How is your ministry or church explicitly and actively developing the next generation of online ministry leaders?
Hmm?
I’m honestly very curious and I don’t necessarily have an answer either, I just see a very big need and a lot of talent not being “cultivated” properly.
Thoughts?
[Image from Chavals]
buchanan23 says
This is an interesting topic to me too. As it stands right now, I am fully ready to dive in to online ministry but not sure how or where to start. At the same time, we have a small church that we have planted here and are trying to grow, and I know we don't want to focus so much attention online that we leave the physical bodies in the building behind, they need to journey with us if possible… is it possible?
human3rror says
i think a good balance is.
Daniel Decker says
I think there are a select few churches doing it well, from the outward appearance anyway, but probably as a whole it's an area that could use some help. Maybe in your spare time (haha) you can help fill that void. ๐
I think your question goes far beyond just online ministry leaders. Seems identifying and developing next generation leaders across the board in the church is a very underutilized opportunity.
human3rror says
๐
I think I've got something cooking.
stephenbateman says
I volunteer to jump in that pot…
(awkward comment)
human3rror says
drugs.
matthuggins says
I think your use of the phrase "a lot of talent not being 'cultivated' properly" is very telling. I think you'll find that God "cultivates talent" in ways very different from the way we would go about it. He chooses the inarticulate Moses to speak in His behalf to the people of Israel. He chooses David, a lowly shepherd, to be the champion and King of Israel. He chooses Saul, a dedicated Pharisee, to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. In the lives of each of these figures, he uses sin, vulnerability, oppression and periods of isolation to prepare them for the work he has set before them. He places eternal treasure in fragile jars of clay.
I see folly in this overly intense, to-a-hammer-everything-looks-like-a-nail focus on online ministry. It is the equivalent of (or, frankly, worse than) someone in the 70's fretting about training up the next generation of television preachers. Our problem in not a lack of believers steeped in the worlds techniques, but a lack of believers seriously in pursuit of relationship with Jesus Christ. We focus on human means while neglecting the spiritual disciplines. Technique and technology are the fabric of our culture. They mark the broad and obvious roads. Prayer and other spiritual pursuits are radically counter-cultural. They are the difficult paths we are commanded to follow.
Over one hundred years ago, E. M. Bounds (1835-1913) framed the issue in his book, Power through Prayer:
"We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. “There was a man sent from God whose name was John.” The dispensation that heralded and prepared the way for Christ was bound up in that man John. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” The world’s salvation comes out of that cradled Son. When Paul appeals to the personal character of the men who rooted the gospel in the world, he solves the mystery of their success. The glory and efficiency of the gospel is staked on the men who proclaim it. When God declares that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him,” he declares the necessity of men and his dependence on them as a channel through which to exert his power upon the world. This vital, urgent truth is one that this age of machinery is apt to forget. The forgetting of it is as baneful on the work of God as would be the striking of the sun from his sphere. Darkness, confusion, and death would ensue.
What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use — men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men — men of prayer."
human3rror says
Matt,
LOVE this. thanks so much for contributing to the conversation here!
you're right. it's more than just a “process” or “method”… it needs to be holy spirit driven and prayer-bound.
thanks for that reminder!
Adam_S says
I love EM Bounds! I think the other quote (paraphrasing here) that is related is that about preparing a sermon.
It is something like, "When you are preparing a sermon what is most important is not what you have studied this week or how well you know the passage, but how well you know God. It doesn't take a week to prepare a sermon, it takes a life time. The only preachers that God can really use are those that have shown their character over 20 years. The people need to see their sermon lived out in the life of their pastor, not just hear it."
So I would say, we need to be developing disciples and then some of them will likely be able to become the future leaders of the ministries we work at now. And many others will become leaders at ministries that we could not dream of right now.
Kay Whittenhauer says
This is definitely an important topic in the future of churches. I recently published an article titled "How to Use Facebook to Promote Your Church (Or Other Religious Non- Profit)", found online here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1893006/… It's a start, but admittedly the tip of the iceberg.
human3rror says
Kay,
Definitely. Thanks for that. We've got some good content here about facebook as well.
