How has and Technology and New Media affected Ministry in the Local Church?

A Qualitative study on Technology, Culture and Religion.

Marquette University College of Communication

Justin Lester

Dr. Daiderick Ekachai

Table of Contents:

Research paper – Page 3

Reference List – Page 21

Appendix – Page 23

Outreach Research – Page 24

Transcript – Page 26

Technology has affected the way many normal tasks are completed. It has

changed the way that people communicate. It has altered the way that teachers

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distribute materials. It has created competition in advertising, the job market and has

created new avenues of communication in many different areas of life. One of the

places that technology is having a great deal of impact, both positive and negative is in

the local church. For many parishioners the tradition of religion, such as Sunday

morning worship services, an easily accessible pastor and the community among

believers on a weekly basis, is what makes the “church” stay the “church.” In the

postmodern era, the “church” has transformed from staying in the four walls of the

traditional community of believers to an easily accessible religion that can be found at

anytime. The church has changed; some believe for the better, some believe for worse.

The integration of technology into the church made it clear that the world is larger

than the four walls of the local community church. It has created a group of Christians

who are bound together in ways that are unimaginable. From blogs, live internet

worship, and social media, the church now has the ability to be present at all times.

Theological scholars and biblical literalists argue that the problem with an emphasis on

new media is it changes the message that the church is commissioned to deliver in

Matthew 28:19-20. It reads:

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (NIV)

The message is clear, to teach the nations about the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

The argument that is raised is the altering of the method of the ministry to find creative

ways to show the method to individuals who are not familiar with the traditional form

ministry has been done. The question is then raised in this postmodern world, how has

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the inclusion of technology affected the way ministry is done outside and inside the

Christian church?

This topic is important to me because I serve as a youth minister and media

director at my local church. My position requires I communicate with members of my

ministry with new media. I have seen how technology has had an impact when used

correctly on growth in numbers, and also how when used incorrectly can lead to poor

results. At the same time, I have seen churches who use no new technology or forms

of communication have some of the most spiritually strong Christians in a small church.

In an era where Christians today live in a world which is hardened by sin, there is

an ever increasing conviction on the church to discern the times and develop strategies

that will look quite differently from the way they have been doing Church for most of the

past century and reach the Church of the future. In 1 Chronicles 12, during the time of

King David's reign, the sons of Issachar gained a reputation of being men of wisdom

who were able to discern the signs of the times. Through their wisdom they were able to

join David to help take control of the nation of Israel from Saul. Like the sons of

Issachar, the Church stands at a crossroads of a tremendous historical opportunity in

religious history. 21st Century Issachars must keep their fingers on the pulse of rapidly

changing times. They must be knowledgeable of current events, needs and trends. In

doing so, they can become familiar with this contemporary generation in order to be

able to communicate the gospel effectively, making His message relevant to people's

lives. Making the message relevant does not mean that we change the message, it

simply means at times it is necessary to change the method not the message of how we

do ministry.

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Culture

The question can be raised, why is it even important to study technology? As the

1990’s and the 21st century dawned on America, technology was changing at a rapid

pace. It has continued to develop and change to a point where it is almost necessary to

participate and be apart of the move of technology. Richard John Neuhaus recently

analyzed society as it relates to religion, culture and public life. In his work he writes on

that the association the three have from a political, religious and cultural stance. When

it came to the postmodern culture and the togetherness of media and faith, he said that,

“their exclusions (media) will also prevent secular Americans from learning about the

beliefs, ideas, and motivations of large numbers of their fellow citizens” (Neuhaus 2008,

64). People are open to discussing their ideas, values and beliefs, new media has

become that tool.

S.H. Hosseini in their article regarding Religion and Media conducted qualitative

research regarding the integration of media and religion over time. He writes,

“Technology is not a mere tool, but is an emergence and revelation. In other words,

technology is a reality in a sphere where this revelation and evolution takes place”

(Hosseini, 2008, p. 61). Our culture is dictated by the technology used. No longer is it

possible to stay content with occasional communication with parishioners, because

integragation of technologic advances has forced a change. Hosseini references Neil

Postman who has conducted much of the research regarding the opposing views of

technology and religion. Postman introduces the term “techopoly.” He posits, “Culture

has to fine its reality and validity through the domination of technology” (Hosseini, 2008,

p. 61). This techopoly is what has altered the culture of in the 21st century. It has

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created communities of people, even when they are alone. Therefore, tn order to be

culturally close, ministerial leaders need to find ways to interact with their parishioners

because that is the only way that the church can be understood in the way it desires.

