When I signed up with NaBloPoMo, I debated what I was going to do on Sunday. See, this blog is mainly for work, although I throw a ton of personal and family stuff in there, so I asked myself if blogging on Sunday counted as working on the Sabbath. I’m still up in the air on this, but I think at least for today, I’ve found a good solution. It might even fit with the theme of my blog. I’ll write about spiritual matters. That’s as good as doing my home teaching, right?
Honestly, I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog offering examples of organizations and Web sites that understand their audiences and the interactivity they desire, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in doing online because I think it’s innovative, and I don’t think I’m alone. First, the LDS Church offers video and audio links to its semi-annual conference twice a year in more than 80 languages. In fact, tonight I could have watched the church’s First Presidency Christmas Devotional online (except I have BYU-TV now, whoo hoo!!) This is a great way to reach church members who can’t travel to Salt Lake City or to a local meeting house with a satellite dish. I may be biased, but I think the LDS church has always done a good job making its messages as accessible to its members as possible.
On the same site, I can access all the materials I need to teach a church lesson, including other videos and an online scriptural database that lets me cut and copy references into Word.
However, I think within the last couple of years, the LDS church has reached out to people who have questions about the church even more. Now I think my skeptical journalist friends will call this superficial, but as a member, I appreciate having a Web site like Mormon.org where I can direct friends that have questions about the church. I even watch some of the video testimonials on there sometimes when I need a spiritual boost. The other avenue that I really enjoy is the LDS church’s YouTube channel. Each week, a new “Mormon Message” that combines insight from church leaders with professionally produced video is posted. I try to watch the new one every Sunday morning. It puts me in the correct frame of mind for church services and for facing the week ahead.
Maybe this isn’t revolutionary. I’m not familiar with how other churches use the Web. If readers of this post have insight, please let me know. The Cyberbrains were finalists for a Knight Challenge Grant to help a Columbia, Mo. congregation start a Web site that its parishioners could contribute to. A quick YouTube search brought up a channel from the Episocopal Church with 123 posts, and I’m sure there are others.
My point is organizations that are using technology in innovative ways have something to share with all of us who study or even use the Internet. Churches might be a fertile ground because they are in the business of reaching and retaining people, and they claim a higher purpose that making money. In fact, you could call it community building.
Sound familiar news organizations? Jeremy and Clyde, you’ve got to finish that book that compares the reaction to the rise of the citizen journalism to the church’s reaction to the Guttenberg press. Let me know if I can help.
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