Why Connect the Church & Technology?

One of the exciting realities of church planting here on the Great Lakes Conference (and beyond) is the incredible technology and communication tools now available. "Circuit Riding Preacher" takes on a whole new meaning in the world of Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, and even "old-fashioned" Websites & Email.

But why would you even bother to engage these tools?

Hey, it's the Bride of Christ, not the Bride of Frankenstein, we're serving!

...I hear some of you saying :) As with most things, it's a matter of perspective and purpose.

At Artisan Church, where I pastor in Rochester NY, we've found that a well-designed website is a huge asset for the 'attractional' side of reaching out into our community. Over half the guests in our growing congregation visit our website before attending. For many, it's the first point of contact (and hopefully not the last!) Even those who receive a personal invitation or hear through word-of-mouth usually check us out online before showing up for worship.

For the 'missional' side of connecting with people, tools such as blogging, weekly e-news, Facebook posts, and Flickr photostreams are great for vision casting, sharing stories of how Jesus is changing lives and neighborhoods, and for reinforcing community. Used well, these tools are surprisingly effective at motivating and sending people into their missional contexts, then celebrating what God does.

Does it matter if you're an established church, a church plant underway, or beginning the church planting or parenting process?

No. Not really. Because the Bride of Christ you serve actually lives in the 21st-century (whether it wants to or not), and the Lost Sheep are googling for direction & answers...

Will they find you? Will you help them make the connection?


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Additional Resources: If you want to explore this topic in greater depth, feel free to check out the Pastors Technology Seminar I presented at the 2009 Midwinter Conference. All the Notes, Video, Slides, and other Resources are available, covering the topics of: Websites that Work, Communication that Connects, and Productivity that's Personal. Enjoy!

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Jason Condon is a church planting pastor with the Great Lakes Conference of the ECC at Artisan Church in Rochester, NY, and the newly appointed Technical Director for Church Planting Training (fancy title for 'makes the tech stuff work... most of the time'). He and his wife Lisa, and their two children, Jaron & Bryn, live in the Neighborhood of the Arts in Rochester, NY, where they also run a webdesign shop for churches: SiteArtistry.com