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Posted On
07/22/2007

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Should Religious Organizations Shift their Media Focus to Blogs?

Matthew Phillips at Cooke Pictures pointed out an interesting debate that's going on about blogging nationally.  Newspapers are shifting their online focus from reporting news, to creating blogs that generate conversations about news, entertainment, sports, living, business travel, with multiple blogs in each category.  I think it's the kind of conversation we need to be having with churches and other religious and non-profit organizations.  As someone said recently, shifting "from conversions to conversations."   Let me know if the discussion from the world of newspaper publishing is something we should be considering in the religious media world.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 22nd, 2007 at 3:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Rick

    We should have been considering this at LEAST a year ago. Without conversation, there is no conversion! 

  • Aweaver3

    I agree with Rick. “Without conversation there is no true conversion.” Even the Apostle Paul had a conversation with Christ on the Damascus road before he was converted.
    We have so many churches where the congregants only listen to the preached word and don’t get an opportunity for real engagement of God’s truth. Your average church goer spends only a few hours in church throughout the week, but spend the rest of the 165 hours engaging in multiple conversations. Blogging could help increase retention rates for Sunday teachings and understanding as well… (not to mention help decrease the stigma of talking about religious ideals outside of the sanctuary or classroom) if people on both sides of the blog genuinely want conversation and not just to spout their own opinions.

    Allen Paul Weaver III
    author, Transition: Breaking Through the Barriers
    http://www.allenpaulweaveriii.com

  • Calix

    I'm old-school; I personally prefer to have discussions on email lists or (to really show my "Internet age") on Usenet newsgroups … I always have a hard time remembering to "go to" the blogs (even excellent ones like this!)  But a recent discussion with my sixteen-year-old daughter emphasized how quickly things are changing … she rarely checks her email, because it's basically outdated; all of her conversations are IM!  I guess there is a truism: by the time the MSM is talking about something, it's already passé …  In a sense, blogging is already "yesterday's news."  (I'll have to check in with her to see what's replacing blogs!)  Anyone up for ministry on the bleeding edge? ;-)

  • Phil

    Leonard Sweet taught me something interesting about this issue.  He said that e-mail is nothing but a digital letter.  We type it, and format it like a letter, then hit "send".  Today's kids are using Internet Messenger and similar programs.  My daughters will have 7 or 8 iChat's open at once – all talking to different people.  We boomers love e-mail, because it's just an electronic version of what we know.  We have to be open to how the next generation communicates…

  • http://petersmythe.org Peter Smythe

    I believe that ministry organizations may be the last to embrace the blogging platform. Blogging (writing) is not only arduous work, but it is highly personal. While I personally believe that it is a tremendous platform for a "writing" ministry (we have our own blog), it certainly doesn't fit in with our present ministry models. I really don't see a "national minister" with his ghostwriters, copyists, and marketing representatives, consistently maintaining a blog (at least a decent read). In addition, I don't see ministry supporters wanting the latest from some no-name ministry worker. All that being said, the blogging platform, along with its YouTube cousins, may be the writing on the wall for the big-box ministries that we're used to seeing today.

  • http://www.osheadavis.com/ oshea

    I believe the gospel was command by Jesus to be preached as the main way for it to be made known, not the only way but the main way. I believe this is one of the main reasons why the church is doing so poorly in its effectivness, because it is mainly dealing with the gospel as conversation and not anointed preaching from a man gifted by God  direct holy spirit to teach and preach the Truth. Blogs are useful, but should not become the main why to reach the world.

    Sincerely: Oshea

  • Calix

    WHERE THE YOUNG NETIZENS ARE ALL HANGING OUT: based on an informal poll (that is, I asked my 16-year-old daughter here in Los Angeles!)  – Not blogs, for sure!  Most of the places she hangs out on-line tend to be fantasy-fiction type sites (such as Elftown.)  She gave me a list of some "hot" sites right now, and the interesting thing is, they are all much more graphic-art-driven than text-driven, even in the areas that are user-created (maybe especially in the areas that are user-created!)  Kind of like YouTube, but more undergroundy, sorta.  What this means for an old text-based fogey like me, I'm not sure; I couldn't draw a recognizable circle if you held a gun to my head!  Lots of personal drawings and animations and stuff.  Just thought I'd share!


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