The Internet as a Mission Field – Is Anyone Searching for Your Ministry? (Church Outreach 2.0 – 2 of 3)

Posted December 13th, 2009 by Jenn Sierra

UPDATE 12/15/09: Click HERE to Download the .pdf of Church 2.0 – Online Outreach (All Three Parts)

The following is part of a series on Web 2.0 for Christians, and Christian Leaders. See Church 2.0 for a list of the posts to-date.

With the almost daily bombardment we’re often subjected to of e-mail spam, virus warnings, phishing scams, cyber-security issues, and other sorts of “bad behavior,” online, it is sometimes hard to remember that the vast majority of internet users are “real people.”

No, they often are not using their real names (see the paragraph above if you’re wondering why that is the case), and yes, interacting with them online sometimes feels very different from interacting with people in person – but they are real people. They have real needs, questions, concerns, dreams, and hurts, very much like the people who wander into our church Congregations every week looking for answers and solutions.

There are some disadvantages to trying to communicate in the online environment, particularly without the help of video. Some people’s writing skills are a little lacking. Humor, satire and sarcasm can be difficult to communicate without facial expressions and tone of voice. Even with video, there is a delay, and all of these electronic communications take a bit of practice.

However, there are also some advantages to communicating online. The relative anonymity of the web environment gives people a certain amount of freedom to share things they might not feel free to share in person. The opportunities for sharing the Gospel are abundant. I’ve been amazed through my work on the Ft. Hard Knox project what people are able to share.

Also, due to international and nearly border-less nature of the web I’ve also been amazed at the fascinating and rich backgrounds of the people I encounter online. I’ve met folks from all over the world and across all class and cultural divides that often exist in person. I would most likely never have an opportunity to meet many of these people in person. It has truly been a rewarding learning experience.

To continue our theme, Does ‘Go ye into all the world,’ include the internet…Here are just a few examples of the types of “real” people that are often seeking resources or information online, and in bold, examples of the search terms they might enter into a search engine to try to find this information:

  • People who are looking for a new church to attend, in their area or online: Methodist Church Aurora CO, Church Denver, online church services
  • People recovering from trauma (as a result of military service or domestic abuse): PTSD, trauma, post trauma recovery
  • International students and workers in cultural transition: ESL conversation, Korean Church Services, servicio en espanol
  • People seeking deeper information about current events they’ve heard or read about in the news: 2012 and the Bible, Should Tiger Woods get a divorce, just war
  • People looking for information on physical health and healing: Christian doctors, supernatural healing, is smoking a sin
  • People needing financial help or information about how to better manage their finances: money root of all evil, Bible prosperity, unemployment resources
  • People living through the grief of the loss of a loved one: depression, grief, life after death

Does your church have resources or offer information on any of these (or similar) topics? Of course it does! Would people be able to find you online using any of these search terms? Would they be able to find you if they were searching for what you preached about this Sunday? Would they be able to find you online using ANY search term other than the name of your church or the name of your church’s Pastor?

If you’re not happy with the answers to these questions, please stay tuned. I’m preparing a list of suggestions that can be relatively easily and inexpensively implemented on an existing church website to help your church start using “SEO” (Search Engine Optimization), and “SMO” (Social Media Optimization) more effectively.

Meanwhile – would you like to see what else people are searching for right now? Here’s a great list of links to today’s most popular keyword searches on all of the major search engines: What People Search For – Most Popular Keywords

 

 

pdfdownloadWelcome to the new Church 2.0 category on Ft. Hard Knox. Here, you will find great resources for any Christian wanting to become more effective in online activism, especially in Church outreach.

If you haven’t already, be sure to download our free .pdf file on Church 2.0.

Finally, if you use a feed reader, you’ll want to add FHK’s Church 2.0 feed to your reading list!

 

 

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