Resources

The Blogging Church: Sharing the Story of Your Church through Blogs (Book)
Brian Bailey, Terry Storch, Authors. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007.

After defining a "blog" and explaining how blogs have become key communication tools, The Blogging Church addresses three central questions posed by churches considering a blog: "Why should my church embrace blogging?; What can blogs accomplish? How can we get started?" It also helps congregations avoid building bad blogs and alerts leaders to common problems with blogs. Chapters on such topics as "RSS" and podcasting—as well as comments from such veteran bloggers as Mark Driscoll and Tony Morgan—round out this accessible, informative introduction to the blogging world and its role in congregational life. Here is a must-read for congregations seriously considering blogs.


Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives (Book)
John Palfrey, Urs Gasser, Authors. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2008.

John Palfrey and Urs Gasser posit that "Digital Natives" (people born after 1980) have grown up, and now function, in a vastly different world than those born before 1980. Unlike the older "Digital Immigrants," the Natives do not distinguish between their online and offline lives—nor do they separate their digital and non-digital identities. They relate to one another, to information, to music, and to the creative process using approaches that can seem foreign, and even frightening, to the Immigrants. Born Digital helps readers better understand the Native generation and discusses the trends that should concern the public as well as the trends that are cause for excitement.


Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them (Book)
Bob Walsh, Author. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, Inc., 2007.

Written in accessible language, this book from software developer Bob Walsh is bedrock reading for two groups of people: those new to blogging (who should read the book through sequentially) and those whose blogging experience has not led to the results they expected (who can pick and choose among the most relevant chapters). It explains what blogging is, why it matters, and how to begin blogging. It then explores the various kinds of blogs—from the personal to the professional. Walsh follows with key advice on using the latest tools, adding podcasts, and attracting and keeping readers. He concludes with some interesting predictions about the future of blogs.


Digital Natives (Project and Web Resource)

An interdisciplinary collaboration of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and the Research Center for Information Law at the University of St. Gallen, Digital Natives seeks to "understand and support young people as they grow up in a digital age." Areas of inquiry in the Digital Natives project include Identity, Privacy, and Safety (what will happen as photos, blogs, and videos become a person's permanent online "dossier"?); Creativity, Piracy, and Intellectual Property (what will happen as information and ideas become easily duplicated and transmitted?); and Information Quality and Learning (what will happen in the face of information overload, especially when some information is questionable?).


Exploring Religious Community Online: We Are One In the Network (Book)
Heidi Campbell, Author. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, 2005.

Heidi Campbell, who teaches communication at Texas A&M University, conducted a seven-year study to assess the impact of the Internet on communication habits and relationships within religious communities—both online and offline. This book reports the results of her research. Its aim is to "highlight the characteristics of online community" as well as to "consider what implications this might have for individuals in offline religious communities." Campbell found that the religious community online is a supplement, not a substitute, for offline church and offline relationships. At the same time, religious community online fosters relationship, mutual caring, experiences of being valued, interpersonal connection, intimate communication, and faith sharing.


Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (Book)
Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff , Author. . Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press, 2008.

Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, vice presidents and principal researchers at Forrester Research, define groundswell as "a spontaneous movement of people using online tools to connect, take charge of their own experience, and get what they need—information, support, ideas, products, and bargaining power—from each other." It includes everything from blogs to podcasts, wikis to YouTube, Facebook to Twitter. The authors help organizations respond to this groundswell by explaining how to develop strategies that will facilitate embracing online tools and using them for collaboration, empowerment, and transformation. Although written for businesses, the strategy-development process, or POST (for People, Objectives, Strategy, and Technology) described here can be adapted by congregations.


Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations (Book)
Clay Shirky, Author. New York, NY: Penguin Press, 2008.

"The centrality of group effort to human life means that anything that changes the way groups function will have profound ramifications for everything from commerce and government to media and religion." With this premise, Clay Shirky has written a book that explains how the latest interactive technologies are revolutionizing group formation and empowering group participants to share information, collaborate with each other, and take collective action. Shirky—a professor at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program—illustrates his points with numerous stories from public life, politics, and business. Religious leaders will find this tour of social technology exhilarating and challenging as they consider its applications to congregations.


The Language of New Media (Book)
Lev Manovich, Author. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002.

Lev Manovich, Visual Arts Professor at the University of California, has written a theoretical work that connects "digital studies" with film theory, literary theory, computer technology, and studies in information culture. He holds that "just as the printing press in the fourteenth century and photography in the nineteenth century had a revolutionary impact on the development of modern society and culture, today we are in the middle of a new media revolution—the shift of all culture to computer-mediated forms of production, distribution, and communication." While there is room for creative optimism in this development, Manovich is not blind to the possibilities of the new media to support totalitarianism.


Naked Conversations: How Blogs Are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers (Book)
Robert Scoble, Shel Israel, Authors. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2006.

