Ministry in the Digital Age: Strategies and Best Practices for a Post-Website World, By David T. Bourgeois alt

Ministry in the Digital Age

Strategies and Best Practices for a Post-Website World

by David T. Bourgeois

Ministry in the Digital Age
ebook
  • Length: 144 pages
  • Published: April 16, 2013
  • Imprint: IVP
  • Item Code: 5996
  • ISBN: 9780830859962

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"Christianity is fundamentally a communication event. It is God revealing God's self to the world. And God uses a large variety of media to accomplish that revelation."

—Shane Hipps, author of Flickering Pixels

Viral videos and retweeted posts fill the air around us. In the midst of constant news feeds and mobile alerts, ministries have unprecedented opportunities to connect with people yearning for community with others and God.

But how? In this post-website world, it?s no longer enough to have a static website and hope that people find it. If you want to get your online content in front of your audience, you need to have a digital presence in the streams where they?re already active.

David Bourgeois offers a practical step-by-step guide for discerning and implementing a digital strategy for your ministry. He provides an overview of how Christians can use technology and communication media wisely, with concrete ideas for churches and nonprofit organizations. Discover how you can make the most of every opportunity to extend your ministry?s electronic reach and impact.

"Ministries come to Five Q to be successful on the Web. Often the missing ingredient isn't technical skill or design chops. What is lacking is a clear definition of success and a thoughtful strategy to achieve effective online ministry. Ministry in the Digital Age clearly reveals how people, processes and technology must work in concert to be successful. With helpful insights and penetrating questions, Dr. Bourgeois provides a framework that anyone involved with digital ministry can apply for creating a strategy that will result in kingdom growth. I highly recommend Ministry in the Digital Age to any ministry seeking to lay a strong foundation for a growing ministry in the digital age."

Chad Williams, CEO, Five Q Communications

"Ministry in the Digital Age is a timely and practical playbook every nonprofit leader must read. You'll find the critical 'what you need to know now' for establishing a digital footprint in this post-website world. Bourgeois elegantly frames the landscape, develops a case for urgency, and illustrates how the right strategy amplifies kingdom impact. Read this book and you'll understand, be inspired and be ready to accept your digital responsibility to reach the ends of the earth for Jesus Christ!"

Tami Heim, president and CEO, Christian Leadership Alliance, coauthor, @stickyJesus: how to live out your faith online

"Although the Internet has been with us for nearly 20 years, there are surprisingly few books explaining how to use it for ministry and evangelism. And titles published even a few years ago may now be out of date. In fact, considerable collective experience and wisdom about this area does exist, but online--piecemeal across thousands of blogs, webpages or recorded conference sessions. Many ministries waste time and money attempting to integrate the Internet into their work without understanding the nature of this new medium or being aware of evidence-based best practices. There is a big need for an integrated overview--and here it is. In this book, Dr. Bourgeois offers a framework of collated understanding that will help any ministry team."

Tony Whittaker, InternetEvangelismDay.com

"This book is a great starting point for church committees who do not yet have any form of digital ministry. But it also works well for churches that have started a variety of digital platforms before articulating a coherent plan."

Baptist Bulletin, May/June 2014

"Before you make any decisions to implement new technology in your ministry or make any changes to what you currently are doing, pick up a copy of Ministry in the Digital Age and let it guide your decisions."

Jake Kircher, YouthWorker Journal, May-June 2014
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CONTENTS

Introduction
1. What Hath God Wrought?
2. Getting in the Stream
3. Creating Change
4. The Digital Ministry Framework
5. Planning Your Digital Strategy
6. Implementing and Running Your Digital Ministry
7. Privacy and Security Considerations for Digital Ministry
Conclusion
Appendix: Digital Tool Categories
Appendix: genesys11 Research Report: Best Practices in Internet Ministry
Appendix: Church web usage survey

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David T. Bourgeois

David T. Bourgeois (PhD, Claremont Graduate University) is director of innovation and associate professor of information systems at Crowell School of Business at Biola University. He has worked in information systems at Fortune 500 companies in such roles as systems analyst, programmer, project leader, trainer, and consultant. Bourgeois has been researching and consulting on the use of digital technologies by churches, ministries, and other faith-based institutions for the past several years. He has a passion to help these organizations use digital tools to more effectively love God and love others.