Amanda Pelser… Ramblings of a Communications Director …

Speakers:

Matt Johnson

• from Liquid Church
• Motivation for using social media: Take church to the people.
• Phone call – 6 days
• Email – 6 hours
• Facebook, Twitter, Text – 60 seconds

Anthony Coppedge

• Former tech director
• Now at Fellowship Technologies as Director of Communications
• Attends Gateway Church
• Writer, blogger

Session points and highlights:

• It not about the tech, it’s about my people.
• Communicating with people in real time all the time.
• Twitter has been become a replacement for Google search for Anthony.
• It can be a method to get to IRL (in real life).  It doesn’t have to, but that’s very important to some people.
• I may not be able to get to a person IRL, but maybe I’ve met someone near a person who can go IRL.
• People will be more transparent more quickly online.  You can share what’s hard to share when it’s just a keyboard.
• Social media has made everyone a publisher, the Internet our distribution channel and attention our currency.  How will we spend our new cash?
• Engagement is key to breaking through the noise.  Cash > Engagement

Personalizing Social Media

• LinkedIn – Resume online
• Facebook – Your society
• Twitter – You broadcast
• Friendfeed – Your shared knowledge-base (Google Wave could replace this.)

Twitter

• You don’t have to have a Twitter account to follow people on Twitter.
• You only need a cell phone (and a texting plan).

Ways to Use Twitter

Broadcast – Like a megaphone:

• Messaging to all followers
• Announcements
• Event Reminders
• Staus Updates
• Cancellations
• Time-Sensitive Info
• Non-Demographic Specific Info

Selective Communication

• Messaging to specific people
• @username
• @ multiple user names
• Direct Messages

Direct Commuication

• To single person
• DM – d space username
• NOT d @username

Misc thoughts and tools

• Unless you’re using Protected Updates, your updates are visible to the entire world.
• If you put it out online, it’s permanent.
• Hashtags make it easy to search.
• ParaTweet
• Use URL shortening.  > Budurl.com – has analytics
• Twitter.com/widgets

Managing multiple twitter accounts

• Tweetdeck
• Hootsuite
• Apps on iPhone, Blackberry, etc.
• Monitter.com – real-time search for Twitter
• Imagine Church
• Twitter For Churches – ton of resources

I had so been looking forward to this keynote!  Mark Batterson is the pastor at Nation Community Church in Washington, DC.

• A mind stretched by a new idea never returns to its original shape.  – Oliver Wendall Holmes

As Jesus was getting ready to send his followers out he told them to be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.  See Matthew 10:16.

• Tension between being shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.
• Truth is found in tension.
• If you’re not experiencing tension, maybe you’re not very close to the truth.

Being Innocent as Doves

• Our motives need to be right.
• It’s easy to get “good” and forget why you’re doing it.
• Find a way to periodically check yourself.
• Mark has a picture of the cow pasture where God called him into ministry behind his desk as a reminder of why he is doing what he’s doing.

Being Shrewd as Snakes

• Genesis 3 – The serpent was was the shrewdest of all creatures.
• Outwit your enemy – be better than Satan.
• Most of us have not been trained to exegete culture.
• Contextual intelligence – See something that has nothing to do with what you’re doing and finding a way to redeem it for your purposes.
• Jesus didn’t tell us how to go into the world; He just told us to go.

Equation #1

1% change = 99% difference

• Pay attention to the smallest little details.
• Shape > Color > Content
• Successful retailers know:

1. Many check out lines.
2. Make type big.
3. Greet each customer with hello.
4. People walk to the right.
5. Hands are at 3 ft.
6. and more.

• What are we doing in the church to use these concepts and more?
• The greatest message deserves the greatest marketing.
• We are fostering spiritual co-dependance in the church.
• NCC is doing a series through the whole Bible next year.
• Jesus asked the Father what to say and how to say it.

Equation #2

Change of Pace + Change of Place = A Change of Perspective

• If routine becomes routine, you need to change the routine.
• You need the ability to confuse people.  Do something to interrupt people’s routine to engage them.
• One God Idea is Greater than a Thousand Good Ideas
• It can be tough to discern the difference between a good idea and a God idea.
• One God idea will change your life.
• 2 Corinthians 10:5 – Take every thought captive.
• Take captive the God idea and nurture it, protect it; give it blood, sweat and tears.
• You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right.
• What has God put on your heart that you’ve pushed down?
• What has God put on your heart that you don’t even dare speak?

Chris Hodges is the pastor at Church of the Highlands in Alabama.  He described himself as a business man turned pastor.

2 Timothy 1:13-14
2 Corinthians 3:17-18

From Revelation
4 Faces – The Glory of God

Ox – Face of a Servant

• Have an experience for the outside not the insider.
• Make the whole experience easy.  See Acts 15.
• Generosity
• Wrote margin into their bylaws – next year’s budget can only be 90% of previous years income.
• They never sell resources.
• Margin will give you options.
• Humility – Don’t elevate people.  Elevate Jesus.

