It is not unusual for people to expect a place of ministry or an organization to have a website. It is not unusual for people to ask if they can follow the ministry on Facebook or Twitter. And of course, all people in service and leadership ministries are expected to have and use email. So why are there so few good parish, diocesan and organizational websites? Why aren’t we using…
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Five Tips to Improve Your Social Media Presence
The use of social media is growing exponentially. For those who are new to this form of communication—it might seem like a free-for-all or a waste of time with little art or purpose. However, social media is having its impact on society and if we want to influence the world (or at least our niche in the world); we need to be using social media. The best way to start…
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A Blogger’s Reflection
In November 2010, I had the unique opportunity to serve as the blogger for my congregation’s International Chapter held at our Generalate in Rome. A “chapter” is a special gathering of delegates charged with evaluating the status of the congregation since the last chapter, setting the direction for the future and electing general leadership. The communication goal for the 2010 chapter was to share as much of the experience as…
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Innovative Uses of the Web for Ministry
This past week, someone asked me to give some examples of innovative uses of the web for ministry. As I started to list my examples, I thought that these sites would be of interest to my readers as well. Innovation, like beauty, may well be in the eye of the beholder, so you may look for other things when considering innovative web services. What I look for in innovative uses…
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A Mission-based Web Presence Needs to be Engaging
When most of us think about web presence, we are only thinking about our website. Web presence is much more than that. It is true that the website is usually the centerpiece of web presence, but a website (even a “great” website) alone is not enough to have an effective web presence. Today, an organization, religious community or ministry also needs to be interacting with their constituents via email and…
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Positive Interactivity: A New Way to Relate in Ministry
Let’s talk about that challenge of “positive interactivity” at the level of everyday ministry. Moving from one-way communications to “positive interactivity” in our ministries is a dramatic shift that demands a new way of thinking about our relationships. Most of us are serving many people in a variety of ways. However, we can be so busy carrying out our responsibilities that we don’t realize how important it is to ask…