To address that, Karine Barzilai-Nahon looks at four different dimensions of religion and

their interaction with the internet in their article, “Cultured Technology: the internet and

religious fundamentalism,”. These four dimensions are hierarchy, patriarchy, discipline

and seclusion. Their research lead them to develop the concept of “cultured

technology” which shows how religious sects interact with their communities via the

internet. She said that this cultured technology is a requirement for religious groups

because it gives them meaning in their communities (Barzali-Nahon 2005, 27).

Meaning can then assist in the changing and altering of the portrayal of the church

through technological means.

What makes the culture of a society so important to the well-being of the Church

in making sure media is used properly to reach people? The church has to keep its

finger on the pulse of the culture in order to fully reach them. Stig Hjarvard in his article,

‘The Mediatization of Society” says that, contemporary society is permeated by all

different forms of media, so much so that media may no longer be conceived as being

separate from culture and other social institutions. He focuses this work on his major

concept of mediatization which describes the influence media has on politics and

culture. This concept has become into its own separate entity in that that has its own

logic that other institutions have to adhere to. He says, “an institutional perspective by

no means precludes a consideration of culture, technology or psychology, but provides

a framework within which the interplay between these aspects can be studied” (Hjarvard

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2008, 110). Media has become important to the 21st century culture. Barzali-Nahon

also suggests that the extent to which technology can be culturally modified creates

opportunities for community members to express themselves (Barzali-Nahon 2005, 26).

The internet culture has changed everything when it comes to the message of the

church. While televangelism was able to make Christianity relevant in the infancy new

forms of communication, new ways of mass communication have changed those

means. This techopol-ized culture has given rise to a new type of person who uses

media to express themselves as well as give self-reflective commentary on what they

believe and know.

The Method and Message

Outside the Church

The times have changed, the message in the bible has not. Technology has

partially affected the message, but main part of ministry that it affects is the method in

which ministry is done. Jesus in his commission to the church says to reach “all

nations.” The way was not specified. New technological integration in the method of

ministry has been met with a lot of criticism and praise.

Technology, especially the internet and social networking, has opened a world of

resources for the church. It has given forums of discussion for new Christians to

discuss with others and form relationships with people, both saved and unsaved who

may not attend their local church. This computer mediated communication is what has

ben added into the way ministry can be conducted. Lily Kong in her research on

community in Religion and technology found that community and space is very

important to the way ministry is done with new media and the church. She writes,

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“Rituals such as sacrifices and commemorative rites have cohesive and revitalizing

functions.” She continues, “They establish perpetual communion and renew the

consciousness of the group” (Kong, 2001, p. 409). Members of a local church now are

not only able to learn from their local pastor but, can form relationships outside of the

church with others. Because of the ease and simplicity of technology in communication,

outreach has been affected in both a positive and negative way. The article, “Five ways

to use technology for outreach” writes that the main four mediums that have altered the

way ministry is done are: e-mail, blogging, podcasting, websites and gatherings. Aaron

Spiegel, Nancy Armstong and Brent Bill conducted a qualitative research study on how

different churches utilized this new media and found out that churches are on the

forefront of this new method as many businesses are. E-mails are sophisticated,

Pastors update and encourage members daily with their personal blogs and services

are posted online with podcasting so that members who were not able to attend service

and can be apart of it on their own time. They said that this technology doesn’t “replace

attendance at religious services, but they do offer a welcome supplement for

congregation members and a low threshold introduction to religious life as practiced by

a variety of traditions” (Spiegel, Armstrong and Bill 2007, 14). Communication via the

internet often reaches levels referred to as hyperpersonal communication:

communication that is more intimate and sociable than that found in offline interactions.

While they are not able to see each other, relationships are still formed and fostered in

the process.

Websites have also affected the way churches reach out. Churches are really

exerting effort onto stressing the impact relationships have with people in the church on

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their websites. Lynne Baab took a look at websites of six different mainline Protestant

churches in her article “Portraits of the future church: a rhetorical analysis of

congregational websites.” She wanted to see how the different churches presented

themselves on the internet. This rhetorical analysis found that the churches portrayed

family atmospheres and involvement among members. The websites of the larger

churches resembled more of what 21st century church members would find appealing to

see. There were albums of pictures of the members of the church, live streaming video

and the ability to contact the pastor immediately. They were art filled full of diversity.

Mark Simpson believes that a multidimensional web presence for ministry is essential

for the growth of any church or ministry. His recent research in 2010 details the

importance of having a social network web presence when it comes to ministry.

Websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are vital to outreach and ministry,

different than it was ten years ago because, it allows the pastor or ministry leaders to

communicate quickly and constantly with the parishioners and keep them involved in

the ministry. He writes that, “Simply having a ministry website is no longer enough to

establish a web presence.” He continues, “Today it is important to have a

multidimensional approach that included not only an information network, but a social

network as well” (Simpson 2010, 101). The church has an obligation to be an important

part of the parishioners lives. Baab commented, “The emergent church websites

sample a place where people can hang out, be themselves and whatever they want”

(Baab 2008, 173). Websites were conforming to the culture of the society around them.

Churches understand that in order to reach people they not only need to grab the

attention of people but also show the visitor what they want to see about the church.

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Website involvement with technology and new media is seen as a positive tool

my many, it is also viewed as a very negative way of spreading the gospel by a large

number. In simple terms, Neuhaus describes how negative technology can be on

ministry, “biblical scholars who are unable to give a clear account of how to read the

bible as a text that teaches compelling truths.” (Neuhaus 2008, 65). Churches entertain

instead of teach. Stewart Hoover and Jin Kyu Park in their work, “Religion and meaning

in the digital age” examined how the internet and religion play a part of the Christian

walk. Their research dealt with how it has affected how people grow in God, and their

quest for information. Two terms that defined how they framed their research are

“religion online” and “online religion.” Online Religion reflects the makeup of the internet

in religious interaction, whereas Religion Online is an organized attempt to use

traditional forms of communication to reach people. Both of these give people an

opportunity to receive, learn, interpret and understand religion, the only problem is that

this culture exists in an “online religion” phase. Technology has advanced where it has

not become traditional, it is radical and its use constantly changes and motivates new

ways of communicating leading to some interpretations that are not good for the church.

Another view on the negative impact of technology in media is in Brent Waters

article where he writes on technology and how it gives problems to ministry in

“Technology as a problem for Christian Ministry.” His main argument centers around

“secularism.” Because of the inclusion of technology, the church has moved from

religious motivation to moral motivation. He addresses how preachers have

constructed messages that give listeners moral motivation based upon their

understanding of the truth instead of what the bible actually says. Ministry should care

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about the growth of the members in a spiritual way, but according to Waters the church

has confused its moral and spiritual responsibility. Therefore pastors are having

worship to grow the membership, not to grow its members spiritually. Technology has

only compounded the problem because it has let the church move into social networks,

websites and podcasting. “As a symbol, it is subject to interpretation…” He later

continues, “Technology can be interpreted as a symbol of human arrogance which will

result in environmental collapse and totalitarian regimes in a mad dash of materialistic

greed” (Waters 1987, 388). Churches are doing ministry along with the secular

movements, yet this ministry is not effective. Pastors are not informing their people,

they are just affirming the norm of the culture in their message. Instead of the pastor or

minister having moral stances on issues, they are to agree with the culture or may not

have a following of parishioners to keep them successful. In a sense, the church has

become dependent on technology to grow their churches instead of evangelism and

reaching out to people.

New media and technology change so rapidly that the church has to stay on the

forefront without compromising its purpose. Colin McAlister in his article, ‘The Church

and Modern Media” addresses Christianity and the change that media has brought to

the ministry. He writes:

Given the potential in terms of audience and influence, the whole enterprise has become highly competitive and lucrative – with morals and integrity too often being sacrificed on the altar of greed and ambition. So the church faces a real dilemma either embrace the new technology or remain a dinosaur. (McAlister 2010, 42)

The church finds itself at a place where a lot of ministries have haphazardly thrown

together a ministry that incorporates technology and prays that God makes up the

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difference to sustain the ministry if everything fails. Waters suggests an aggressive

ministry insists that it as an understanding of truth and its use of technology does not

outweigh the importance of the message. (Waters 1987, 389) Churches and ministries

have almost used the method too much that the message has become secondary. The

internet and new media is always at the interpretation of its reader. There is no

hierarchy, dominant denomination or church. Everyone is allowed to enter and

participate and give opinion. The church just does not have the power or wherewithal to

distinguish between the work of Christ and the work of the local congregation.

Inside the Church

Apart from the ability to reach outside of the church, technology and new media

has altered the way weekly worship services are conducted. Some churches have

multi-million dollar sanctuaries which hold thousands of people, and each service is

similar to a concert with the pastor as the main attraction. Other churches that are not

as large use technology and media to worship on a smaller scale, but the tools are more

personal and geared towards enhancing the worship experience and not dominating it.

