"Hi - just seen this item so want to say I hope all is well with you and Jo. Recently I was invited to speak to the "Burton Church Leaders" about my thoughts on the need for inter faith dialogue and action- So far no action but will keep…"
Why use social networking and Churches Together Connect?
One of the most frequent questions we’re asked about Churches Together Connect is how is it different to Facebook or Twitter? And people aren’t necessarily suggesting that they should use those instead. Rather, they are put-off by concerns over whether their personal details and information that they post will be kept private. The increasing commercialisation of Facebook is putting many off the whole idea of using social networks.
First we want to reassure everyone that on Churches Together Connect we won’t sell their personal details or use them to bombard them with unsolicited mail ourselves. Churches Together Connect is all about community, not about selling things. I’ll look at all the privacy controls available in Churches Together Connect in another blog.
Neither does Churches Together Connect replace Facebook or Twitter - they are all different means of communicating, depending upon what you are trying to say and who you want to inform or influence.
If you’d like your church or Christian organisation to reach more people, both Christian and non-Christian, then Facebook and Twitter are two tools you shouldn’t ignore, whatever your current reservations. People are as likely these days to keep in touch with their friends using these social networks as pick up the phone or send a text. And as marketing people will tell you, we are now in the age of personal recommendation. We are much more likely to trust and be influenced by what our friends say and are doing, than by adverts and the media.
Christian leaders that have adopted technology strongly are also putting forward a Biblical case for doing so. Mark Driscoll, pastor of Marshill Church in Seattle, who beams his sermon to thousands across multiple campuses each week, quotes Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23: “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”
Mark Driscoll says that the Church needs to convey "timeless truth using timely methods”. We need to contend for the truth but contextualise it in culture.
Using the Internet is only the latest in a long history of technologies used by the Church to help convey the Gospel. Mark Driscoll argues that throughout history the Church has adapted the latest ‘technology’ to enhance the spread of the Gospel, including the introduction of church benches in the 13th century (before which congregations all stood), the invention of the printing press around 1440 (before which all Bibles were hand written), and the introduction of modern loudspeakers in the 1920s, which enabled sermons to be preached to much larger congregations.
The Internet has opened up possibilities that are only recently being explored. In the guide Social by Social (available as a free download), commissioned by National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), the reasons to get involved in social networking are summed up in 3 points:
- Because the possibilities are huge, and the costs are low
- Because these technologies are already here, and they aren’t going away
- Because playing it safe is becoming risky
Churches Together Connect is all about embracing these possibilities and risk to empower the Church. We hope you’ll join us on the journey.
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Comment by Dave Chadwick on April 4, 2011 at 12:27 -
To see some of the possibilities, two weeks ago the US-based Global Media Outreach held a two-day online Internet evangelism crusade. The results were:
- 2,594,731 visitors to GMO websites
- 252,360 indicated decisions for Christ
- 29,204 email requests for follow-up from an online missionary
Commenting on GTO's success, Gordon Marcy who writes the Christian Media 2.0 blog said, "Again we saw what can happen when the Internet’s power is harnessed through God’s power for reaching people in all corners of the earth".
Talking about the possibilities and risks he said "It is being forecasted that by 2020, the number of mobile users will reach 6 billion and the number of people accessing the Internet will reach 4.7 billion—primarily through their mobile devices.
"Make no mistake, cults and false religions are aggressively staking out territory online for converting people to their point of view...
"The Internet is changing everything and everyone. Generation C (those born after 1990) will be connected, communicating, content-centric, computerized, community oriented, always clicking... Will local churches be online to meet Generation C at their point of need?"
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Comment by Simon Cohen on April 6, 2011 at 21:30 -
Great blog, Dave - and fantastic stats for the GMO! Amazing!
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Comment by Dave Chadwick on April 21, 2011 at 12:27
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The Archbishop of York has given an Easter address to readers of the online service MSN, saying "I think that it is really important for the Church to engage with technology and embrace the power the internet has to reach people."
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Comment by Dave Chadwick on April 28, 2011 at 17:07
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The Church of England has started running courses around social media and the web:
Social Media Strategies
http://www.churchcommstraining.org/smstrategies.php
Social Media for the Scared
http://www.churchcommstraining.org/socialmedia.php
Blogging for Beginners
http://www.churchcommstraining.org/socialmedia.php
Writing for the Web
http://www.churchcommstraining.org/writingforweb.php
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Comment by Dave Chadwick on May 9, 2011 at 14:51
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The Baptist Union of Great Britain has a Top Tips guide to social networks.
Replying to the question "Why use Facebook" it states, "It’s “home turf - people are there already - many of them logging in multiple times each day. It is the modern equivalent of the New Testament marketplace where people would meet to discuss ideas, news and gossip."
http://www.baptist.org.uk/component/docman/doc_download/330-top-tip...
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Comment by Dave Chadwick on May 23, 2011 at 10:00
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Last weekend's failed prediction of the end of the world said a lot about the power of social networking. US-based blogger Phil Cookesummed it up as:
"Over the last few months, a remarkably tiny group of people have done a brilliant job sharing their message with the world. Inaccurate, wrong, or wacky – they have told their story far better than major Christian denominations, mega-churches, and supposed “media” ministries have done."
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