Innovation experts Robert Scobie and Shel Israel discuss the power of blogs to connect people and organizations. They argue that this power stems from blogs being more "publishable, findable, social, viral, syndicatable, and linkable" than other communication tools. Examples from numerous industries illustrate the authors' points. One chapter explains what happens when you "do it [blogging] wrong" (by writing inflammatory material, or—sometimes worse—boring people). Another chapter documents what happens when you "do it right" (by keeping blogs simple and focused, or telling a good story). Scobie and Israel conclude that blogging will make listening to people as important as talking to them, thus igniting a new, "Conversational Era."


Reaching Out in a Networked World: Expressing Your Congregation's Heart and Soul (Book)
Lynne M. Baab, Author. Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2008.

The central issue in this book, according to author Lynne Baab, is "the urgency of considering and evaluating the way new technologies can help congregations convey their identity and values to people within and outside the congregation." Reaching Out in a Networked World begins by inviting congregations to consider their values (what they care about) and identity (who they are). It then explores common myths about how values and identity are communicated. What follows are chapters on significant communication tools: websites, blogs, e-mail, listservs, desktop publishing, and projection screens. Book appendices explain how to do a "communication audit" for a congregation and how to establish or revamp a website.


The Reason Your Church Must Twitter: Making Your Ministry Contagious (E-book and Web Resource)
Anthony D. Coppedge, Author. Bedford, TX: Anthony Coppedge, 2009.

You've heard of Twitter as a communication tool, but you don't know what it is or how to use it. This e-book from Anthony Coppedge explains the ways Twitter can help you reach your congregation—or specific ministry teams—with new information, prayers and concerns, and other messages. Coppedge discusses how to use Twitter for announcements, conversations, and communication with staff and volunteers. He spells out how to set up a Twitter account, how to "tweet," and "how to follow and be followed." He even describes the latest devices for optimizing your use of Twitter. A word about implementing a congregational "Twitter strategy" concludes this short but information-filled download.


Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet (Book)
Lorne L. Dawson, Douglas E. Cowan, Editors. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004.

This essay collection from sociologists and religion scholars explores the ways that the Internet has affected religious understanding and practice. The editors draw a distinction between religion online (which provides information about religious services and traditions) and online religion (which provides opportunities to observe religious practices). They raise questions about the use of the Internet for religious purposes, the relationships between online and offline religious activities, and which styles of religion are best served by the Internet. Essays address how people are being religious in cyberspace, how mainline religions are functioning online, how the Internet supports new religious movements, and how the Internet serves as a tool of conversion.


Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (Book)
Seth Godin, Author. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2008.

"A tribe," says business leader and author Seth Godin, "is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea." While yesterday's tribes were limited by geography, today's tribes face no such limits, thanks to Internet technology and instant communication. But Godin emphasizes that technology alone won't guarantee the leadership a tribe needs. What does guarantee such leadership is the faith, courage, and passion of those who truly seek to make a difference. This slender volume offers inspiration and ideas on how to understand leadership, how to lead others, and how to help others grow as leaders themselves.


Web-Empower Your Church: Unleashing the Power of Internet Ministry (Book)
Mark M. Stephenson, Author. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2006.

Reminding readers that Internet ministry is a "God thing," Mark Stephenson lays out the tools needed to create, maintain, and update a dynamic congregational website. Stephenson draws on his experience as the "Church Cyber Guy" at Ginghamsburg Church and his expertise as the leader of Web Empowered Church to explain what works and what doesn't when engaging in cyber ministry. A key piece of advice: "start by building a team that can carry out the many diverse tasks that such a ministry entails." This book, with an accompanying CD-ROM, will support any church seeking to develop a website that empowers all who preach, teach, pray, and serve in a congregation.


What No One Ever Tells You About…Blogging and Podcasting: Real Life Advice from 101 People Who Successfully Leverage the Power of the Blogosphere (Book)
Ted Demopoulos, Author. Chicago, IL: Kaplan Publishing, 2007.

If you are committed to making blogs and podcasts a reality—or a more effective reality—in your congregation, this book offers concrete advice and plenty of enthusiasm. Ted Demopoulos begins with the basics—outlining what a blog is, what a podcast is, and the value of blogging. Advice on planning, implementing, and reviewing blogs follows, along with tips on promoting your blog and tracking blog traffic. The book then discusses the elements of great podcasts and explains the process of converting blogs to podcasts. Issues surrounding security, anonymity, and intellectual property are addressed. A look at the future of blogging and the promise of "videoblogging" concludes the book.


The Wired Church 2.0 (Book)
Len Wilson, Author. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2008.

Len Wilson and Jason Moore, owners of Midnight Oil Productions, explain the importance of using strong digital media to communicate the gospel in worship, as well as the importance of developing a clear mission statement to support the wise use of resources for media ministry. More than that, Wilson and Moore examine the components of designing media for worship—including building visual elements, doing video production, creating graphics, training a team, and phasing in the plan so that everything works smoothly. While any media ministry process will not be easy—and some costs in time, money, and learning curves will be incurred—the results can be transformational for worshippers.