John Jewell took a glance at ministry in the church, but in his book decided to explain

how to use them instead of simply analyzing them. In one of his chapters entitled

“Worship that connects,” he explains the importance of the ministry and technology

working together to be successful, by connecting to participants to the service. He

details how some ministries have forgotten the message and have solely focused on the

method. A successful technology department focuses on the inclusion of the gospel

message as well as the method to reach them. Too many churches have let the

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inclusion of technology in church dominate the worship service instead of adding to it.

The growth of a media ministry grows and has an effect on the whole community of

believers. He uses an example of a church in Waupun, Wisconsin which has

approximately 200 members and they used technology as a tool to keep the attention of

people even while in worship. “The pastor and the people continued to seek ways to

reach out to people who sought meaning for their lives but had not discovered that

meaning through traditional worship environments” (Jewell 2004, 136). While Jewell

had a negative look at large churches, large churches also use technology in a positive

way. Jason Byassee did a case study on LifeChurch.tv. It is a non-denominational

ministry which conducts it worships mostly via the internet. The church has pastors and

lay persons at various campuses spread across the United States. At a select time all

of the services across the country begin and at a certain time in the service the Pastor,

Craig Groeschel, comes on the projection screen and delivers his message for the

week. He believes that his ministry represents the way that worship will be done in the

future. This multi-site idea is similar to many local community churches which have

more than one location, instead his churches are online and all over the country. Using

projection screens in worship to display the service, online worship and active

involvement with members on social network sites to comment during the service has

given this church, as well as others another tool to worship. Both of these churches

represent the churches in the United States and their inclusion of media and technology

into worship. It can have positive outcomes when used correctly and properly. Both

understand this postmodern culture are doing their best to accommodate and still

delivering the gospel message in a different way.

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New media has also had a negative effect on the worship in the local church.

Jewell writes, “The key issue is whether the experience constitutes authentic worship

that connects the worshipper with God and the community of faith or whether the

participants are more like spectators who have been entertained.” (Jewell 2004, 136)

People come to worship for many reasons, but it is not the churches responsibility to

provide a concert, rather inspiration. In order to effectively distribute this information

some pastors have used a piece of new technology in powerpoint and video

presentations in worship. Pam Fickenscher in her article “the power of not pointing”

said that this inclusion has watered down the message even more than it already has

with the enclosure of so much technology in the church the message is not changed.

Pastors were originally trained in the art of preaching using words not images, the use

of powerpoint has made the message an attempt to manipulate emotion because words

no longer have power (Fickenscher 2007, 21). Technology has come because of the

chance in culture, but at the same time the church is letting it dictate worship.

Method

Following asking each church those five questions, I coded that data according to

the two themes already set out regarding technology. How does social media affect the

way churches reach members in and outside of the four walls of the church? Gaining

entrance into the world of the Church can only come through speaking with those who

are actively ministering. Interviewing is “not neutral tools of data gathering but rather

active interactions between two people leading to negotiated, contextually based

results” (Fontana and Frey 2008, 119). Interviews are able to go past what research

and assumptions tell us, to gain direct insight to someone who is a part of another world

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or field of research. Interviews have a number of different ways to be conducted, from

individual, group, or technologically to name a few. They have become a “source of

information, with the assumption that interviewing results in a true and accurate picture

of the respondents selves and lives” (Fontana and Frey 2008, 120).

Church issues, I believe, are both a social and a cultural issue. When it comes to

social issues, interviewing is an effective tool of exploration. In order to gain an

accurate comprehension of the person, “research needs to be conducted with and for

people, not just about people” (Valarro 1998, 265). Gaining entrance to the experiences

and minds of the involved party allows a researcher to go beyond their prior knowledge

to see what the research has to say about a topic with information that can alter a

research question and results. When done correctly, respondents will have no problem

sharing their stories without being concerned about how their story may be perceived

(Varallo 1998, 266) because they have a place to share their point of view without

judgment.

I used the research of Outreach Magazine and their yearly published list of the

Top 100 Fastest Growing and Largest Churches. Their research was the most effective

way to guage the progressive minsitries that would use new technology. Each church

had a website listed by Outreach. After sending out a number of e-mails and placing

phone calls, I attained 12 churches that would allow me to ask questions on new

technolgy. Those churches where:

Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia The CHurch of the Kighlands in Birmingham, Alabama Eaglebrook Church in Centerville, Minnesota

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Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Illinois Saddleback Church in Lakeforest, California Crossroads Church in Cinncinnati, Ohio Woodlands Church in The Woodlands, Texas

I asked them all the following five Questions: 1. Do you have an active Social Media presence with your Church?  If so, what

outlets do you use?2. How often do you update your website/blog/social Media outlet?3. Do you find it useful to have an active online presence?  Why or why not?4. How has the inclusion of technology altered the way your church has done

ministry?5. If there is anything else regarding inclusion of social media/technology, please

add here. (Transcript is Attached).

