Tag Archive - Web 2.0

Formulating an Online Strategy for College Ministry: Part 6–Using Social Network Platforms as Your Central Hub

July 1, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 5 Comments

Social Networks have been one of the greatest things to happen to college ministry. There are many reasons why I have found them to be so helpful, but let’s begin with a video primer, because I know some of you, though familiar with social networks, may wonder their exact purpose or how they function. For that I turn to the awesome video series Social Networking in Plain English by Common Craft

I believe that it’s important to have your college ministry in a social network, and that that network should act as your central hub. There are several reasons for that as I want to discuss further with you.
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The “groundswell” is about relationships, not just technology

June 24, 2008 in Technology-Social Media with 0 Comments

I just posted this at Leadership Network’s book blog, so please take a look.

Li
So as you may or may not have noticed I have been on a reading spree with books that discuss new web 2.0 technologies and how they are influencing leadership, especially in the church (sidenote, this is the first book that I have read with my new Amazon Kindle; talk about new technologies are changing things).  The most recent book is Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.  The book is co-authored by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research.  Charlene has a very popular blog and is considered one of the leading experts in social media and technologies, so I was very interested in reading what all the buzz has been about.

This is book is focused around the idea of the "groundswell":

Simply put, the groundswell is a social trend in which people use
technologies to get the things they need from each other instead of
from companies. If you’re in a company, this is a challenge.

This is not only an interesting challenge if you are a company, but an interesting challenge if you are a church, since people within the church no longer need to go through the leadership or hierarchy of the community to get things done. With new technologies such as Facebook, Twitter, wikis, blogs, etc, more and more people within churches are taking action and doing things on their own or with a group of people.  The days where the flow of information, content and decision making travel through the pastor and the leadership are coming to an end if they haven’t already.  With this in mind, Charlene and Josh use this book to teach companies three important things:

  • Part One: Understanding the Groundswell
  • Part Two: Tapping the Groundswell
  • Part Three: The Groundswell Transforms

As a leader in the church I think this book is a must read.  And even though they are talking more about companies, churches can easily be inserted.

There is a lot of great research and application in this book such as the categories that make up the people online which is important to know when you are determining what type of technological tool you are going to use to reach your audience.

  • Creators
  • Critics
  • Collectors
  • Joiners
  • Spectators
  • Inactives

Throughout this whole book one thing kept sticking in my mind and it was this statement by them throughout the book:

It’s important to understand these technologies, but the technologies are the detail, and it’s tempting to get sucked into the detail.  So many words have been written about blogs and blogging, social networks, and user-generated content that you might think that understanding those technologies will equip you for the new world.

Wrong.

First, the technologies change rapidly. And second, the technologies are not the point. The forces at work are.  Like the jujitsu master, you must understand how bodies move, not just learn a single block or throw.  You must develop a feel for the groundswell.

With that in mind, here’s the principle for mastering the groundswell: concentrate on relationships, not the technologies.

In the groundswell, relationships are everything.  The way people connect with each other–the community that is created–determines how the power shifts.

That last quote is brilliant.  Technology is great, but it’s not about the technology, but about the relationships.  How leadership is carried out in the church is embedded in relationships, and now with the use of new technologies many relationships are changing.  So do your church a favor and read up on how you can best capitalize on the shifting relationships and technologies that those around us are using.

Why the “Groundswell” Within The General Assembly 218 is Going to Unsettle the PC(USA)…Hopefully!

June 22, 2008 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 2 Comments

Irony: streaming shot of hundreds of laptops at #GA218…all unconnected to the world. Metaphor for the PCUSA?

That’s the quote I came across by Neal Locke on Twitter last night. He was commenting on PC(USA)-218th General Assembly, and I thought it was a brilliant observation. One can’t help watch the 218th General Assembly, or have been involved in some PC(USA) church and politics without having thought the same…the ordination process alone demonstrates how unconnected to the world the PC(USA) can be at times. There are always some exceptions, but those sometimes seem far and few between.

