Author, Pastor, and Teacher Eric Bryant

Looking for a way to answer the question ‘What are you doing?’ Enter twitter. It is a blog, but it only allows entries of up to 140 characters.

Its a network that allows you to post short messages and when you are signed in you can see all the messages of those people following you. It’s a very easy and covenant way to keep up to date with friends/organizations/businesses you are interested in.

While it doesn’t make a lot of sense to use for a church as a whole, for individuals or small groups it can be great.

It’s hard to explain exactly how people use it, but it is used by many people in ministry. One example is a man I recently was able to hear speak, Eric Bryant, who gave a fairly impromptu talk to students at Bethel Seminary about the approach Mosaic Church has taken to church.

Checking out his personal website has revealed not only a blog that he up keeps, but also his twitter feed.

The most helpful way to differentiate between Twitter and other Micro Blogs (Facebook status is often used as a micro blog of sorts) is that due to their limited post length and an ability to update from anywhere via your mobile phone (either with text message or using free mobile phone applications). If i just had a great conversation with a friend, or just want to write about what I’m currently up to it is as simple is texting a dozen words and its updated.

Building Community?

This builds community much like Facebook does as members of your church ‘follow’ (similar to ‘friend’ing on Facebook) you on twitter they see your updates when you post them. The more frequently you post, the more often they are reminded of you and your ministry.

These posts, called Tweets, are useful to inform, and invite others to events. Posting that you are going to an event (or at an event), writing about your day, or tweeting about how awesome the sermon Sunday is going to be all helps to encourage community. This is not to ignore the ability to get pray nearly instantly when the need arises.

The accounts are free to use, so setup your account over at www.Twitter.com. For tips on how to get the most out of your twitter account check out the twitip Blog. I would love to follow and be followed by you.

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Blogs are a great way to communicate with the world. With millions upon millions of blogs in the world focusing on ever subject under the sun why make another one? Because this one is personal for those you are ministering with and to.

Blogging is another very easy form of informal communication. While some companies do choose to use a blog for their formal communication it is traditional informal. Its a way to share thoughts from your life, or to write about your specialization for others to read. For you, this is perfect as you have members who want to know more about both! Now to decide what to focus your blog on, personal life, or theology…

Get your free blog here at insightsforchurch.com if you don’t yet have one.

Personal Blogs

These are the easiest to understand in theory. They are blogs that you write about your personal life and what goes on day to day. For years I have kept one such blog (www.paulprins.net) and have used it for different purposes at different times. When doing ministry work overseas it served as a way to communicate with friends and family back home (in addition to monthly prayer letters).

Personal blogs will tend to share personal stories from day to day life. Maybe God showed you something through an interaction with one of your kids, or God has blessed you in a special way and you just want to share that with people. The goal of a personal blog is to share stories from your life and ministry that let people connect with you as a person.

With all that said, don’t believe you need to post every detail of your life. Pick and choose. One caution is to make sure you keep balanced in your postings (don’t always be the hero, and don’t always be the victim).

Theological Blogs

The essence of this difference is that personal blogs don’t write about ideas, where theological blogs are idea based. In general there are two ways these blogs work themselves out for the church. You can share a second level of insights from you Sunday services, or just posting theological thoughts.

Sermon Outlines: The easiest of these two is just to post your sermon outline to your blog every Sunday. By doing this is allows members from your church to review the sermon, see your notes, and read the application parts. I would suggest a brief version of your outline to help your readers focus on the application part. Here you can have an extended description of the application, share about how you’ve been challenged by the application, and invite your members to post how they are living out the application.

Deeper Theology: These posts can be written about any sort of theological idea/concept. This can be a great way to share about the theological base of your church/denomination. If you’re a student at seminary writing about new ideas you’re learning and struggling through can be very helpful for others to read over.

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Final Thoughts

The most important part of blogging to to do it on some sort of consistent basis. Most likely this will mean weekly (though it could be daily). Remember that people will read and subscribe to your blog, so the more frequently you update it the larger your readership will likely become. Just make sure not to over commit to your blog, because it is an addition and supplement to your ministry (which is why I love the sermon outline approach, it is another use of work you already did).

Remember you can get your free blog here at insightsforchurch.com.

Everyone hopes that the ministry they lead will have an effect on influencing the lives of those they are ministering to. It is at this point that the church holds up the importance of community to bring about these changes. More and more we are learning empirically that intimate friends improve ones health and well being. This then becomes our goal; building communities of intimate friends.

With so much technology out there, how should we go about utilizing these tools for those we are ministering too?

I want to start by displacing a common marketing myth, that it is all about branding. While I don’t discount the importance of branding (just one journal article on the effects of branding on consumer behavior – Chicago Journals) we are beginning to experience a huge shift away from the traditional model.

The Two Marketing Models

The traditional model has revolved around getting their logo/brand (not always synonymous) in front of your customers. This has led to the advertising industry which has heavily focused on print, television, and product placement to create interactions with their customer. While this model will likely never completely go away, it is on the decline.

The new model acknowledges the root of the traditional model of an interaction with their customers. With the advent of truly interactive mediums, mainly on the Internet right now, we can return to that root and create meaningful interactions with those we are ministering too.

The Problem

There is always a hesitation when it comes to the Internet. The fear that the relationships are superficial and that change can be faked. While those are valid concerns, they are (I believe) out weighted by anyone who is genuinely desiring to be closer to Christ. Our job is to be focused on those people in any work we do online.

Upcoming Posts

When talking about platforms to use the list seems endless, and it is growing everyday. Our series will touch on the major players in this online realm:

• Blogging
• Podcasting
• Video Sharing (YouTube, Google Video)
• Facebook/Myspace
• Twitter (micro blogs)
• Photo Sharing Sites (Flickr)

We’ll also look at a few relevant concerns about extending your ministry onto the web:

• Managing your Online Identity
• Healthy Relationships/Boundaries
• Time Management

If you aren’t subscribed to our feed get signed up now to make sure you don’t miss any of the coming articles in the series.