Results

General Results

Each church had a Facebook and Twitter Page, actively updating their material.

Two churches used Pinterest and one mentioned Instagram. They all found it useful to

have an active online presence, for various reasons. Lastly, they said that the inclusion

of new technology into their ministries affected the way their churches did ministry on

various fronts. Overall, it is beneficial to them and has assisted in growth and

maintenance of the members they have in their churches.

Inside the Church

The churches interviewed found it useful to use social media while in worship,

especially during live services throughout the week. Each church livestreams their

worship services. Greater Travelers Rest streams their services and their ministers

interact live with the online worshippers during each service. Greater Travelers Rest

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also does not product bulletins, rather their announcements are on the video screens

throughout the building and online for download. Harvest Bible Chapel has six locations

so for them, “technology is a apart of (their) ministry framework, and vital in steaming

(their) services to (their) campuses.” Vineyard had seen a reduction in their money

spent on brochures and allow members to register for events online, take payments

online and get information that otherwise would need to be written on a weekly basis.

Woodlands found it beneficial similar to Greater Travelers rest for they have an

interactive chat and live prayer opportunities during their worship services for people to

participate actively in. Gateway said, “It allows us to establish somewhat of a relational

connection with out members/followers.”

Outside the Church

When it came to ministry outside of the four walls of the church is where a

majority of ministries applied the impact of new technology. While each church found it

useful, their reasoning behind it varied across the board. Longhollow, Greater Travelers

Rest, Crossroads and Gateway called it a place for people to meet and interact with the

church. Gateway said, ‘it allows us to establish somewhat of a reational connection with

our members/followers. On the opposite hand, Christ Church of the Valley, Eaglebrook,

and Woodlands found it much more useful for those who are outside of the church to

become apart of the ministry. Saddleback said, “it is crucial to help make your church

searchable on Google and easy to find for the person searching the web for a new

church to attend.” Woodlands found it important because their content online is,

“Actively shared people with their friends, family members and other online

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connections.” Church of the Highlands called new technology the “front door” of their

church.

At the same time, while they found it useful, mixed responses came as to how it

altered the way the conducted outside of the church. Eaglebrook says their model of

ministry has not changed, rather it gave them the creativity to do more with technology.

Harvest Bible Chapel said social media was secondary. It is more strategic to simply be

a presence and deliver content. For Gateway and Saddleback, it has altered ministry.

Gateway said that it allowed them to reach people in non-traditional means.

Saddleback has ben able to reach a larch global audience that would have been

unavailable to them without new technology. Woodlands said it has allowed them to

leverage technology and ministry and fulfill their mission to, “have people experience

Christ and take the Christ experience to the world.”

Discussion

Overall after reading the interviews from the various churches contacted, I

noticed a couple of things as it related to the megachurch and new technology involved.

First, the mega church makes a concerted effort to reach their members where they are

and create communities to keep them involved in a large church setting. All of the

church’s made sure that their members are taken care of with nearly 10,000 more to

worry about. Secondly, they reach out to people that are not apart of their ministries, not

just to coerce them into joining their church, but to simply distribute the gospel. Ministry

for them was not just local, it became national and international. Lastly, all of the

ministries are constantly looking for ways to improve and stay ahead of the competition,

in other churches. With the inclusion of Instagram, Pinterest and Google+, they are not

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settling for just Twitter and Facebook but they are looking for places to meet more

people and perfect what they have. The media directors I spoke with showed me that

Ministry is truly a business that requires a full brand marketing plan that coincides with

the Ministry done at the church.

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Reference List

Baab, Lynne. (2008). Portraits of the future church: a rhetorical analysis of congregational websites. Journal of Communication and Religion, 31, 143-181. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Barzilai-Nahon, Karine., & Barzilai, Gad. (2005). Cultured Technology: The Internet and Religious Fundamentalism. Information Society, 21(1), 25-40. doi:10.1080/01972240590895892.