That’s why I was excited last night that Bruce Reyes-Chow was elected Moderator. Bruce is someone who is connected to the Church and the World. This was an important decision for the PC(USA), and since I was on staff of Bel Air Presbyterian Church for 7 years, and I will be on staff of another PC(USA) Church in Dallas, it’s important to me that as a denomination we are headed in the right direction.

One of the most frustrating things about the way the PC(USA) has operated is the way that many within the system choose to exclude via lack of communication with those who aren’t technically part of the system. It’s a classic system of the “have and have nots”, based often around who is ordained and who is not, or who has power and who does not.  Communication is very important, and when we choose to exclude others from the discussions, decision making, etc., then I think we are headed in the wrong direction.

I started thinking about a lot of this last night for several reasons:

  • Bruce Reyes-Chow is a phenomenal blogger and he understands the importance of communication, and not keeping everything behind closed doors to only executive staffs and personnel committees, but he truly knows how to speak to the people and empower them.


  • Last night I followed The General Assembly on a GA218 Twitter Meme. I was getting live updates from within the assembly which was great. I think the PCUSA tries to keep stuff in-house a lot of times and when they do make it public it is very controlled. Last night people were sharing their personnel commentary on the assembly, the PC(USA) and those running for Moderator.  It was a classic example of people using social tools to bypass the institution. It’s one thing to show it live, it’s another thing when people can comment on it both constructively and critically.


  • If that wasn’t enough I was following the General Assembly as well on the GA218 Scribble Live site, as people could contribute an ongoing dialogue to what was happening, etc.


  • Then there were many live bloggers, but I was mainly glued to Adam Walker Cleaveland and Neal Locke.  Because of people like Bruce, Adam and Neal, I have hope for the PC(USA).
  • I know that some in the PC(USA) are thinking about this, as evidenced by the Pres-Outlook devoting an issue to web 2.0 stuff.  I wrote an article on ministry in the online world of social networking.


I just started reading Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. It’s actually the first book that I downloaded to my Amazon Kindle, which seems appropriate since the book is focused on how new social tools are re-writing the rules of how we communicate and how organizations operate. So I want to leave you with a quote from the book that I think ties into what we are talking about here. The world is changing very rapidly, and with new and improved social tools everyday, people (the masses), not only want to have a voice, but are surely and quickly finding it. In the process they are challenging organizations, businesses, corporations and churches in the way that they have always operated.

No longer can these institutions afford to cloister themselves off and run and maintain the system with only a few voices that don’t discuss and communicate with the rest of the people.

Churches, and especially the PC(USA) needs to embrace these new technologies, and embrace the leaders who are ushering in these changes like Bruce, Neal and Adam.

From where we sit, Rick Clancy is a symbol. He and thousands of corporate executives just like him are now dealing with a trend we call the groundswell, a spontaneous movement of people using online tools to connect, take charge of their own experience, and get what they need–information, support, ideas, products, and bargaining power–from each other. The groundswell is broad, ever shifting, and ever growing. It encompasses blogs and wikis; podcasts and YouTube; and consumers who rate products, buy and sell from each other, write their own news, and find their own deals. It’s global. It’s unstoppable. It affects every industry–those that sell to consumers and those that sell to business–in media, retail, financial services, technology, and health care. And it’s utterly foreign to the powerful companies and institutions–and their leaderships–that run things now.

Simply put, the groundswell is a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other instead of from companies. If you’re in a company, this is a challenge.

The groundswell phenomenon is not a flash in the pan. The technologies that make it work are evolving at an ever-increasing pace, but the phenomenon itself is based on people acting on their eternal desire to connect. It has created a permanent, long-lasting shift in the way the world works.

ROOV: Gathering Christians Around Their Passions, and Moving Towards Action

June 19, 2008 in Uncategorized with 3 Comments

On Tuesday afternoon I went to coffee with Chris Capehart, one of the co-founders of ROOV. I told Chris when we met that I wasn’t quite sure what to think of ROOV when I heard about it. 1) One more social networking site seems like one too many right now. 2) I don’t like Christians removing themselves into “all Christian” environments to live life there , unless it’s for gathering around very specific or niche causes, etc.

