Outreach 2.0

By Bill Seaver

Ready or Not, Here It Comes.

Let’s be honest: It may be difficult for your church to transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. (If computers give you a migraine, you’re not alone.) Many churches are still grappling with Web 1.0, the Internet as we’ve come to know it over the last decade—mostly static Web sites, limited person-to-person interaction and sky-high price tags. It seems too difficult to think about adopting Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, photo-sharing sites, online video, podcasts and social networking sites, though they have unlimited outreach potential. Later, you think. Not right now.

But if your church isn’t ready to explore Web 2.0 now, I’d suggest that technological changes aren’t the real problem—most likely, it’s the attitudes behind them. I glimpsed this attitude during a recent consultation with a small Christian publishing company that wanted me to evaluate its Web site. Whatever suggestions I made, the representative repeatedly informed me his organization wasn’t “ready for that," and just wanted suggestions for general online strategy.

Granted, he’s right—his company isn’t “ready” for Web 2.0. It’s a 50-year-old company still operating the same way it did when it started, and its current Web strategy was progressive about five years ago. The fact that it’s not ready, however, is all the more reason to head down this path. If the publisher doesn’t adopt a new attitude toward change, it will always be behind. Think about it: In 2010, when the company is finally ready for Web 2.0 strategies, they will already be outdated, and the pattern continues on.

Does this sound like your church? If you’ve talked about “sprucing up the Web site” recently but dismissed the idea of “those new-fangled blogs and podcasts,” there’s a good chance you share the mentality of this publisher. You're thinking Web 1.0 improvements when you should be thinking Web 2.0 improvements, and that’s just not going to cut it in 2007. 

But let me ease your mind. Web 2.0 isn’t as hard as it sounds. For one thing, it flourishes on one underlying principle—interactivity between people—at little-to-no cost. Blogs, for example, are often free. And transitioning to Web 2.0 strategies doesn't mean that all your good Web 1.0 ideas are thrown out the window. Instead, new technology is built upon a Web 1.0 framework to enhance a stronger delivery and more direct outreach opportunities for your church. To state you “aren’t ready" for Web 2.0 really means you aren’t ready to take advantage of easy, effective, free tools that will spread your message further and faster.

What if the representative of that small publisher went back to his president and said, "Hey, I just want you to know about some communication tools we could implement on the Web site that will bring us to the front end of the tech curve and increase our exposure. And it really won't cost us much money." Who knows what amazing growth might be in store for that company, if it just embraced the future? Are you willing to have a similar conversation with your elders or leadership team?

If your church isn’t ready, then you’re the best possible candidate for Web 2.0.

Bill Seaver is a new media (web 2.0) consultant for churches and ministries. He's also an avid blogger at MicroExplosion.com.  For questions or article ideas, contact Bill at fourthbill@gmail.com.

-Outreach magazine, "Web Exclusives," January/February 2007

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