“And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Matthew 24:14 (NKJV)

There is a pervasive stereotype in the world today that boils church down to pews, dusty hymnals and counting the minutes until closing prayer. And while we haven’t done a good job in the past to change this, there is a movement in churches today toward cultural relevance. You see it in the physical buildings, in the way people are connecting to the Church, and in the use of nontraditional service elements such as contemporary music, movie and television clips, stage sets, dramatic presentations, and created media. But nowhere is there greater potential for advancement than in the use of the Internet to develop community and expand the reach of the church.

In this digital age of desktops, laptops, mobile devices and online social networking, we must develop a digital strategy that not only keeps up with the culture, but also leverages it so that our message can be available to everyone, everywhere, at any time. This can be done no matter where we are on the technology spectrum. From the church with no Web site to the church with a team dedicated to digital strategy, we all have a next step. Here is a small sampling of what is available to us:

The Web site

I know it sounds basic, but without a Web site, we may as well stop talking. It is the foundation upon which we build our strategy. Here we can offer easily accessible information about the history of our church, service times, directions and the current message series. We can offer a virtual tour of the facility and, through video, give people a taste of what to expect if they come to a service. We can integrate our Web site with our church management system and offer things such as online giving and registration for events. But these are just the basics. From here, the possibilities are endless.