Church iPhone and Mobile Phone Websites

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jan 11, 2010 in Church Technology, Church Websites | 0 comments

Ekklesia 360 (or if your site was designed by one of our 50 designer parters or resellers) offers an iPhone ready website for your chuch.  More people have mobile phones than computers today and mobile web-ready phones are expected to grow by 50% over the next two years.  It will be increasingly important for churches and ministries to offer a mobile experience to your users as it is forecast that by as soon as 2020 mobile will be the most common way people experience the Internet.

View more mobile website screenshots on our Facebook page.

Website Wisdom

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Nov 2, 2009 in Church Technology, Church Websites, Ekklesia, Monk Dev | 0 comments

Your Church magazine, part of Christianity Today published an article I wrote, Website Wisdom – New research, cooperative reveal best practices for churches in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue. The article begins:

Research conducted earlier this year, which surveyed hundreds of churches representing more than 70,000 members combined, attempted to drill deeper into two fundamental questions as the internet grows in its influence and importance in our culture and beyond:

1) Do church websites strategically help attract new visitors, connect people, and equip leaders?
2) And if so, what are the best practices for a church’s web strategy?

Three significant discoveries, as well as several best practices, emerged from this work. This information can help large churches (congregations such as Willow Creek Community Church participated in the research) as well as small ones (church plants with fewer than 50 people also participated). These practices also are useful for most any situation, regardless of whether a church is using a volunteer, a church website design firm, or a staff member to design its site.

Article pdf (6mb) Website Wisdom – New research, cooperative reveal best practices for churches

Read the whole magazine in their digital version: Your Church Nov/Dec 2009 issue

Story – Churches and Social Media breakout

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Oct 31, 2009 in Church Technology, Church Websites, Ekklesia | 1 comment

Tim Schraeder did an excellent job capturing Cynthia Ware (http://thedigitalsanctuary.org/) and my session at the Story Chicago conference.

Social Media Pulse

What are churches current social media patterns?

• We are living in a world people dreamed of.
• There used to only be a computer at work… then it went home… then to your lap… now to your hand.
• Mobile ubiquity, where everyone has a phone, presents challenges and opportunities for the church.
• There’s an embedded value system in social media [public/participatory, new media].
• There’s value in it that it’s instant.
• Everyone is an equal creator… it’s user-generated content.
• We’d rather buy something someone tells us about than what we are told by businesses or corporations.
• Users have a voice and are able to generate content.
• In a relationship economy, what people say matters deeply.
• We now have greater accessibility to information.
• Churches need to move from having “please have your phone off” signs to “please have your phone on” signs.
• The media is affecting our small group communities and the way that they interact.
• We’ve torn down the boundaries of distance; there’s now a worldwide conversation going on that anyone can participate in.
• The definition of “presence” is changing.
• We HAVE to think through these things theologically.
• Is physical presence necessary for you to be a part of and “be” the church.
• Social media allows customization [personalization].
• One size does not fit all … [MySpace, my reviews, my favorites, etc.]
• My can be consumer oriented, but it reflects the fact that media is in the hands of every person and every person has the ability to create media.
• Everyone is a content producer.
• We now watch TV on our own terms [TiVo].
• New generations are being raised with these new ideas embedded in their everyday interactions.
• As technology becomes cheaper and more effective, the Church is confronted with one of the greatest opportunities along with one of the greatest challenges of how to steward it.
• The Men of Issachar were able to see the times and were able to know what to do.
• Let’s go to the next level… let’s find out what we are capable of doing and how are we able to frame it in a Biblical context?
• The word of our testimony is the critical story we have that’s a powerful conduit [Christianity is viral] to reach someone we may have not been able to reach any other way.
• We’ve moved to a digital age.
• It will be normal for us to connect online, first and then meet in person.
• 43% of churches say social media is one of the most effective ways for them to communicate and engage with people.
• Church websites are the front doors to churches.
• 77% of people say the church website was an important part of why they chose to go to church.
• If people can’t connect to your website they may not go to your church.
• People make judgements about a church based on what the church communicates across their website.
• It’s a missiological issue.
• John 17:18
• Facebook is the 4th largest nation in the world if you look at the number of people that are on it.
• Non-Christians do not go to your website.
• Your website is primarily visited by believers looking for information about churches.
• 20% of all data people are accessing on church websites is information for new visitors… that’s a significant portion where you should invest your time.
• Use the web to help people new into the church to get deeper into community.
• Your web strategy should be looked at as an Internet Presence Management.
• What are you communicating online?
• How are you connecting to where people are talking and engaging?
• Where are you present? Where are you absent?
• Who is responsible for your church’s online presence?
• What does it mean to be the Church online?
• How do you define presence? What’s your theology of presence?
• We need to recognize that participatory media is decentralized.
• It’s unregulated.
• We have a lack of control.
• We have to look deeper at our theology.
• A mobile, extended presence can be used missionally.
• Is virtual community real community?
• What is Biblical community?
• We need to define Biblical community before we define online community and if it’s possible to have church online
• We need to ask if we can use an online presence to build real life community?
• We need to intently be on the internet, it’s a mission field.
• We, the Church, are called to be counter-culture… what does that mean at this technological crossroads?
• We are willing to be transparent online, but vulnerability is not often seen online.

