Thinking strategically, part 4: selecting tools
As I continue my series on thinking strategically about web ministry (links here to part 1, part 2, and part 3), we must begin thinking about selecting the technology tools we are going to use. This can be difficult, because many of us have a very limited view of what tools are available and we tend to want to find a solution based only on the tools we are comfortable with. But when thinking strategically, it is important to have an understanding of the wide variety of tools available. At this point in the strategic planning process, it may be wise to bring in some outside help to provide some context for how best to evaluate the different technologies and ultimately select the one that best fits your mission and target group within your available resources. › Continue reading
Thinking strategically, part 3: inventory resources
Continuing my series on creating a strategy for internet ministry (see part one and part two), we now focus on determining what resources you have available to implement your ministry. This is important to understand before you create the actual strategy because it will allow you to get a realistic view of your limits.
Resources generally take one two categories: people resources and financial resources. Inventorying all your people resources would include listing the names of the people you have and what skill(s) they could contribute. The skills you need will include both technical and non-technical. On the technical side, you will want to identify those who know how to do programming, web design, computer graphics, and those who have run web sites before. On the non-technical side, you will want to identify artists, writers, and those who excel at social interaction. One way to do this would be to conduct a survey to determine who would be willing to help and what skills they have. › Continue reading
Thinking strategically, part 2: Research the “who”
I am continuing my blog series on developing a strategy for Internet ministry. Step 1 was to create a mission statement for the ministry. The second step in developing an Internet ministry strategy is to describe the target group that you are trying to reach. I see at least two steps to this part of your strategy:
1) define as specifically as possible the group of people to whom your ministry will be directed. Think about things such as age range, location, gender, stage of life, etc., that will define who these people are. The more specific the better.
2) describe how this group can be engaged using the Internet. You will need to understand what your potential users do online in order to design a strategy for reaching them. › Continue reading
Thinking strategically: identity
In my last post, I reviewed what I call the “foundational principles” for developing an Internet Ministry strategy. In this post, I will begin reviewing the steps involved in developing that strategy. This strategy framework is based in part on the one originally presented in Planning Strategies for World Evangelization by Dayton and Fraser and updated in Media In Church and Mission by Viggo Sogaard. By combining that framework with my background and experience with churches and technology, I have developed a framework for developing an Internet Ministry strategy which can be used by ministries of all sizes who are working to use the Internet as a tool in their ministry. I have created a worksheet for this strategy, which is available on my company’s website on the page developed for my “God In the Tubes” workshop presented last week. › Continue reading
Thinking strategically about Internet ministry
In my last post, I stated that “no ministry can do everything, but you have to have a strategy in place that drives your decisions.” This strategy will help you make decisions about your Internet presence: which software to use, which social software sites to integrate with, etc. Last week, I presented a workshop to over seventy churches in Indiana. The workshop was entitled “God in the Tubes: Developing an Internet Strategy for Your Congregation”. The goal of my workshop was to help local churches, most of them working with very limited resources, develop a strategy for Internet use that would allow them to make the best use of those resources.
Before I had the participants work through their strategy, I presented some foundational principles for strategy that needed to be understood before they actually began working through the process: › Continue reading
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Welcome to Lessons From Babel
This blog is where I share the latest thoughts on my research in the world of Internet ministry. Feel free to join the conversation by leaving a comment. For more information on what I am doing in 2010, see my first post of the year. To find out more about me, my company, and this web site, or to see what resources are available on this site, click on the images right below this.
- Dave Bourgeois
