The Networked Congregation: Embracing the Spirit of Experimentation

Digital technologies mean we live in a time of rapid change. Every day we have new digitized ways to learn, interact, and do business. What do these changes mean for religious congregations?

This booklet is meant to be a guidebook: a short introduction to the digital world of Web 2.0 technologies and a friendly, informed voice to help you navigate its challenges, promises, and pitfalls. As you will see, there is no quick answer: Social technologies are neither all bad nor all good, and deciding which fit your own congregation will necessarily be a process of trial and error.

To help bring this process to life, you will meet real-life individuals and congregations who are already navigating this new world. You will encounter a Northern Virginia church organized solely online—and see how its weekly gatherings are intimate, spirit-filled events, without the brick-and-mortar organization of a traditional church. You will also meet a campus ministry organizer who uses Facebook to connect with college students, even when using this social utility means making careful choices about privacy and personal boundaries. A blogging pastor, a church with a video ministry, a busy mom with a web consulting business for Jewish congregations—all these stories are meant to help you reflect on and evaluate your own situation.

The goal here is to move behind both the hype over Web 2.0 tools and the sense of dread they evoke in some. Wisdom lies somewhere between the two. And as your congregation—whether "born digital" or only slowly awakening to this new world—rides the current of digital change, you are sure to be surprised by what you discover.

Also see Congregational Resource Guide

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