I am in the process of doing research for my next book which will be about the use of social media and raising funds in the church. To that end I have been reading books and articles about this new explosive innovation and what it might and might not mean for stewardship. What has amazed me is not only the growth of the Social Media movement but how fast it is changing. One book that I am reading was published in 2007 and has no mention of Facebook. They continually talk about MySpace, a site that is now far distant to Facebook in terms of subscribers. Twitter barely gets mentioned at all and yet it has exploded across the world.

What this has shown me is how fast things change. What was once hot can be cold in almost the blink of an eye. The fast paced world in which we live in is a challenge for all of us. From a church perspective how does this impact us? From a stewardship stand point what does this mean?

Here are my thoughts about the speed of change.

While change is inevitable the Truth stands! The way we do ministry might change but our ministry will not. We are doing what our fore fathers did, communicating the Gospel message. The medium changes but not the message! The old saying applies, keep the main thing the main thing.

Churches need to stay up to date on current communication trends. We regularly visit church websites to gain information about potential clients. I can not tell you how many churches have web sites that have last year’s newsletter posted as the last entry. The calendar is out dated. Sometimes the pastor is not the current one at the church! More and more people will evaluate you on how well you handle current communication trends. It is imperative that you have a good communication strategy.

Not everything that can be done needs to be done. Many years ago when TV was new and churches were trying to utilize this new tool I worked closely with Mike Huckabee. I knew Mike before Fox News! I remember telling him one time that just because something could be done does not mean that it must be done. We would be wise to remember that as we consider trendy approaches. I know I can order my pizza online but I still pick up the telephone to do so. Our world increasingly is technical but at the same time people still crave for the individual touch. Nothing will ever replace that no matter what new Social Media tools come on the scene.

People are not as impressed with how much you know as they are with how much you care. John Naisbitt wrote a book many years ago about the coming technology explosion. Still he maintained that people want high tech AND high touch. In the church we should be wedding the two with the mind that high touch is always more important than high tech.

The best uses of Social Media for the church will be to get people into real community. If we forget the basics of discipleship in our quest to be hip and trendy we will miss our calling. Ultimately what people need is a true sense of community. Have you ever been to the funeral of someone not connected to a church? Then have you been to a funeral of someone that was? There is a vast difference. The churches that will thrive in this new environment will be the ones that use technology as a means to an end not the end itself!

Using Social Media to garner contributions will result in smaller gains than traditional methods. If I have found one thing from my studies thus far it is that Social Media produces small donations that are not consistently maintained. I am not saying you should not have a presence here because I think you should. However you should see it as a starting point or a point of entry into more traditional approaches to stewardship. Churches putting all their eggs in the Social Media basket will fail miserably. While some money can be gained through Social Media the tried and the true ways are still how the majority of your funds will come in.

My advice is to not throw the baby out with the bath water! In fact that is the working title of my new book, “Throwing the Baby Out.”

Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group