New Kid on the Blog | MeLissa Houdmann

MeLissa Houdmann. New Kid on the Blog. Church Executive Magazine, July 2006. 38, 40-41 pp
Why Pastors Should Plug In

Do you remember your first journey into cyberspace? You clicked from site to site with anticipation as you teleported across the net reading the news and checking the weather. There was a fascination as to where you would land next. Today, the Internet is bigger than ever and pastors are plugging in to get actively involved. Pastor as blogger is now commonplace.

The word blog is a combination of the words “web log” and is essentially an online journal. Blogs can focus on specific topics like politics, news, business and hobbies, or serve as a place to post personal thoughts, rants and ramblings. Blogs are generally updated on a consistent basis. Some people even update numerous times a day.

Blog authority Technorati estimates that there are more than 37 million blog sites and 1.2 million posts daily. With numbers like these, chances are great that many people in your congregation are among the blogging ranks. More and more people are relying on online communities for interaction rather than traditional face-to-face contact.

Why So Many People Blog

Blogs are personal. Bloggers write an entry and others read and add comments. Connections are made and friendships form. Whether debating The DaVinci Code or bragging about dogs, blogs are considered by many to be the ideal place to post personal thoughts and ideas. Many pastors have added “blogger” to their numerous roles. They see the potential impact for ministry and seek to shepherd their flock both online and off-line.

Blogs have exposure. Trends show that people doubt the genuineness of traditional media, including conventional television, radio and newspapers, so they are relying more and more on the amateur “journalist” to present what is really going on. Some blogs are read by hundreds or thousands of people a day, while others are intended for a close circle of friends or family. No matter how many people read a blog, it is the blogger’s opportunity to share his or her opinions with the world.

Blogs are fun. Many people blog for the love of writing. Instead of writing a book or a diary, bloggers write online for the world to see. It is a great way to stay connected with friends, family and co-workers.

The Blogging Shepherd

There’s no doubt the blogging phenomenon is real and impacting our society in a substantial way. Pastors have taken notice of this trend and many have added “blogger” to their numerous roles. They see the potential impact for ministry and seek to shepherd their flock both online and off-line.

Blogging is a way to connect with the congregation during the week. Todd Phillips is the teaching pastor of Frontline, a ministry for 20- to 30-year-olds, at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, VA. Frontline has two Sunday evening services that both average 2,500 in attendance.

“I started blogging as a practical way to communicate with a large congregation of Internet-savvy young adults. I was receiving hundreds of e-mails a day and was looking for ways to reduce e-mail traffic while staying connected to the group. I’m able to receive comments from the readers and their remarks, questions, and even disagreements are rewarding to read,” Phillips says.

Ken Yarmosh attends the Frontline service and is an avid reader of his pastor’s blog.

“At a rather large church, you can imagine that developing any sort of more personal relationship with my pastor is quite hard to do. He has used his blog to connect with us well beyond Sunday nights, to dialogue with us throughout the week. It gives him an additional opportunity to encourage us to think biblically about current affairs and reinforces principles he articulates in his sermons,” Yarmosh says. “I feel that in some ways, I have gotten to know him through it.”

Many pastors use blogs to address current events and relate how the Bible affects everyday life. Scott Thom, pastor of Cross Christian Fellowship of Albuquerque, NM, says, “Blogging daily allows me to touch on events or topics that that I would not get the opportunity to teach about on Sundays. Hot news topics often run their cycle in a day or two and are usually old by the weekend. I can disseminate information rapidly and universally in a blog.”

Cross Christian Fellowship will be two years old in June. It started with five adults in 2004, grew to about 35 adults by 2005, and currently holds two services with a combined total of more than 100 adults. At this rate, Thom says he expects to have 180 to 200 by the end of the year.

“This is why the blog site hits are so interesting. We get somewhere between 200 to 1,000 hits weekly on the blog page alone,” Thom says. “We must be impacting far more people than attend our church. It could be commentary on an article or information about the church, but either way the information offers instant access to all who want it. Blogging forces me to stay up with current events and changing worldviews.”

Benefits of Blogging

Church-wide blogs create community. Blogs are a great way for people to get to know one another and stay connected during the week.

Blogs provide a means for feedback. As a pastor, you will receive feedback on sermons, events, and the general feeling of their church.

Blogs can draw more people to your Web site. Thom says, “Our Web site hits have tripled and the blog is that most frequented page every month. Some people have actually begun attending our church because they searched a topic on the Internet and wound up in our archives.”

Intra-staff blogs create a connection. Consider developing a protected blog for the pastoral team, ministry leaders and staff. People can share new ideas, comment on co-workers ideas, encourage one another, and stay connected. Staff meetings will never be the same again. Initial discussion on new ideas can take place on your confidential intra-staff blog.

Get Started

Talk with your webmaster if you would like a blog feature included on your church’s Web site. He or she can research whether adding a blog is feasible. This kind of a blog allows your church to have more control over what is published on the blog. You also provide a safe blog environment for your congregation. Think of using one of the various Christian Web sites that offers free blogs. Check out www.inchristnetcom.

Consider being a light in the darkness at one of the popular blog communities like Xanga, MySpace, or Blogger. Groups in your church may already have “blogrings” in these blogging communities, so ask around. Note that well-meaning Christians can easily stumble across vulgar or unsavory content on these secular blogging sites.

Blogging offers you an opportunity to have an even greater impact in your church and in the large blogosphere world. It is your privilege to use this technology to encourage your flock, challenge them to grow, and mutually lift one another up. Make blogging an extension of your pastoral ministry.

This article is used by permission of ChurchExecutive.com and appeared on pp. 38, 40-41 of their July 2006 magazine.

Like this post? Subscribe to our feed .