“Times are a chagin,” in the past when people were looking for community they either went to one of the many churches, found throughout town, whether it be Lutheran, Methodist, or Baptist or they went “where everybody knows your name” the local watering hole. And though communities at the local bar still appear to be thriving, church communities are not as strong as they used to be, gone are the glory days of Awana and the United Methodist Women. Today communities are built digitally, communities powerful enough to topple governments, and as small as a group of stay-at-home moms who want to get together to share recipes and parenting advice. Churches that are growing, that are being intentional and staying relevant are ditching newsletters and group emails and are creating groups and pages on facebook, uploading sermons to YouTube, setting-up linked-in accts, and tweeting discussion questions to their congregations. We are in the social media revolution, and if the church doesn’t jump aboard this high-speed train, it will be left at the waste side and continue the decline in attendance and relevancy.
If it is the job of a pastor to help create vibrant community, then their best tool is only a keystroke away… social media! I have been looking into a social media platform for Northern Light. This new resource is called tableproject (http://tableproject.org/) The Table is a relational, online web application, custom-tailored for the churches.
They aim to engage the community, empower leaders, and move people beyond the pews and into authentic, life-changing friendships. This is a free resource, and being used by many large churches in the area (Bethlehem Baptist, Substance Church, etc.), it appears to be a great platform, and tool to build community in our church. If anyone has any experience with this platform I would love to hear about it. Please check it out and let me know what you think.
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