Top Social Media Sites

1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Private Member Portals [ MemberHub, Monk, Tangle, Unifyer, etc ]
4. GoogleGroups
5. MySpace

• Greatest needs online: events, post prayer requests, get connected, finding small groups and ways to connect throughout the week, integration with their church website and resource sharing.
• Churches are wrestling with how to use participatory technologies.
• The Cobblestone Community Network is a tool that’s been developed to help churches have private communication that’s integrated into social media channels.
• If you don’t set a strategy you’re going to have a difficult time pulling it together later.
• What is your strategy for the community online?
• Pick a horse.
• If you don’t lead your people, they will find their own way and go their own direction.
• This is something we need to pay attention to but we don’t need to know the mechanics of it; you can find volunteers or someone on staff to help manage this.
• Things are easier than they were before.
• There are challenges and effort required but it’s more centered on your strategy.
• Let people tell you how they want to be contacted… be platform neutral.
• Let people choose how the content gets to them.

The Shape of the Future – Online Ministry

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 15, 2009 in Church Websites, Ekklesia, Ministry Technology, Monk Dev | 0 comments

Outcomes a quarterly magazine from the Christian Leadership Alliance just released their Fall 2009 issue highlighting Internet Ministry. I wrote an article entitled, The Shape of the Future – A four-part ministry Web strategy. The issue includes several articles you should consider reading by respected thinkers such as:

• Cynthia Ware – Engaging This Generation What the Internet and the men of Issachar have to do with each other.
• Mark D. Roberts – Twittering in Church? A biblical perspective on faith and technology.
• DJ Turner – Digital In Denver How Denver Seminary uses Web-based technology to connect.
• David T. Bourgeois – The Internet Ministry Framework Key principles for online success.
• Steve Hewitt – Going Mobile Trends in smart phone technology.
• Nick B. Nicholaou – IT in a Tight Economy Considerations for ministry success.

Most of the above authors will be at the The Ministry Internet & Technology Summit so come and join us in San Diego April 2010!

Christian Computing Magazine – Church Web Strategy

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 4, 2009 in Church Technology, Church Websites | 1 comment

Christian Computing Magazine (CCMag) has helped to keep its readers informed on software, services and other areas of technology, pertaining to how it relates to the Christian community, the church and ministry since 1989. CCMag was THE first Christian magazine on the Internet. Today, it continues to provide a dynamic web presence, providing its readers “value added” services online.

In July I started writing a monthly Church Web Strategy column. My first article outlined the goals of the column and some of the research we’ve done to prepare for our writing the column. Christian Computing MagazineYour Church Website is Vital for New Visitors is my second article that looks at the data we collected from our church web market research projects. Read Your Church Website is Vital for New Visitors (pdf). Here is an excerpt:

Before you read this article, open your church’s website and take a few moments to examine it. What are the visual and content elements that jump out? For whom are these elements designed? Is it primarily a resource for people who already attend your church? Are the largest elements the recent sermon series, events or ministries to serve? Is your church website a place to welcome new people, or does it appear to be a site for regular attendees? Your church website sends a critical message to visitors and impacts whether they will ever visit your church community.

Internet Presence Management

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jul 7, 2009 in Church Technology, Church Websites, Ekklesia | 2 comments

Monk Development has begun our shift from a Content Management provider to an Internet Presence Management company. What is the difference? Most Content Management Systems (CMS) focus on managing the content to publish to a client’s website. “If no one visits your award-winning new website does it really exist?” may be the existential question of the Internet age. Too often organizations spend all their time and budget on a website rather than establishing their presence across the web. We believe the CMS market needs to go beyond a website and that organizations need to ensure they are managing their presence across the web. What is your organization’s presence online?

Let me give you an example of how this would work. On Ekklesia 360 when a church publishes a sermon a number of things happen.

1. The Sermon is published to their website.
2. The church sermons are syndicated and churches can build custom syndication lists by sermon types and categories.
3. The church can connect their Facebook & Twitter accounts so that an editable status update announces the sermon. We even use bit.ly to shorten the url for you. Videos can be distributed to YouTube & Vimeo.
4. During setup we connect the churches podcast feed into iTunes.
5. Churches will have their sermon pushed to The Cloud Network where we route tens-of-thousands of online visitors a month to our church clients.

At the end of the day we want your sermons, articles and events to have as broad and far as reach as possible and to reach people where they already are. And this requires that we help you connect with people far beyond your website.