Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Pastors - Enhance Your Mission Ministry Through Blogging

Is Your Church Truly "A Mission Church"?

If you are a church leader, shouldn't you be thinking about blogging? This issue keeps coming up in conversations I'm having with church and ministry leaders. Technology in the 21st century, is all about reaching out to people, connecting and networking to individuals through short and meaningful conversations. In today's fast pace world, connecting to many people at once is a sign that pastors can use to show their congregation that they care about protecting the graying members, yet reaching out to the now generation.

My consulting advice to church leaders....Yes, BLOGGING is one of many social media tools you should be using, discussing and praying about. In a down economy, blogging becomes a more viable tool to help spread your mission work to the masses and at the same time help strengthen your member's faith and spirituality one blog at a time. Below are five tips when considering blogging.

1. Blogs are a great way to connect with your congregation.
And... a great way for them to connect with you. There are all kinds of blogs and all kinds of ways to do a blog, but for Pastors/Priests/Ministers/Ministry Leaders blogging offers a unique platform for conversation that can create wonderful intimacy and connectedness.

2. Multiply your time.
Blogging is a commitment to be sure, but it is also a great way to dialog and stay connected with many people. I don't know that it will reduce the number of your inbound phone calls, but it will extend your reach and impact. And if done well, it's a great way to keep you finger on the pulse of your community.

3. Who is better to get the message out?
Your community (and the broader online community at large) are already listening to someone - why not you?

4. Encourage engagement.
Well done blogs are a great way to stir up excitement and participation. Church newsletters are nice, but you might find it is easier to muster support and engagement for the Christmas thing (a technical term for "whatever") by inviting last years participants to guest-post on your blog about their experiences last year.

5. You might just like it.
You might find that through the journey you'll learn things about yourself, your church and your community that you cannot imagine today.

And somewhat selfishly, as a Christian engaged in the web, I think we need more good Biblical voices in the conversation. The world wide web is loaded with people, opinions and discussion. We need more voices for truth sharing wisdom, insights and struggles. Honest interaction. Sharing the good the bad and the ugly. I'm not necessarily saying they'll pick you over the latest celebrity hoopla, but why not give them a choice. Dispel the myths that Christians are Bible-thumping arrogant know-it-alls.

We need more solid disciples authentically sharing their journey and willing to engage with others.

Thus I encourage you to prayerfully consider, should You be blogging?

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