Byassee, Jason. 2010. "Synchronized worship." Christian Century 127, no. 2: 26-29. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost

Fickenscher, Pamela. 2007. "The power of not "pointing": understanding the message-numbing effects of electronic media." Congregations 33, no. 2: 19-21. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost

Fontana, A., & Frey, J. H. (2008). The interview. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials (pp. 115-160). Los Angeles: SAGE.

Fore, William F. 2007. "The unknown history of televangelism." Media Development 54, no. 1: 45-48.Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost

Hjarvard, Stig. 2008. "The Mediatization of Society: A Theory of the Media as Agents of Social and Cultural Change." NORDICOM Review 29, no. 2: 105-134. Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost

Horsfield, Peter. (2004). Theology, church and media - contours in a changing cultural terrain. In P Horsfield (Ed.), Belief in Media (pp. 23-32). England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.

Hoover, S.M., & Park, J.K. (2004). Religion and meaning in the digital age: field research on internet/web religion. In P Horsfield (Ed.), Belief in Media (pp. 121-135). England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.

Jewell, J.P. (2004). Wired for ministry. (pp. 133-146) Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press.

McAlister, Colin. 2010. "The church and modern media." Modern Believing 51, no. 2: 41-46. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost

Neuhaus, Richard John. 2008. "The public square: a continuing survey of religion, culture, and public life [no 184 Je-Jl 2008]." First Things no. 184: 57-72. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost

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Simpson, Mark. (2010). Ministry in a Digital World: Establishing a Multidimensional Web Presence.  Common Ground Journal , 7(2), 101-112. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Spiegel, Aaron, Nancy Armstrong, and Brent Bill. 2007. "Five Ways to Use Technology for Outreach." Clergy Journal   83, no. 3: 13-15. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost 

Tatarnic, Martha Smith. 2005. "The Mass Media and Faith: The Potentialities and Problems for the Church in our Television Culture." Anglican Theological Review 87, no. 3: 447-465. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost

Sharon M. Varallo, Eileen Berlin Ray, and Hartman Ellis (1998) “Speaking of incest: The research interview as social justice.” Journal of Applied Communication Research 26:2, pp. 254-271.

Waters, Brent. 1987. "Technology as a problem for Christian ministry." Word & World 7, no. 4: 385-393. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost

Appendix.

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1. Outreach top 100 List.

2. Transcript of Interviews

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Transcript of Interviews:

1. Do you have an active Social Media presence with your Church?  If so, what outlets do you use?

Longhollow - Yes, we have active social media presences on Facebook, Twitter,

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Instagram and Pinterest, with most activity taking place on Facebook and Twitter.

Vineyard - Twitter & Facebook

Gateway - Yes, we have an active social media presence. We primarily use Facebook and Twitter, although we also utilize YouTube, Vimeo and Google+ as well.

Christ Church of the Valley - Yes- we use Facebook (12k likes) and Twitter (1.5k followers)

Greater Travelers Rest - Yes. If so, what outlets do you use?[ENJ]  Twitter and Facebook accounts are set-up for both Pastor E. Dewey Smith, Jr. and The Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church.  Also, our Singles Ministry, College Ministry and Youth Ministry have their own Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. Facebook is also used as a way for those who stream to interact with Pastor Smith during noon and 7pm Bible Studies and with ministers during live and streamed services.

Church of the Highlands - Yes, Twitter and Facebook.

Eaglebrook - Yes. We primarily use Facebook and Twitter. We also share videos via Vimeo, but we generally use Facebook and Twitter to promote the videos. We have two blogs---one for general church (posts from the pastors, Bible reading plans, etc) and one that focuses and marriage and family (more feature-like posts from EBC staff and pastors).

Harvest Bible Chapel - For the church, we have and regularly post to an established Facebook page. Many of our ministries have/manage their own FB pages as well, but they are largely ungoverned. It's an area we hope to grow in with an internal social media structure (tableproject.org) and additional outreach through Twitter.

Saddleback - Yes! Saddleback church is active through our church blog at www.saddleback.com, we are active on Twitter @Saddleback, we are active on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/saddlebackchurch, and are now the first church on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sblakeforest/ Did you know we were the first church on the internet? Very cool!

Crossroads - Yes: crossroads.net blog, Facebook & Twitter.

Woodlands - Yes, we focus our social media efforts primarily on Facebook and Twitter. We also utilize The City which is an online community for our church members and attenders.

2. How often do you update your website/blog/social Media outlet?

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Long Hollow - We update our online presences several times a day.

Vineyard - Not as often as we should. Would like to update both at least 2x a day.

