AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church ONLINE

I recently finished reading the book AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay (see my review & get a free copy here).

“The idea of the AND is that every church can find a balance of both scattering people out for mission while maintaining a biblically meaningful reason to gather together.”

One of the things that struck me about the book is how relevant it is to churches’ online efforts.  Not only is it important that churches both gather and scatter offline, but it’s also important that churches gather and scatter online.

Churches should be attractional online.  They can do this by having a good website, optimized for search engines, that people in the church and community are drawn to and can find.  They can do this by having forums or online groups where people can hang out and discuss things.

Churches should also be missional online.  They can do this using social media.  They can do this by making their content easy for their people to share on Facebook and Twitter.  They can do this by advertising on Facebook and Google AdWords.

Is your church’s online presence more attractional or missional?  What if anything can it do to strengthen the area where it’s weaker?

Paul Steinbrueck

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.