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Book Reviews

The Blogging Church

By March 10, 2008July 19th, 2014No Comments

the-blogging-church.jpgSharing the Story of Your Church through Blogs

BRIAN BAILEY with TERRY STORCH, John Wiley & Sons, 199 Pages, Paper, $19.95

If you want to educate yourself better on this phenomenon called blogging, this volume should prove valuable. With fewer than 200 pages, it is a relatively quick and easy read.

The authors present an informative survey ranging from topics and content that good blogs should cover to the programs and technologies involved in blogging. Technical terms such as “RSS feeds” and “podcasting” are explained in practical language.

The authors have also included interesting and helpful conversations with established bloggers and church leaders, some of whom would advocate approaches to ministry not shared by the reviewer or readers of the Baptist Bulletin. That being said, even if you do not share the perspectives of these men, you should find their thoughts on communicating through blogs helpful in formulating an approach to blogging. The goal is to engage people through your own philosophical and theological framework.

The Blogging Church does not assume that blogging is a one-size-fits-all medium. Rather, readers are supplied criteria to evaluate whether or not they should even start a blog. If one determines that a blog will be a useful communication tool for their church rather than a trendy techno-toy, the book supplies helpful suggestions to avoid common blogging mistakes and pitfalls, such as cut-and-pasted content or becoming obsessed with counter statistics. The author also gives help to church leaders who need to reevalute the time they spend online, such as: “What is my motivation? Am I addicted? Is it time to quit?”

An effective church blog will be a tool for forging and developing relationships with those in and out of your congregation—The Blogging Church can help you begin to understand how that process might look for you and your ministry.

Greg Linscott is a graduate of Faith Baptist Bible College and ministers as a pastor in Marshall, Minn. He blogs at greglinscott.wordpress.com.