Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Webs are worth investment of Communication Staff Time Another in a plethora of good tips and insights from an article written almost 3 years ago, Creating A Congregational Web Site Congregations choosing to develop web sites should make at least the same level of human resource commitment to it that they do to the Sunday bulletin or monthly newsletter. comment [] 10:21:34 AM

Searching for Compatibility I've got to try and find this guy (Thomas Walker,  who wrote this article Creating A Congregational Web Site).  Did he ever get a Church to join him in this vision?  He states it so clearly and so well.  Internet technology can play an important role as evangelism teams search the Web for compatible congregations in regions where new friends live. comment [] 9:32:51 AM

Online freedom from Face-to-face barriers More great stuff from the article Creating A Congregational Web Site It is important to remember that online community is different from the physical community of a congregation. Face-to-face community is often held together by charismatic, articulate leadership that has roots in the physical presence of individuals. Online community actually favors those who write well, are thoughtful, and are kind. On the Internet, shyness is less of a barrier and can actually enable empathetic caring and witness. Age, gender, race, physical impairment, etc., are not nearly the barriers to online community that they are in the average local congregation. A faithful venture in witness through the Internet may be able to draw on a congregation's untapped resources and release new power for mission. Amen.  There is freedom experienced in many ways, and this freedom brings together people from both groups.  People who may well NOT be writers can still read in most cases,  and can "catch on" to the stories and personalities of people who have yet to emerge from their social shell.  Being affirmed in ftf settings by "readers" has a way of instilling additional confidence in our traditional settings personas.  Online community enhances the chances.  The chances of "finding comon ground" and "sharing our journeys. comment [] 9:22:35 AM

Congregational Website Insights However, the web site must bear witness to faith and directly share community. Faith stories shared by real people through text, audio, and/or video show the congregation’s commitment to its belief. These stories with pictures of people sharing community together help the visitor to hear the witness, while the gentleness of the Web’s passivity enables them to explore the beginning of their faith at their own pace. A site must be rich with good quality material attractively arranged and clearly organized. Religious language must be minimized or very carefully defined. Every effort must be made to engage the visitor through an exploration of faith in daily life, not just pious meandering. In many important ways a well-managed congregational web site will gently integrate congregational communication into the everyday lives of members. In the future, as congregations develop web sites to facilitate their work, it will become increasingly possible to search the Web for exciting initiatives being reported in other churches’ web sites. The Web will become a primary way that church leaders share ideas with each other and begin to communicate about more effective ways to develop congregational mission. Pictures and write-ups from past events can be linked into the calendar following the event to create a kind of multimedia history of the life of the congregation, which can share valuable insights for newcomers and long-time members alike. It is important to remember that online community is different from the physical community of a congregation. Face-to-face community is often held together by charismatic, articulate leadership that has roots in the physical presence of individuals. Online community actually favors those who write well, are thoughtful, and are kind. On the Internet, shyness is less of a barrier and can actually enable empathetic caring and witness. Age, gender, race, physical impairment, etc., are not nearly the barriers to online community that they are in the average local congregation. A faithful venture in witness through the Internet may be able to draw on a congregation's untapped resources and release new power for mission. comment [] 9:19:32 AM

Creating A Congregational Web Site In many important ways a well-managed congregational web site will gently integrate congregational communication into the everyday lives of members. This article (from where the above quote comes) from Fuller Seminary and Thomas Walker has the kind of flavor with which I can resonate.  It emphasizes the importance of a Church's Website as a way of "telling a story" and seeking to find ways to "integrate the life of the user with the life of the Church;  or for those to whom this has already happened (and hopefully there is a few of those),  to help them extend their connections with others,  their "schedule" and their connection to News in the world which is of concern to them in their daily living out of their faith (which hopefully will cover a lot of the news in the world today -- ie the consideration and deliberations toward war,   and other concerns like those I have with the many areas of potential harm that can be inflicted by the Bush administration across the board: environment, economy, social justice,  and on and on and on.  There are people in the Churches that I have been involved with in these past 6 years who need something like these kinds of Church Webs to "keep their spirtual juices" going even when they are not "gathered together".  I feel so "drawn" to the communty of faith at moments when I long to be "present in the flesh",  and so online discussions,  email,  Web site news, Weblogs of others and writing my own,  searching for OTHERS who are writing about similar thngs and similar concerns--- all of these are precious ----or like the mastercard commerical says: Priceless.  People of theological communities;  people of the Church,  sit up and take notice.  "Get a Clue".  Tell our story,  and start by telling yours,  and encourage others to do the same.  We can do this.  Many people have.  Let's put some investment into increasing the value of the network by bringing our faith to bear on it.  Lets "be present".  That takes more than putting our bulletins and calendars and directions to the Church,  and even our sermons on a web page. We need pictures, people,  their stories, and the chronicles of our journey with a God who calls us to penetrate at all levels of society.  Let's not be "strangers" in the culture that is cyberspace. comment [] 9:00:04 AM

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