelines.

  1. Remember to share with a purpose. Be helpful. Be informative. Be clear. Be entertaining.
  2. Use your real name. No one takes hidden identities seriously and being honest about your identity is fundamental to building trust.
  3. Don’t pretend to be an authority if you are not. Consistent participation in forums is a way of creating authority, but don’t jump the gun. Build your reputation through conscientious commenting.
  4. Participate in dialogue but don’t try to sell your stuff at someone else’s fleamarket. There is NO delicate way to do this. You always come off looking crass and self-serving. It’s a real turn-off and others might report you to the moderator as inappropriate. Limit your self-promotion to adding your title, position, company or church name to your signature. That gives readers a choice. If they want to know more, they’ll find you.
  5. Share good things about others. If you know a good source that will further the dialog provide a link. It helps to build their reputation — and yours.
  6. Acknowledge sources of ideas you are sharing.
  7. Don’t bad talk your competition. Showcase your strengths, not other’s weaknesses. Leave the bad-talking to politicians.
  8. Keep your comments on point. Reread the thread to make sure you are adding to the conversation, not just repeating what others have said.
  9. Write with appropriate detail. If the forum tends to feature three-sentence thoughts, don’t write four paragraphs. On the other hand, if you are offering detailed help, use whatever length is appropriate to be truly helpful.
  10. Use standard English and complete sentences. Without the nuances of a physical presence, it is easy to get wrong impressions. Take the time to be as clear as possible. Using jargon and allowing typos impedes conversation. Communication is the goal. Remember, the internet is worldwide. Not all readers will understand colloquial shortcuts.
  11. Do not use vulgarity — ever.
  12. Proofread your comment at least three times. Reading it aloud is very helpful.
  13. Avoid direct criticism of individuals. Public figures are an exception.
  14. Correct your mistakes as quickly as possible. 
  15. Be compassionate and forgiving for online gaffes. We all know how easy it is to click a  button by mistake and send something with no way to call it back. If you notice an error, be gracious. Ignore it if it is innocuous. Notify the commenter privately if it is particularly embarrassing.
  16. Don’t use other people’s mistakes, once they are admitted, to stoke the fire under your own cause. Sometimes passionate threads result from misunderstanding. Reaction is appropriate right up until the originator of the thread admits an error. To continue online ranting after an apology has been made is taking advantage of another person’s mistakes and is hurtful.
  17. Be a voice of reason. Try to keep conversations on track and keep peace.
  18. Respect others privacy. Don’t share personal information without permission.
  19. If someone is abusing the forum, report it to the moderator. If you have a serious beef, handle it as privately as possible with a direct message.
  20. Remember the Golden Rule.
photo credit: Micky.! via photo pin cc
21 Apr 2012