Gateway - We generally post about an average of 7–10 posts/retweets a day on Twitter and an average of about 2 posts a day on Facebook. We usually add about 2 videos a month on YouTube.

Christ Church of The Valley - Updated all three daily. If it’s a busy time of year (Easter) we will update Social Media several times a day with different info about activities, etc

Greater Travelers Rest -  Some portions of our website are updated more often than others. Generally, our website is updated on an as-needed basis, for events within the church. Our weekly announcements, known as “The Rest Report”, are uploaded, as a video, weekly, as opposed to printing hard-copies of a church bulletin.  The church, as an organization, does not blog. However, the Youth Pastor/Ministry does. Social Media updates are ongoing, with peak-times that correspond to streamed services. Social Media has been a effective and alternative means to tell people about what is going on at and with our church, with our pastor,  and/or in our community.

Church of the Highlands - Website, daily. Social media, 2-3 times per week.

Eaglebrook - We update Facebook and Twitter daily. Blogs are typically updated weekly. Our website is updated frequently. (side note: we are redesigning our website this summer to make it more visually engaging and user friendly.

Harvest Bible Chapel - Website: at least 2x/weekly. Blog: at least 2 new posts weekly

FB: 2-4 times daily

Crossroads - Updates vary somewhat by week, but on average, probably 4-5x per week.

Saddleback - The blog is updated daily, and our other sites are updated/monitored daily as well. We usually do at least 5 original posts a day on Facebook (excluding responses to comments) and tweet throughout the day. We also spend a few hours browsing the web for material to Pin.

Woodlands - Daily. Several updates throughout the day.

3. Do you find it useful to have an active online presence?  Why or why not?

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Longhollow - Absolutely! The internet is society's new gathering place, so we have to meet people where they want to interact with us.

Vineyard - yes. Our website is where people go before they attend for the first time.

Gateway - Yes, we have found it to be EXTREMELY useful to have an active online presence, because: It helps us communicate info far more effectively. It gives our members/followers an easy way to ask questions and communicate with us as well as other members/followers. It allows us to establish somewhat of a relational connection with our members/followers

Christ Church of the Valley - Absolutely- it gives our people a chance to share their church with their friends quickly, easily, and in a way that’s a part of their daily lives.

Greater Travelers Rest - Yes. Why or why not?[ENJ]  An active online presence helps us reach the masses on a consistent and often a global level. With a church this large, having a centralized place for members, potential members, and/or visitors helps to more effectively streamline information that people need/want. An online presence also keeps us from just being regulated to only helping people and/or answering questions during our normal business hours. An online presence really does make us accessible 24/7.

Church of the Highlands - Yes, it often serves as the "front door" of our church for those interested in attending.

 Eaglebrook - Definitely. Eagle Brook’s desire is to reach people for Christ in a real and relevant way. And having an online presence is part of being relevant. While social media doesn’t replace our regular church community, it allows our attenders to connect with EBC and other attenders, as well as find encouragement, grow in their faith and share their experience with friends/family.

Harvest Bible Chapel - Absolutely. A well-designed website is invaluable as our primary information hub. We are rebuilding ours now, and drive all announcements and ministry updates to the site for more details, registrations, etc.

Social media is secondary, but strategic for a number of reasons—being present where our attenders connect and to deliver content that equips our body and can be shared with others. 

SaddleBack - Absolutely. It’s not just having an online presence that gives your church relevance, but it is crucial to help make your church searchable on Google and

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easy to find for the person searching the web for a new church to attend. First and foremost, it’s a ministry! We have been blessed with these great tools (Social Media) to reach more people at a single time than ever before in history! I believe that we will be held accountable for how we use these tools or do not use these tools.  

Crossroads - Yes, social media communication helps us reach people where they already are online and provides a great forum for interaction (for us, that's especially true for Facebook).

Woodlands - Yes, absolutely. We rely heavily on our website, blog, social media channels, and email marketing to communicate with our members, regular attenders, and visitors. Also, the valuable content that we publish online is then actively shared by people with their friends, family members, and other online connections.

4. How has the inclusion of technology altered the way your church has done ministry?

Longhollow - It has helped us communicate more efficiently and effectively. Technology is just a tool, but its an important one for the local church to utilize due to how inexpensive it is to communicate through these channels.

Vineyard - We print slightly fewer brochures. People can register for events online, we take payments online, people get information online, find groups, submit prayer requests, watch the weekend message, etc.

Gateway - The inclusion of technology has altered how we do ministry primarily in the area of communication/marketing. We understand that technology is a wonderful tool to utilize to connect and communicate with people who we may never reach through more traditional means.

