As more and more Church organizations recognize the importance of having a presence on social media; as they experience pressure from members to “get with it;” and as some staff and members already are starting blogs, Facebook pages, etc., and commenting on others’ pages, there is a legitimate concern about protecting the organization’s good name. According to Charlene Li, in her book Open Leadership, the best way to do that…
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What is a Facebook Page and Should Your Ministry Have One?
Facebook is an online social networking platform that offers three ways to interact with people: profiles (usually for friends and family); groups (around any common interest) and pages (for businesses, schools, and organizations–in other words, real entities). Each of these ways to be present on Facebook is unique in design and functionality according to the relationships being formed. In this article I want to discuss the Facebook page and show…
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Six Questions to Consider Before Using Facebook for Ministry
Radio and TV programs are regularly inviting us to their Facebook pages. Friends and relatives are asking “Aren’t you on Facebook yet?” Some of our constituents are encouraging us to start a Facebook page. Here are six questions to ask yourself before you put your ministry or organization on Facebook.
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What is the place of social media in ministry?
The use of social media tools in ministry is one of the priorities of Benedict XVI and one of the challenges facing those who do ministry. The Holy Father has urged priests and those in pastoral ministries to take advantage of these new tools to proclaim the gospel and bring others to Christ. For ministry leaders already balancing many different priorities—social media might be the last thing they want to…
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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…