Interacting in the Digital Space
This is the final installment of a 3 part series of articles, if you would like to read the first two articles then please click on the relevant link: Belonging to Church in the Digital-Age [Part 1 of 3] - What Does it Mean to Belong? AND Belonging to Church in the Digital-Age [Part 2 of 3] - Creating Community on Your Website
During the previous article, a few methods were mentioned in how to make your website inclusive so as to equip those who are not able to make church on Sunday and to encourage participation with church throughout the week. In this last article of the series, we will look at ways the church can use technology to interact in the digital space.
Society has grown accustomed to using technology as a way of interaction, with the rising popularity of social media, technology has become an integral element of our daily social lives. Although social media can be a useful tool, if not used correctly it can also become harmful. When it comes to a church setting there are often sensitive areas that are helpful to be brought into the open but social media is not necessarily the right environment to be sharing personal information.
When it comes to interacting together as a church within the digital space, the church needs to make sure that it is providing a safe place for members to do so.
With Church Edit websites this can be done by creating a members only area on the church website. This allows for the church to create a protected section of the website where members can login and access forums, member only pages and groups. So if there is a group in the church for those with issues of a sensitive nature, rather than creating a social media page for this group to interact, the church can have a specific area on its website just for logged in members of the church.
To find out more about the full features that Church Edit Pro offers, please click on this link.
Whilst having a members-only area of the website is a great way of creating interaction via your website, depending on the nature of the church you may want to consider a cloud-based administration system that allows church members to interact in a safe way, whilst providing the leadership team with the right pastoral tools to care for the various groups, in the most relevant and effective way; for example, the way that you interact with your Alpha group will differ from how you talk to the Missionaries in the church.
Our sister company, iKnow Church can help with pastoral and administrational tasks within the church by providing tools that will help not only members to communicate with each other but also provide the right insights into church life. By knowing your members better you can provide better care to them in the right context.
To find out more about iKnow Church then give a member of our team a call on 0121 651 1125, or you can take a look at our website www.iknowchurch.co.uk and of course you can email us on hello@iknowchurch.co.uk
You can read the other parts of the series here:
Belonging to Church in the Digital-Age [Part 1 of 3] - What Does it Mean to Belong?
Belonging to Church in the Digital-Age [Part 2 of 3] - Creating Community on Your Website
Belonging to Church in the Digital-Age [Part 3 of 3] - Interacting in the Digital Space
Our team are always on hand if you would like to discuss any of the elements featured in this article. You can call us on 0121 651 1120 or send an email to hello@churchedit.co.uk