But once I created an account and scoured the site I became more and more impressed with it. And one thing that stood out to me is the statement on their site:

ROOV is an online community that connects like-minded individuals around their shared experiences and passions within their church and city.

It’s one thing as Christians to go into our own bubble and live there, and it’s another thing to gather around our beliefs and causes so we can live them out in the world. ROOV is the best of this idea. I was really impressed with Chris and the other founder’s vision behind it. I’m excited to see where it goes. And I’m excited to see Christians gather around their passions, but not to keep them to themselves, but to move them towards action out in the world.

Here is a quick video about ROOV, and then just a couple of closing thoughts:



ROOV.com Stories from ROOV.com on Vimeo.



I first heard about ROOV from Cynthia Ware, and she thinks highly of it, and so I was immediately interested.

Then Matt Singley talked about it in his highway vlog, episode 4, Media That Rocks My World.

One of my former students compared it so 43 Things, but a site that gathers Christians around their passions and interests towards change.

And last, my friend Chum had a few good thoughts on ROOV that he shard on his blog. Chum said:

• It Connects People – The idea of connecting like-minded Christians based on what they are passionate about has a lot of potential.

• Forced Interaction – Since you have to add a comment or question to add the Roov to your profile, it keeps the discussion going. And it keeps people who are “add” happy from just build up their profile.

• Good Design – The site is easy to use and it works. And since it borrows elements from Facebook, Bloger, and LinkedIn, is already familiar to me.



So check it out. Get an account. Play around with it a while. And let me know what you think.

Formulating an Online Strategy for College Ministry: Part 5–How Twitter Can Catalyze Your Ministry

June 16, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 11 Comments

Despite some of the bad press recently regarding Twitter, I still must say that I absolutely love it. Sure there are days when things take way too long to load, or they don’t load at all. But despite all that, Twitter is still the first site that I log onto when I get on the internet in the morning. What other site is going to instantly bring me up to date with what everyone in my network (friends, family, co-workers, etc) is doing?

For a great step by step primer on Twitter, check out Matt Singley’s post.

Check out Twitter in Plain English series below:

Those are some great resources on Twitter. And in fact, lots of people are writing about Twitter so it’s not hard to find online some effective ways to use it. So what I want to focus on in this post is just a few ways how you can effectively use Twitter in your ministry…or as I say above, how it can catalyze your ministry.

Three Reasons to Use Twitter in Your Ministry Continue Reading…

Combination: “Revolutionary, Plus the Exective Backing”…

June 10, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 0 Comments

This short 7 minute video with Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, authors of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies is insightful.

I tend to filter social technologies through the lens of church and ministry, and I think they say some key things.  Paraphrasing them:

  • There needs to be a revolutionary and an executive backing within a company for social technology to be implemented and supported.
  • There is a danger for companies who don’t adopt, or adapt to social technology, especially if the constituents, customers, congregation, etc. are using it.  There is a missed opportunity as well.

Check out the video:

Formulating an Online Strategy for College Ministry: Part 4–Using Facebook Effectively

June 4, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 13 Comments

When it comes to Facebook I’m definitely an evangelist, but it wasn’t always that way. I was one of those pastors who was somewhat fearful of online social technology. I was an early adopter in some ways, but when it came to working with college students I was definitely a late adopter to MySpace (my students had been on for more than a year), and I was also a late adopter to Facebook (my students had been on it for over a year as well).

By the time I got the nerve up to put us on MySpace, my students had already left it and were living online on Facebook. I still remember the Wednesday night in the Spring of 2006 when one of my student leaders got up to make an announcement at the end of the night. He announced how he had created our Quest Bel Air Global Facebook page, and I was thinking to myself, “What does that all mean?”, while I could hear the cheers from the audience as if saying, “Finally!”

Ever since then I have been a big fan and it has revolutionized communication in our ministry. And yet, there is more we could be doing with it, I just haven’t had the time and figured out the best ways yet.

So I have some thoughts, but I would also like to hear from you, and see if we can find out some even more effective ways.
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Formulating an Online Strategy for College Ministry: Part 3-Why You Should Be Blogging

May 31, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 12 Comments

Of all the topics I’m going to address in this series, this seems to be the no-brainer to me. I started blogging about 4 years ago at the encouragement of one of my students at the time, Jared Kleier. He set up a blog for me on our college website and away we went, though it wasn’t quite that easy. I remember writing and deleting one post after another because I had never experienced writing something for immediate consumption by the public.