I'd probably disagree with some of your points slightly, like the amount of “time” required. To make pages really knock out, you do need to spend some time in creating them and then managing them effectively.
In addition, having just a FB page instead of a website will lose out long term because of SEO results etc. I think a better strategy is to have both, in tandem perhaps.
Thanks for contributing! great stuff!
Kay Whittenhauer says
Thanks for the constructive feedback. ๐ Maybe I should have you proofread a few more of my articles!
I guess I wasn't clear about what I meant by "spending time": I meant that making a FB page requires SIGNIFICANTLY less time than developing a website.
Also, I meant that churches who do not have a website- because their resources prohibit it at this time- can become part of the WorldWideWeb through FB. A presence somewhere on the web is better than a prescence no where on the web.
It's all a work in progress. Our true intention for FB is monthly interactive online sermon discussion…. which seemed like a HUGE iniative when it was presented to me, but thanks to FB seems "doable" now!
PS- This site has offered some valuable information. I'm glad I found it!
human3rror says
Great! We have a great community being developed here… glad you've found us!
matthuggins says
I think it is critical to realize that not all FB connections or traffic are equal. FB hits its stride when connecting individuals who already possess a certain quantum of relationship, of shared personal experience.
The church may be able to send out its members in that sphere to seek to be and to make disciples, but I suspect that it will have little tangible (or intangible) effect with efforts that don't focus on person-to-person relationships. Content not tied to a relationship in FB is background noise. Content not tied to an existing shared interest within a relationship tends to be ignored or treated as trivia occasioning the flow of breezy banter.
stephenbateman says
quantum. glory.
But you're absolutely right. Facebook does a horrible job at introducing new people to each other.
@joshbrown says
Dude I completely agree. The talent pool and passion is tremendous and growing fast. But there is just a lack of practical training all around. Wouldn't it be amazing if we had a site that had short videos on how to effectively lead in an online setting? Maybe practical ways to engage and connect while still being sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
I think too many times we focus on the amazing technology and get caught up with its potential that we forget God ordained that technology for this very moment. He has entrusted us to steward it with diligence and a heart of discipleship – multiplying the followers to reach the world for Jesus. It's our passion and ferver for Him that ignites the fire in those around us. But if we don't have the practical teaching of how to use that passion we will not see the momentum carry on as effective as it could.
human3rror says
word up. let's do something here at ChurchCrunch…!
stephenbateman says
Are you allowed to comment 3 times on one post? no. ok.
Our church is tech savvy. Most of the leaders have (under utilized) blogs, Twitter accounts, etc. The website is up to date and *cool*. But I don't think it amounts to "ministry" for us, necessarily. As far as actually doing ministry in the online space, we haven't gotten off the ground.
So essentially, we, and many others, are still trying to create the first iteration of online ministry leaders, in our contexts.
@adamrshields says
I think that is the place many are at. And I think that the speed of change on the web is such that we don't necessarily know what things will be like in five years let alone 15. So we should concentrate on developing disciples and leaders and assume at least some of them will be online.
stephenbateman says
Indeed. at the same time I'm not against training up a new generation at all.
Just in our case, the "old guard" isn't…there. But those entering online ministry now get to benefit from 5-10 years of work, so it isn't all breaking new ground.
Kay Whittenhauer says
I think that's where our church is. We want to be "relevant" in today's times- meaning the electronic realm, but we don't have the money to do all we want. That's why "piggy-backing" on what's already out there is a blessing. I'm not sure that FB will create any type of cyber-following as much as it will serve as a two-way communication tool for us. We plan on posting sermon video online and then opening the discussion on FB. (Won't happen until the fall, but we're excited about this new initiative!)
Kay Whittenhauer says
Hi! Just leaving a comment so that I can subscribe. I want to be in the loop on all this good stuff! Thanks! ~Kay