One of the things that I get asked often in relation to blogging is a simple question: how should I blog?
Blogging is a trend, for sure, and many people have a sixth sense that it's something they should be doing. Blogging is so very relational and specific to the author's style that it's hard to put a simple "this is how you do it" together. Instead, let's first look at the different kinds of blogs that might be out in the digital ether:
(1) The Expert/Personality Blog
This is the kind of blog that is run by someone of noted worth. They have a reason to be blogging. They have a built in audience due to their position in life or their expertise on a subject. For example, Penelope Trunk is a reputable expert on current trends in the career marketplace. Al Mohler gets traffic to his blog because his current position in life. Larry Hyrb (Major Nelson) is huge in the video games world because of his connection to the Xbox product.
(2) The Personal Blog
This is the friendly blog where you go to see pictures of your friend's cat. They might chronicle what they ate for breakfast, or pour out poetry and emotion from a recent divorce. This is kind of blog is really meant for a niche audience - people who actually know the author. These kinds of blog get low amounts of traffic, but the traffic is a captive audience because they truly care about the author... and their cat.
One of the most famous personal blogs would Justin from Justin.tv. Justin started his successful business of Justin.tv by giving unprecedented access to his life: he streams everything that happens to him via video. Other famous personal blogs would be from anyone you personally know. They're famous to you, at least.
(3) The News/Information Blog
These blogs are usually team blogs of reporters trying to gather information from various sources. Usually they focus on a particular area of information, like technology, movies, or sports.
These sites are usually the most frequently updated blogs as the team blogs have several-to-many people working for them and are an actual business trying to get the newest info the fastest.
And, just for fun:
(4) Humor Blogs
So... what does this translate to for a Church?
If you membership is tech-savvy and it's a natural thing for your leadership to be online, then it would make sense to blog on your church's website. But what do you blog about?
One of the biggest keys to blogging is consistent updates. My suggestion would be to take the team blog approach, with different people taking on different roles. You can easily offer up separate RSS feeds or pages to break down the blogging into the three areas above:
The Expert Blog:
Who is the expert in your church? The pastor, of course. If the community is interested in engaging in thinking about the message series throughout the week, the pastor could/should post ideas and thoughts that continue (or set up) Sunday's message. The Pastor is the expert; the work he puts into Sunday morning can reach dozens (or thousands) more by posting on a church blog.
The Personal Blog:
Who are the other leaders in your church? Perhaps small group leaders can use a public church blog to toss information and thoughts around to their attendees. It's sometimes hard for people to plug in to small groups because they don't know what's being taught, who's attending, or even when they meet. By using a public space, a small group can open up to any curious visitor to your church's website.
The Information Blog:
This could be one of the most important roles of a church website. If a church's blog was consistently updated with upcoming events, prayer needs, updates on church member issues (Mr and Mrs Holmes had a baby! Congrats on the new job, Mike! etc, etc) it would be a great chance for church members to feel loved and want to interact with the site.
What are some of the ways your churches are using blogs? Are they any examples of churches utilizing blogs that we can learn from?
I don't know that there needs to be one way to blog. Because wordpress blogs are so easy to roll out, you can multiple blogs for different purposes. Here's some different ways we use blogs.
Senior Pastor Blog:
http://blog.greglaurie.com
Church Blog:
http://blog.harvest.org
Ministry Blogs:
http://www.harvestjrhigh.org/jrHighBlog/
http://www.livingroomstudy.org
The beauty of the blog is that it gives pastors control of content they want to post without having to know html or the database structure of the main website. The two way communication they foster is also well received.
Posted by: Brendan | March 30, 2008 at 12:34 PM
@Brendan
Oh, I totally agree! There is no "one way" to blog. Blogging is very, very much based on the nature of the blogger and/or the organization. What I presented here was just one way for churches to get started with the idea and possibilities for blogging.
The thing is, there are a lot of people who don't have any place or recognition to even begin down the blogging path. It may seem too daunting or foreign of a concept of how it might be applicable to their church or personal lives.
I'd love to see other examples of how churches are communicating en masse with the world via blogs and the internet.
Posted by: Aaron | March 30, 2008 at 04:13 PM
I started blogging a couple months ago. For me, I am using the blog as a introduction. It is not church specific, just kingdom specific. I reference my church but you don't have to attend to understand the blog. As our church grows (30 people) then we will have a church specific blog but for now I am just trying to give people a peek into my life and what God is doing.
Blog Site- http://reflectionsofamirror.wordpress.com/
Church Website- www.jointheplace.com
P.S. I would be willing to help anyone who has questions, I am way NOT smart on this stuff but I am further along than some one fresh of the digital turnip truck. Shoot me an email- shawn@jointheplace.com or leave a reply on my blog.
shawn
co-pastor-Church @ The Place
Posted by: Shawn Holmes | April 03, 2008 at 04:45 AM
We are trying out a new web page for our church that is run with Wordpress: http://www.pacificchurch.com/
I chose Wordpress because it was free and would allow all the ministry leaders to easily post their own announcements to keep the site current. We are still learning whether the ministry leaders will go along with it :)
We are also still figuring out how to use the "blog" aspect. Our pastor has committed to post once a week, and I hope more will share their stories.
Posted by: Adrienne | April 05, 2008 at 06:50 PM