1. Effective Use of Technology for Congregations Beth Lewis Augsburg Fortress January 2011 All Rights Reserved 2011 Augsburg Fortress

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Reformation must not be something that happened once upon a time hundreds of years ago and is forever completed and that can now be taken for granted . . . it has to be taken seriously and be implemented by every generation. Only a church that is willing to be reformed today can honestly claim Luther as its reformer.

George Wolfgang Forell

The Luther Legacy

Fortress Press, 1983

4. How areweembracingthis heritage of change? 5. The new open door.your website Calvary LC-Minneapolis, MN www.clchurch.org 6. Map & Directions should be easy to find Our Saviors Lutheran Church, New Ulm, MN http://www.oursaviorsnewulm.org/ 7. Do bike and/or bus route links make sense for your context? www.clchurch.org 8. Clear welcome and easy-to-find coming events section Good Shepherd LC Plover, WIwww.eflock.org 9. Keep your community informed of church & synod events Lakeview Lutheran Church Madison, WI http://www.lakeviewlutheranchurch.org 10. Visitors Guide invites newcomersTrinity Episcopal Sacramento, CA www.trinitycathedral.org 11. Spanish language ministries Bethel Lutheran Church,Madison, WIhttp://www.bethel-madison.org/ 12. New Member Information Bethel Lutheran Church, Madison, WI http://www.bethel-madison.org/ 13. Good Shepherd Lutheran Church La Crosse, WI www.goodshepherdlacrosse.org/ 14. Worship assistance schedule St. John Lutheran Church Wausau, WI http://www.stjohnwausau.org/ 15. Post job openings and volunteer opportunities Bethel Lutheran Church, Madison, WI http://www.bethel-madison.org/ 16. Keep members updated on particular topics of interest Peace Lutheran Church Waunakee, WI http://www.plcemail.org 17. Ex:Proposed Constitution Emmaus Lutheran Church, Racine, WI http://www.emmaus-racine.org/ 18. Links invite traffic Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, La Crosse, WI www.goodshepherdlacrosse.org/ 19. People love to see peopleand animals! St. Marks Lutheran Church,San Francisco, CA www.stmarks-sf.org 20. Link to an external photo siteEmmaus Lutheran Church,Racine, WI http://www.emmaus-racine.org/ 21. Is your congregation outwardly focused?Show it!All Saints Lutheran Church Minnetonka, MN http://www.allsaintsmtka.org/ 22. Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, Seattle, WAUses their site to educate on the seasons of the church year www.prlc.org 23. Spiritual gifts assessmentGood Shepherd Lutheran Church,Plover, WI www.eflock.org 24. Web based time & talent inventory Gloria Dei Lutheran Church,Olympia, WA www.gloriadeiolympia.org 25. Standard Forms Our Saviors Lutheran Church, West Bend, WI http://www.oslcwb.org/ 26. Web-based financial stewardship Calvary by the Sea Lutheran Church,Honolulu, HI http://www.calvarybythesea.org/ 27. Link to a fund-raising site Grace Lutheran Church Tomahawk, WIhttp://www.gracelutherantomahawk.org/ 28. Mini-member survey Calvary by the Sea Lutheran Church, Honolulu, HI http://www.calvarybythesea.org/ 29. Podcasts Trinity Lutheran Church,Latrobe, PA http://trinitylatrobe.com/ 30. Video on your site Calvary Lutheran Church,Minneapolis, MN www.clchurch.org 31. Use free RSS feeds Prince of Peace LC Phoenix, AZ www.aplaceofgrace.org 32. Privacy policy Bethlehem Lutheran Church Encinitas, CA http://www.blcenc.org/ 33. Basics of Website Management

Think about your audience(s)

Spell check

Keep it freshchange is good!

Keep it current

Use RSS feeds to add new content daily

Be clear about privacy

Statistics (ex. Google Analytics)

34. www.websitegrader.com 35. E-mail marketing tips

Capture email addresseseverywhere& keep in a searchable database

Establish a process & a standard for replies in Internet time

Auto-responders

Spell-check

Signature block(s)

Cut & pastes in your drafts folder

36. eNewsletters

Less is more

Frequency

Links to your site

Opt-in (no spam!)

Easy opt-out

eNewsletter service bureaus

37. E-newsletter sign-up Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Plover, WI www.eflock.org 38. Save a tree by putting your newsletter on-lineAll Saints Lutheran Church Minnetonka, MN http://www.allsaintsmtka.org/ 39. Prayer support via eNewsletter St. Lukes Lutheran Church Bloomington, MN http://www.stlukes.ws/ 40. 41. Source: Nielsenwire May 2010 42. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG8XRIJpFyk Stewardship via YouTube First Presbyterian Church, Sarasota, FL 43. First English Lutheran Church,Appleton, WI page 1 of 2 http://www.felc.com/ 44. First English Lutheran Church, Appleton, WI page 2 of 2 http://www.facebook.com/FELCAPPLETON?ref=ts 45. Congregational book club using Foss:Power Surgevia Facebook Zion Lutheran Church, Buffalo, MN www.zionbuffalo.org 1 of 3:info on their church website 46. Congregational book club using Foss:Power Surgevia Facebook Zion Lutheran Church, Buffalo, MN www.zionbuffalo.org 2 of 3:announcement on Facebook 47. Congregational book club using Foss:Power Surgevia Facebook Zion Lutheran Church, Buffalo, MN www.zionbuffalo.org 3 of 3: Separate Facebook page for the book club 48. Do you Tweet? http://twitter.com/zionbuffalo 49. Follow me on Twitter! www.twitter.com/bethalewis 50. My Twitter feeds my Facebook pageone stop communication www.facebook.com/bethlewis 51. http://www.augsburgfortress.org/social.jsp 52. Blogs

Personality-driven, not like other organizational communications

More like a personal letter

Keep it current

Links to your site and others

Choose your blogger(s) carefully

Authenticity is essential

Invite & encourage, but moderate comments

53. Blogs invite participation.Book discussion group Halfway Creek Lutheran Church Holmen, WI http://www.halfwaycreek.org/ 54. Or, you can have a video blog Trinity Episcopal, Sacramento, CA www.trinitycathedral.org 55. My public blog.www.augsburgfortress.org/blog 56. For those of you who dont have a blog yet, think of one as a large yellow Labrador: friendly, fun, not all that bright, but constantly demanding your attention . ..David Carr New York Timescolumnist 57. So, you want to reachhigh school & college students and young adults? 58. The communications tool of choice for high school & college students and young adults A possible solution for group text messaging:http://www.tatango.com 59. And, if you dont believe me. USA Today Oct. 5, 2010 60. 61. Source:Nielsenwire, March 2010 A Week in the LifeWeekly Time Spent in Hours:Minutes By Age Demographic 4Q 2009 K2-11 T12-17 A18-24 A25-34 A35-49 A50-64 A65+ On Traditional TV 25:17 23:24 26:14 31:58 35:40 42:38 47:21 Watching Timeshifted TV 1:33 1:15 1:28 2:58 2:44 2:22 1:10 Using the Internet 0:24 1:21 3:45 5:20 6:35 4:53 2:17 Watching Video on Internet 0:04 0:15 0:39 0:35 0:33 0:17 0:06 Mobile Subscribers Watching Video on a Mobile Phone n/a 0:21 0:08 0:06 0:01