As I settle into my new home here in Rochester I find myself burdened with trying to figure out who lives in our city.  I think its so important to know who God has called us to reach.  As pastors and teachers we encourage missionaries to do their research and embed themselves in a foreign culture to reach the people they are called by God to serve.  They learn the language, change the way they dress, change what they eat, identify the local customs, and go to great lengths to connect with the culture of the people God has called them to.

As Christians, shouldn’t we do the same? Shouldn’t I try to learn as much as possible about the people that are lost in my city? As church leaders why aren’t we as intentional as our missionaries?  Just because we have a building doesn’t mean people are going to show up and find Jesus.  We have to know them, we have to live with them, we have to understand them, we have to connect with them.  Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners, a glutton, and a drunkard.  Not because he ate too much, or drank too much, or jumped into a lifestyle of sin.  No, it happened because he chose to intentionally connect with the culture around him and introduce lost people to the things of God.

That is what I want to do.  I want to be intentional,  invitational, and relational with my faith.  As a leader it is not going to be easy and I think Jesus’ life demonstrated just that.  He was accused of living like a sinner and some even thought he was demon possessed because of the miracles that began to happen.

I live in a great city.  I get the privilege of serving people in a city that is built to serve others in need. Every year Rochester welcomes 2.7 million visitors, many of those are due to the Mayo Clinic.  Probably because the Mayo is consistently listed as one of the best hospitals in the world.  However, to serve the people that live here I need to be as intentional as a missionary.

Key components to a great church website:

1. Less is more – don’t bombard me with every ministry on the homepage, everyone doesn’t need to know about your underwater basket-weaving class!

2. Don’t make me scroll – long web pages are lame.  I don’t want to scroll forever into a bottomless web pit, remember i can click… my mouse has buttons!

3. KISS – keep it simple stupid!  Ok, so I stole that one from my Sgt. in the military, but it works.  If you can’t make it easy than dont do it.  Complicated parts of websites just make the user frustrated, so if it can’t be simple than leave it out!

4. Use a simple CMS (content management system).  There are great tools out there like wordpress and joomla that are free! This means you can update the info regularly with out a pro doing it for you. If it is not easy for you to use then you wont want to bother maintaining it.

5. Relevant information – KEEP YOUR WEBSITE UP TO DATE!!!  Don’t tell me about the Christmas party that is coming up when it already happened 6 months ago!

If you’d like to see some great church websites Ministry CSS keeps a superb list.  You can take a look at some of them by clicking here.

If you are in ministry and considering using social media as a tool, here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Size is not a barrier for churches to use social media.  A church of 100 can use it just as effectively as a church of 1000.
2. When you engage in a social media environment like a blog, facebook, myspace, or twitter you lose some control over the message.  People have the ability to have conversations with others about your content.  They can link to it, interact with it, and write about it more easily than ever before because the web is so easy to use.  Your church is no longer what you say it is, it is what they say it is!
3. Upside – people are sharing information about your church!
4. Downside – negative comments can travel farther and faster than ever so the first impressions we make as a church are so much more important.

We need to empower our staff and our churches to engage in social media responsibly.  The more engaging our team is, the more content there is about our church and our message to the world as Christians.  The more engaging content there is, the more conversation there is.  However, it is so important to remember that whatever digital environment we choose to use to interact with others, we still represent our church, and Christ.  So we need to use it responsibly. 

Here are some good rules to follow (some of these rules I modified from a webinar with Sergio Balegno):

1 – Be authentic but careful

• - Inform people why your are there, let them know what you do.
• - Be honest and authentic.
• - Don’t post things online that violate the trust others have in you. 

2 – Write about things you actually know about

• - Post things that you are an expert on.
• - Be responsible for your content, if you post something inaccurate take the initiative to correct it quickly.

3 – Add value to the conversation online

• - Be thought provoking.
• - Engage others online as a leader.
• - Engage others through commenting and openly invite others to comment and join the conversation. Sometimes people in ministry can be used to “one way” conversation (since we preach and teach) so we need to remember that a social media environment is a two way conversation.
• - When using social media remember to embrace it as a student, willing to learn. The whole point is to be viewed by others as an engaging contributor to the online community.

If you have some other things you think we should consider as our churches engage others in social media, comment below…

Brendon and the Student Ministry team pulled off a great start to Stretch tonight!  The volunteers, staff, and students seemed to be having a blast as the first night of stretch kicked off a great event.  Tonight’s topic, taught by Brendon, covered the idea of LOVING OUT LOUD (check out his sermon video below).  In John 13:34 Jesus is speaking to his disciples and he tells them that he has a new command for them, “As I have loved you, LOVE one another.”  Brendon, then proceeded to share with these middle school students some practical examples of God’s love and how they can apply that into their own lives. 

STRETCH Out Loud – Day 1 Message, Brendon Foulke from CHRIST’S CHURCH OF THE VALLEY on Vimeo.

Below are some more photos taken by an incredible photographer from our church, if you are interested in more of her work you can check her out here – http://www.gailannephotography.com/

2009 STRETCH Out Loud – Barbie Promo from CHRIST’S CHURCH OF THE VALLEY on Vimeo.

1. Look for opportunities – You have to be ready for every opportunity that comes your way because they don’t happen often.  Someone at work will engage you in a spiritual conversation, or bring up a religious holiday, or talk about a family member that is dying.  Life happens, and when the tough stuff comes around and people will talk. It is during these moments that you have a chance to listen and then share what God has done for you.
2. Listen first – Some of us need to learn to shut up to be effective at sharing our faith.  I know that sounds counter intuitive but its true.  If you really listen to others around you, they will notice that you care.  Then when you speak they will want to hear what you have to say instead of simply tolerating your opinion.
3. Don’t be weird – Please don’t hand out gospel tracts.  Your waitress at the diner wants a tip for her service, she doesn’t want you to try to save her from eternal damnation.  People have a hard enough time living in the present, and we have remember to be relevant if we want people to listen.  People find God through relationships with others, not pieces of paper that tell them they are going to hell.
4. Create opportunities – We have to be intentional about engaging people far from God.  Make new friends, volunteer at for a non-profit, get to know your neighbors.  When we increase our circle of influence we can be there to help people when the hard stuff in life happens.  Jesus modeled this for us when he regularly ministered to those that were suffering.  Suffering is universal and that is why Christianity is universal. 

Lifeway recently put together a video on reaching young adults and I think there are some principles about being relevant in our culture that we can apply to reaching any generation.  Take a look…

Any thoughts about the video you just saw?