Developing your digital ministry strategy

Presented by

Pastor Joelle Colville-Hanson

Director for Evangelical Mission, ELCA

@PastorJoelle #NEIASA16 #CHSOCM

Developing Your Digital Ministry Strategy

•About using the tools that

are available

•More than technology

•Emerging culture change

What is Digital Ministry?

•Evangelical

•Incarnational

•Relational

•Integrated

•Dynamic

Digital Ministry is

Show em Jesus!

Evangelical

• You show up where the folks are

• Speak their language

•Available

Incarnational

“You know you’ve become someone’s pastor, not because you are allowed to preach from the pulpit, or preside at the Table, but when you are called (or texted, messaged, or tweeted) when they are in need.”

Keith Anderson

The Digital Cathedral

Relational

Integrated

Dynamic

You Need a Strategy

•A mission statement is a BRIEF statement that says what your congregation is about.

•Will help you decide what you do and do not do

•Unites all the networks, helps you integrate – so you are all working towards your mission

• It should inform your strategy.

Start with Your Mission Statement

•What is our Story?

•Who is our Audience?

•What do we want them to know about us?

•What are the tools which will best tell that story?

Questions to Ask

Your Website

• Your web presence is as important as your building

•Budget for this the same as you budget for building

Your Website is your Platform for your Digital Ministry

•Why do we need a website?

•Who do we expect to visit our website?

•What do we want people to know about us from our website?

•What information might people be seeking from our website?

•What do I look for when I look up a church online?

Questions to ask

•Do it yourself or volunteer on free hosting

•Do it yourself or volunteer with open source like WordPress and pay for hosting

• Pay a professional to do it for you

Who will Create & Maintain your Website?

• Initial Investment

▫ Design

▫ Themes

▫ Hosting

▫ Domain Name

• Yearly Maintenance Cost

Budget

• Tell them your budget

▫ Ask what they can do for

▫Half your budget

▫ Your budget

▫ 1 ½ or twice your budget

If hiring a web designer

• Who will update software

• How will you protect security

• Who will back up your data

• Who will renew domain name

• If using free hosting, what happens if the site disappears

More Questions

• Who will be responsible for updating content

• Who will have access to the website

• Who is responsible for deciding what content goes on website

• What kind of training will be provided to those who work on the website

• What is in place for when those who work on website leave

• Who will have passwords?

More Questions

DO NOT ALLOW ONE PERSON TO SET UP AND MAINTAIN A WEBSITE ON BEHALF OF THE CHURCH

THE INCLUDES THE PASTOR

This is the congregation’s Digital Ministry. Not one person’s

•Blogs are a great way to attract visitors if your topics answer Faith questions people are asking

•Blogs must be published consistently

•Who will blog?

Will you have a blog?

•Understand the differences

•DO NOT CROSS POST FACEBOOK TO TWITTER

Social Media –What Platforms will you have?

• What is the story you want to tell?

• Who will be responsible for updating social media?

• What policies will you have about what is published on social media?

• What is your privacy policy?

• How will social media achieve the goals of your mission?

• How will you integrate social media into your communications plan?

Social Media

•What is your story

•How will you tell it

•Will you use Facebook ads?

•How will you engage conversation?

Build a Long Range Calendar & Weekly Content Plan

Follow other church social media accounts

It’s okay to steal ideas.

Just not intellectual property.

Use Web based E-Mail programs like Constant Contact or Mail Chimp

• It’s what people are used to

• Inexpensive way to use photos, color graphics

• You can include links

•Daily devotions

•Ask the same strategy questions

▫Why?

▫Who?

▫What?

• Why?• Who is our audience?• How will it achieve our

mission goals?• Do we have the

bandwidth and technology?

• What equipment do we need?

• What licenses do we need?

• Who will do it?

Live Streaming

FINALLY --EVALUATE!!!!

Sunday September 25• Same questions

▫ Why

▫ Who

▫ What

• Will we provide Wi-Fi?

Social Media Sunday #SMS16

#CHSOCM on Twitter Tuesday nights 8 pm

•Evangelical

•Incarnational

•Relational

•Integrated

•Dynamic

Review: Digital Ministry is