Movies in Church

How many times has this happened to you (sounds like the opening of a bad infomercial?) You have a youth group meeting and you are going to show a DVD movie to the group. You purchased the movie yourself, or someone else has loaned you their copy. No admission or entrance fee is being charged. […]

It’s Nice to be Validated

Since I first started here, I have talked to hundreds of people representing numerous churches.  Invariably, one of their questions is “how do we attract new people?”  There is obviously no magic bullet that will make it happen, but I tell them to keep their website current, be real and authentic about who you are, […]

Holy Week Debrief – A Rant and a Rave

Holy Week, one of the busiest and most emotionally draining times of the church year has just completed and we have entered into the Easter season.  Before it gets too far out of our thoughts, I would like to offer a critique of how this week was offered online. If you have been reading any […]

Using Photos of Children

One of the most common questions that I am asked when I do workshops on website design and social media is “What about photos of children, what are the guidelines?”  I will talk about needing permissions, how to (or not) identify them and then go on to the broader topic of photos of people in […]

Is Your Church an Embezzler’s Dream?

Normally this blog site deals with technology issues and trends  that I think are worthwhile pieces of information for people doing digital technology for their faith communities.  However, our Canon for Finance, Chris Smith-Clark has brought to my attention some good tips on protecting your organization from “financial chicanery”.  I am posting her article here […]

Is It Time to Update My Computer?

When it comes to updating a computer system, most people seem to fall into two camps: those that want to update but don’t know what to get and those who are quite happy with what they have and see no need to change.  Both of these ideas have their pluses and minuses.

How to Start a Communications Plan for Your Church

I love it when I find nuggets that will help churches with their mission.  Here is a nice little article from one of my favorite websites, Church Marketing Sucks (can I get an Amen!) that talks about how to get started with a communications strategy for your church.  With all of the tools and apps […]

What Can the Church Learn from Apple?

The Lead from Episcopal Cafe posted an interesting set of videos from Apple and posed the question, “What can the church learn from these Apple ads?”  It is a very thought provoking question that has caused me to comment on it. One of the things that struck me about the ads was the attention to […]

The Episcopal Church Welcomes You (21st Century Edition)

We have seen the signs for years, “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You”.  While this is nice to have in front of your church or down the street with an arrow pointing the way, is this the only way that people will know about your church?  Are you counting on people finding you in the Yellow […]

What do you mean by authenticity?

As I travel around the diocese talking about websites and social media, one thing that comes up is “how to attract younger people.”  My short answer is “be authentic.”  What do I mean by that and how does one apply this, you might ask.  This posting by the United Methodist Church explains it pretty well.  […]