Last week I blogged about a couple of sessions from the Interactive Church Conference that talked about communication breakdowns between church leaders and tech people and how to overcome them. One of my big take-aways from the conference was the value of what Matt and Rob referred to as “Bridge People.” Bridge people are people who can bridge the communications gap between church leaders and tech people.
Here’s an example of why bridge people are so important to the success of your church and its website.
The senior pastor of a church walks in to a meeting with the church’s tech team and declares, “We need to use our church’s website to reach the lost!”
The web administrator responds excitedly, “Great, what do you want? A blog? A sermon podcast? A web pages with a gospel presentation? Advertising with Google AdSense?”
The senior pastor gets this confused look on his face, “Um, I’m not really sure what those things are. Which will help us best reach unbelievers?”
The web administrator now looks equally confused, “Uh, well, I think they’re all good.”
OK forgive me for the cheesy dialog. Trust me, I have no dreams of becoming a playwright.
The point is that often times church leaders know what they want to accomplish but not how. On the other hand tech people often know how to implement technology but are not dialed into the priorities and culture of the church to know what technology is the best fit for the church. There’s a gap.
This is where churches need a bridge person – someone who understands both the mission, goals, and culture of the church as well as the technology enough to know what technology will help the church meet its goals.
A bridge person doesn’t have to be a leadership guru able to set and cast vision for the church nor do they have to be a tech guru able to hack PHP code in their sleep. The just need to be able understand enough of both to translate the goals of the church into priories for the web team/administrator.
If you have bridge people in your church, hold on to them. Lock them in the basement if you have to. Your church website will not be successful without at least one of them.
Are you a bridge person? If so, how does that play out in your church?
Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com
Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.
An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.
Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.