All it took was some encouragement from others, and a few links from other bloggers, and then the blogging bug just seemed to take over.

Lots of people have various reasons for why those in ministry should blog. Mark Roberts has 18 Thesis’ for why pastors should blog. You can view his Powerpoint Presentation, Pastors as Blogger, at GodblogCon 2007.


 Mark is just one good resource.

There are a lot of reasons why I think those involved in college ministry should blog, so let me give you just 11 (yeah 11) that come to mind and that I have found helpful reasons for blogging:

  1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate: A blog is simply in many ways about communication. When you blog, you communicate to others on a variety of topics.
  2. Reiterate the Mission: When you blog, you can continually communicate, and therefore, one of the important pieces of communication is to continually reiterate and blog about the mission of the ministry. It’s a good way to remind students and keep everyone accountable, focused, and on task.
  3. Encouragement: A blog is a great way to encourage those in your ministry, whether it be other staff, leaders or the congregants. Devotionals, posts of encouragement, thank yous, and recognizing others are just some forms. Continue Reading…

Responses to a Commenter

May 23, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 2 Comments

Ryan at Tilling the Soil asked me a couple of good questions related to my post below, so I want to give them proper attention in a post, and not just leave a comment for him.

I had the chance to talk with Ryan by phone last week and I enjoyed our conversation, and I’m looking forward to connecting with him when we move to Dallas this summer.


1. Ryan Says:
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:01 am e

Rhett,
Hey man, I’m really enjoying this series.
I have two concerns:
1) With all of the networking that is going on, is it realistic to ask people to go to another site (your church’s site), even if you are farming out all of the content to facebook, flickr, etc.? In my world if I can’t RSS it, then I probably won’t see it.
2) How do you deal with students who want this before the church authorizes it, and so they create their own facebook groups, mychurch.org pages, etc? (i.e. how do you maintain control in such an environment?)

-ryan

Response to Question 1

Ryan, I don’t think it really is realistic. In fact, I know for certain based on traffic, that our college webpage’s traffic decreased dramatically after our Facebook group was launched, and it has pretty much decreased to no traffic. I think most church’s will have this problem and may not realize it. They design sites that have forums, videos, photos, links, etc., but people aren’t going to leave their networks to do those activities on a church’s website. One, people already have enough committment to a site like Facebook, and to ask them to commit to your church’s website in the same way is unrealistic. Second, church website’s just can’t compete with the social tools out there.

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Formulating an Online Strategy for College Ministry: Part 2–The Purpose of Your Website

May 22, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 15 Comments

I think it’s important for college ministries to be forumlating a plan, and developing some ideas about how they can strategically use the internet to best serve their ministry.

There are a lot of topics that I could cover, and maybe 9 posts is too much, so I will try and keep them shorter than my last post.

Last week I posted Part 1–Simplicity, Flexibility, Cost and Speed. Bottom line: You need to have a design and plan that is simple (easy to navigate/aesthetically clean from a design point of view. You also should keep the costs low which is easy to do with all the free and inexpensive tools out there. And speed should be taken into consideration, mainly from the perspective of how fast can you integrate new technology to meet the needs and wants of your ministry. Way too many ministries plunge lots of cost and time into a site, that they no longer can adapt to changes, but are stuck with it for years to come.

Today I want to post about The Purpose of Your Website.

What is the purpose of your website?

This is an important question to begin with. What do you want it to do? What do you want people to come to the site and see and use? What should they walk away with? Sometimes ministries just build websites because they feel like they should have one, but never stop to consider its purpose.

Is it for college students to retrieve information? Is it for them to sign up for Bible studies? Is it for them to be able to visit forums and dialogue?

With these questions in mind we also need to keep in mind that with all the tools out there (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc.) a website shouldn’t have to do everything, unless it can do it better than those services (which I doubt it can do).

So here are a few pointers that I have found helpful:

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