 Christ Church of the Valley - We gather prayer requests electronically now which has increased the number of requests received. We encourage people to find complete event details online so we don’t have to include them in printed material

Greater Travelers Rest - [ENJ]  We have to be more intentional about reaching those who are both in the pews while also focusing on evangelism in less traditional means. We interact on a regular basis with people we may never officially “meet”, but they are no less important than those who walk through these doors. Online services makes “attending church” more user friendly and, in some cases, less intimidating, that sitting in a facility that houses over seven thousand.

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Church of the Highlands -  Yes, we now provides services live online each Sunday.

Eaglebrook - The way we do ministry hasn’t really changed, but technology allows us to be creative with the tools we use to do ministry. For example, we’ve always had a Bible reading plan for our attenders to follow. We’ve always had hard copies available in the church lobby, as well as a PDF on the website so attenders can follow the plan and dig into the Bible. That won’t change, however technology now allows us to offer an email subscription to our Bible reading plan so attenders can get the daily verses sent directly to their email. We can also post a QR code of the Bible reading plan on our literature rack if attenders would rather get it right on their phone, instead of grabbing a paper copy.

Harvest Bible Chapel - As a multi-site church, technology is part of our ministry framework, and vital in streaming our services to our campuses. Beyond streaming, we capture all services on video to deploy them on the web, regularly create videos for our worship services that profile short stories of God at work in our body—things that multiply ministry that even a smaller church can do with relative ease. 

Saddleback - We are now a global community with the addition of our online church campus (those who watch the weekend messages and are in online small groups). In everything we post, we have to ask ourselves if it is useful for the church body at Lake Forest (our main campus), at our regional campuses throughout Orange County, and for our online campus around the nation & world. We interact with about 1,074 people on Facebook from the Philippines, 363 from Canada, 325 from Brazil, 290 from Mexico, 242 from the UK, 156 from South Korea, 115 from Australia, 101 from Germany, 98 from Romania, 98 from Singapore, 98 from Indonesia, 96 from Columbia, 93 from Guatemala, 92 from Inda, 83 from Malaysia, 75 from Argentina, 65 from the Netherlands, 65 from Taiwan, and 61 from France. And that is still with all of our posts done in English!  Twitter is also a world-wide/nation-wide audience. We have heard some amazing testimonies about how God is moving in the lives of these people, through the content we are posting on Social Media!

Crossroads - It certainly affects how we promote ministry opportunities; it sometimes even dictates logistics to an extent (online signups, feedback, etc.)

Woodlands - We are constantly looking for ways to leverage technology and the internet to help us fulfill our mission "to help people experience Christ rather than man's creation of religion, so they can grow strong in Christ and take the Christ experience to the world." For example, each weekend, our church services are streamed live online with an interactive chat and live prayer opportunities.

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Thousands view our services and worship online from across the United States and around the world.

5. If there is anything else regarding inclusion of social media/technology, please add here. 

Longhollow - You can find a lot of stuff I've written about the church using technology on http://mediableep.com

Vineyard - Social technology has been the most useful when we use it with a week-long student conference in June called Summer of Service. Students are encouraged to post their stories on Facebook from their phones, and it creates a kind of buzz around the conference. Parents at home can read it, and other students can read the feed and know that good stuff is happening.

Christ Church of the Valley -  We have a very defined target- the 25 to 45 year old unchurched man. The use of technology is essential to reaching this man with our message, communicating with him about what’s happening at CCV, and helping him invite his friends to church once he decides CCV is his church home.

Eaglebrook - Eagle Brook’s mission is to reach others for Christ. In order to do that, we want to be real and relevant so that lives can change. Our mission will not change. However, the strategies we use to accomplish that mission do change. That’s how we view social media and technology. It’s a tool for us to reach others for Christ, connect with our attenders and be a real and relevant part of their lives.

Harvest Bible Chapel - Web/SocMedia are simply communication tools—they are not the gospel, but can certainly be used to further it. Their use shouldn't be considered congruent to being 'of' the world, but more of being "all things to all people, so that some may be saved."  How these tools are used should always be on mission with the mission of their church or ministry, and always to the glory of God.

Saddleback - At Saddleback Church, we see Social Media as relational ministry. We try our best to love people just as Christ first loved us…the Great Commandment calls us to do that! We have been so blessed here and we hope to be a blessing to others through the great teaching that is developed here. We are able to share that locally and globally via Social Networks. There is enough negativity out there online, why not be the light that God has called us to be?

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