Man – Face of Relationships

• Authentic – Be as authentic as you possibly can.
• Answer emails.  Return phone calls.
• Enjoyable – Laugh!
• Church ought to be the most enjoyable place that you go all week.
• Teamwork
• Pastors – don’t let your team tell you what to do but let them help you by telling you how to do it.

Eagle – Face of Excellence

• Mark 7:37 – The people saw that Jesus did everything well.
• People need to leave your experience and see that you do everything well.
• We should be doing things in a way that make people say wow and it naturally commands their respect.
• Discipline – Fast, pray, read your Bible, take care of yourself, take a Sabbath
• Integrity – Do whatever it takes to be squeaky clean.
• Productivity – We have to grow.  Assess yourself.

Lion – Face of Power

• Presence – Need the tangible presence of God.
• Boldness – You don’t have to be mean, but tell the truth.
• Perseverance – Stand firm because all hell will break loose against you.

This was a panel discussion with Kurt Evin from Central Christian Church in Las Vegas and Matt Johnson from Liquid Church.  We’re wanting to open an online campus at Southbrook…  Wow is my brain on overload!

There was a lot of bouncing around.  I won’t be able to easily attribute ideas to each of the speakers.  I’m going to group my notes by topic.

Motivation for online campus

• People are doing everything else online, so why not church online.
• Take church to the people.

Some of the how

• Live Stream of simulated live stream
• Livestream
• Lightcast
• Computer
• Camera
• Internet Connection
• Be aware that if you’re going live, be prepared for problems.  Something is always going to happen.
• Matt’s church started did live Q&A with online pastor once a week.  It gave them a place to test and work out kinks for live.
• Wirecast

Format

• Central Christian has splash page with countdown to online campus and Facebook campus
• Option to set up a profile like any social media site.
• Go to lobby first and talk to people as a group or one on one.
• There are lots of volunteers – virtual greeters and ushers.
• Live prayer button – team of people to chat.
• Live help button – tech help and general info about church.
• Stream worship
• Host time – Welcome, announcements, offering
• Pastor’s teaching
• Outro – thanks for being here

Staffing requirements

• Liquid Church: Lead pastor / teacher, Creative team, plus 2 dedicated staffers
• Liquid is modeling staff after what they’d do for size of a multi-site
• Central Christian – 1 part time person plus other staff who have hands in it like Creative and Media team support
• Volunteer support base absolutely necessary.

Launch strategy

• Central – spent no money on marketing, launched with 400+.
• Start Facebook Fan Page
• Webcast / conference call and gave presentation about what the online campus would be like
• Use social media
• Virtual mission trip: gave people the tools to invite people to church; mobilized people that they already had; treated it like a real mission trip
• Promote with a cause

The how

• Central – tries to mimic a physical campus as much as possible
• Create a place online where a believer in one place can invite a friend from another town or state to church.
• Starting churches in cities where large groups of people are attending online.
• People live online and look for that first connection online
• Ok for people to remain online, but push people to try watch parties.
• Growing house churches this way.
• Extension campus at college, prisons, military bases, etc.
• Ask people to raise a small amount of money and then send projector, PA, screen etc to start a campus.
• Central Christian has a packet for how to start an online extension campus.
• Altar call – Lead pastor brings up to it, fades out to campus pastor who refers people to live help button to talk to a person.
• Central Christian has an electronic next steps packet for new believers.
• Have small groups that meet online.
• Small groups – talkbox video chat, can handle up to 30 people.
• Central Christian Baptism – Give instructions on how to be baptized; make it an event in your home, find a believer to baptize you.
• Liquid Church – Find another believer, pastor walks through via video chat.
• Communion – talk through communion, give instructions to gather elements and take together.
• The church isn’t a building.  It’s a body of believers.

I was late to Anthony Coppedge’s coffee discussion.  I rushed over my previous session, but unfortunately missed about half the discussion.  I was mortified that I was late, especially consider that he’s the reason I’m here…  So sorry Anthony!

Here’s a few things that caught my attention:

• Pastors timid about getting involved in Twitter and social media: If you’re going to live in a glass house, you might as well define the parameters.
• Find a way to relate to people in the way that they need to be connected with.
• Am I adding value?  Or am I just talking?

Completely off topic but something I found very helpful:  When Anthony was on staff at a church, his staff had a “pet project” each week.  They were to find something that they thought was cool and then figure out how you’d do it, make it, recreate it.  That might be a video intro, a mailer, etc.  This is a great way to learn and grow.  This require margin and intention in your week.  Use a project management system.  If you’re tracking your time and projects, you’ll better know how to prepare and plan for growth.