The Great Commission.  If you have been in church for any length of time, you have heard about it.  It is a specific request from Christ for us to go and spread the Gospel. (Matt. 28:16-20)  In the past, fulfilling the Great Commission was left to missionaries.  Today missionaries, churches, and ministries are able to “go and tell” in new ways.   Local churches and ministries can use their website and the internet to impact the world.

Most churches today have a website.  The sad reality is that many churches do not use their website to their fullest potential.

I googled churches in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Tulsa is considered by many to be a part of the “Bible Belt”.  Even so, it has a good representation of churches large and small on the world wide web.  While many of the sites kept their members informed, if you weren’t a member of that particular church, their content might not be of any interest to you.  Many churches fail by not duplicating what is happening inside the “four walls of the church” on the internet.

A hard truth is that churches need to market themselves.  People are searching and they are doing it in new ways.  To make an impact, your website needs to be current and in search listings.  One way to keep current is to blog frequently and consistently.  If you repost your blog on Facebook and retweet on Twitter, it can impact your website ranking in search engines.  Not only that, but you are impacting different people using the different social media outlets.  Your “followers” on Twitter are not always your “fans” on Facebook.

Look at it this way:  Your website should be a good representation of who you are and what you have to offer.  You need to assume that those visiting your site know nothing about your church or ministry.  You need to keep in mind that even though you are a church or ministry, your site needs to attract and keep the attention of those who may not believe.  You need to use every resource available if you are serious about reaching people through the internet.  We can carry out the Great Commission online.

Wendy Spoon is the website administrator for speakinggraceonline.com.

speakinggrace

Wendy Spoon is a mom, wife, and the web administrator for speakinggraceonline.com. I collect bicentennial quarters and enjoy reading. I am a licensed minister working on my ordination in 2010.

speakinggraceonline.com

The post Internet Evangelism Idea #10: Local Church? – Global Impact! appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Video.  It is all over the internet.  Did you miss a story on the news?  Did you miss Steven Curtis Chapman’s performance on the Dove Awards?  Did you miss your favorite TV show?  That’s okay, because chances are you can find video of it somewhere on the internet.  With the availability of inexpensive camcorders, YouTube, and website hosting providers like OurChurch.com, video is being posted like never before.

I started using video on websites about a year ago.  I had no idea what I was doing when I started.  But I knew that using video and duplicating sermons on the internet was something I wanted to do.  Even though we were pastoring a smaller church at the time, I felt that if we could get the message outside of the four walls of the church, that we could reach people.  And we did.  With adding blogs and video to our website and the use of social media, our page hits went up 500% in 2 months.

The first response to our videos came from those helping in children’s church and the nursery.  They were thrilled to have a way to access the sermon other than listening to a CD on the way to work.  Many began watching the videos at work, which gained interest from co-workers.  We have a following of members who are homebound by illness or disability, but our biggest response was from fellow pastors.  They wanted to know how we were doing it and how we could afford it.  They had a misconception that it was unattainable to them.

Most churches already have the tools they need to put video on their site.  Many churches already have a website and camcorders are now low-cost and affordable.  If you don’t have a website that allows you to host video, make use of YouTube.  If your church only has a Facebook page, upload video there.  If you want better quality or a video longer than YouTube’s 10 minute maximum, invest in a website that hosts video, like OurChurch.com.  Putting video on your site is simple to do and many website hosts including OurChurch.com has help pages and online tutorials to get you going in the right direction.

Technology columnist Mark Kellner made this statement in Christianity Today magazine: “The great peril of today’s online video technology lies in our not using it to share Jesus with others.”

I think that church and ministries who are not duplicating their message on their website are doing themselves a disservice.  Adding video to an existing website is simple and will help your church or ministry reach people in a new way.

speakinggrace

Wendy Spoon is a mom, wife, and the web administrator for speakinggraceonline.com. I collect bicentennial quarters and enjoy reading. I am a licensed minister working on my ordination in 2010.

speakinggraceonline.com

The post Internet Evangelism Idea #8: Video appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.