Using Common Media for Church Growth

(My first published article, in Christian Renewal!)
Spotts, Michael. “Using Common Media For Church Growth.” Christian Renewal, May 18, 2011, 25-27.

In discussing the best use of social media in relation to Church growth, it’s neither as a veteran church planter nor seasoned missionary that I’m able to address the issue. I speak instead from the vantage of an avid user and beneficiary of certain aspects of modern networking. For the past eight years, my work in photography and Web design has revolved around an online presence. More meaningfully, the Internet served as the gateway to my own membership in a Reformed Church, but I’ll come to that later. What I would like to do is open up a conversation on the differences between different types of media for growing local bodies of believers.

USING NEW TECHNOLOGY IS NOTHING NEW

When it comes to turning communication technologies into means of extending the evangel, Solomon’s words ring truer than ever — “there is nothing new under the sun.” For two millennia the Church has capitalized on every advance in the art. From the transition of scrolls to portable codices, and the printing press; the transatlantic jaunt of sermons by telegraph in the late 1800’s, up to the present transmission of text-message invitations to evening services, we have adapted developments in media to suit the purposes of the Great Commission.

THE RIGHT AND WRONG USE OF COMMON MEDIA

For purposes of this discussion, I’ll distinguish between two sorts of media, ordained and common. Ordained media pertains to the instituted means by which God ordinarily speaks to His people, namely, Word and Sacrament. Common media, on the other hand, involves every form of communication common to man, which can be used to bring people into contact with the Church in her ordained ministry. No doubt, harnessing common media for Christ’s sake sometimes leads to miscommunication about what constitutes true Christian life.  Continue at Michael Spotts