Which matters most, location or website?

I lead a meetup group for small business entrepreneurs who are learning how to market their businesses online.  I am often asked about the connection to church planting and search engine optimization / marketing. I usually explain it this way... In business, it is all about location, location, location. For a brick and mortar business, that means good real estate, signage, advertising, etc.  For an e-commerce store, real estate means good, multiple placements on search engine result pages.

Most church planters don't have a permanent physical location with 24x7 signage. Good church planters have realized that the web is their location.  They usually talk about their church in terms of .com or .org.  They can tell you that most of their first-time visitors have visited their website first before deciding to visit a worship gathering.  Effective church planters have multiple locations on the internet including: web site, blog, Facebook page, Google+ page,  Twitter profile, LinkedIn profile, rss feed, podcast, and YouTube channel.  Most of these communication channels are free and only require an investment in time.

Just as good leaders multiply more leaders; good church planters multiply digital voices. They don't have time, nor should they, to do it all themselves.  They find social networking enthusiasts in their church and coach them to use these tools to talk about what God in doing in their lives and what the church is doing in the community and around the world.  Effective two-way website and social networking communication is a good way for the church to stay connected between worship gatherings.

What about websites, aren't the good ones really expensive?  Yes, custom designs can be expensive, but a church plant should grow into a custom designed website.  There are a lot of professional-looking, high quality websites out there that cost nothing to just a few bucks a month.  One of my favorites is MinistryWebsites.Biz. Now I am a little biased, because I manage that business for Immerseme.com.  However, I am biased because I am a passionate advocate the CMS that they use and that is why they asked me to manage it for them.  The back-end admin that Immerseme uses is incredibly user friendly and SEO friendly as well.  Also I love their design templates because they look great from the start, but they can also be fully customized for a small fee.

Reaching Generation C

Generation C is more of a behavioral group than an age group. They are constantly connected to their friend via electronic devices and social media.  They often disconnect from face to face conversation in order to carry on a text conversation. Read more at  Reaching Generation C 

Impact Christmas

People from Westpoint Church joined with others in the community to celebrate Christ in East Winter Garden.  This video tells the story.

Discount Rate for Catalyst Orlando Feb 17

Experience the Catalyst Leadership Conference one day event in Orlando on Feb 17th. Get a discounted registration rate of $79 when you use rate code "GOBA" before Jan 27. Click the link below to register.

Catalyst One Day

www.catalystoneday.com

The Grace Card

Free movie night for you and your sweetie Friday, January 14 at 7pm in the Winter Garden / Windermere area. Call Sharon at 407-293-0450 for details.

ReproducingChurches.com January Gathering in Lakeland

Join missional leaders who are passionate about church multiplication in a reproducingchurches.com regional gathering in Lakeland, FL on January 27. The details are coming together. Read the reproducing churches update for more info.

Set a GOAL for leadership multiplication

Greater Orlando Adventures in Leadership is a growth journey based on relational peer groups that focus on leadership multiplication.  Making disciples involves growing the next generation of leaders.  Leadership does not take place unless new leaders are equipped and empowered. It should be the GOAL of every church leader to give all of their leadership responsibilities away to apprentice leaders. Church multiplication is dependent upon leadership multiplication. If you don't have the leaders that you need to start new teams, groups, or churches, there is a clog in your leadership system. GOAL helps you to regain focus on your primary responsibility through a journey along four paths: personal leadership, interpersonal leadership, team leadership, and organizational leadership. Why not set your GOAL for 2011 to be a better leader?

Does an organic church need a website?

About two weeks ago, Bill and Wanda Tummons started an organic church just outside of Orlando in Wedgefield, Florida.  They were able to get a good-looking 3 page website for 0 dollars and absolutely no monthly cost.  It  took just a few hours to get content loaded and a couple of days to get the site up and running.  The website is now searchable on Google.  Check out the Wedgefield Community Church website at: http://www.wedgefieldcommunitychurch.org.

Since organic churches are primarily relational, do they need websites?  I would say yes, because a website is a great way to tell your friends about your organic church.  Sometimes it's hard to explain what you are doing or hard for people to remember when and where you are meeting.  So, why not just ask them to check you out on the web?  A website is a great place to share your values and beliefs while letting people get a feel of what your gatherings are like.  You can post a link to your Facebook page and send out Tweets with links back to your site just like any other church.  You can also link to or list other organic churches in your network.  If you could get a low-cost or free website for your organic church, why not let the www know that you exist?

Help me solve a mystery

What is Paul talking about in these seven verses.  What is the mystery?

1. Ephesians 1:9
   And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,
   
2. Ephesians 3:3
   that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.
   
3. Ephesians 3:4
   In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into themystery of Christ,
   
4. Ephesians 3:6
   This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
   
5. Ephesians 3:9
   and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
   
6. Ephesians 5:32
   This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
   
7. Ephesians 6:19
   Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,