Church leadership consultant, Phil Cooke has a highly read article that among other things challenges leaders to “explore the media” this year. Here is what Phil said in the segment:

The latest study indicates the average American family watches TV and surfs the Internet an average of 10 hours each day. Compared to your time in the pulpit of a couple of hours each week, who has the most influence? Unless pastors and ministry leaders learn the power of the media and how to use it effectively, we’ll continue our not-so-slow slide into oblivion.

Discuss movies and TV programs with your congregation, and teach them how to properly prioritize the media. And think more about your media outreach – even the smallest church or ministry can create an effective Web site or energize their graphic design. The battle for influence in your congregation’s life has begun, and you’d better get into the fight.

While Phil’s article was written primarily to pastors and church leaders, there are applications for any Christian leader considering their next steps in the use of new media.

Big Vision, Big Goals, Big Faith 

Absolutely, if you haven’t already, make it your mission this year to review, analyze and investigate the new media universe. Discovery is essential to helping you determine where it is you want to take your organization and your people.

Next, answer this question:

What’s the single biggest thing you can imagine that will enable your organization to become a leader in the use of new media in the next 12 months?

Think about what role new media plays in your organization right now. Think about where you would like to be. Think lost souls. Think customer access to Christian new media channels.

Think Big. Ultimately, this will lead to a Big Vision, with Big Goals, requiring a Big Faith in God to accomplish.

Things are changing so fast with media now, that you cannot afford to aim for small, incremental steps. You need a game changer. You need to do something that will change the way your organization looks at media from the top down. Something that will force you and all those you influence to reevaluate preconceived ideas about media, to come up with bold ideas, and to develop new methods that make implementation of your Big Goal practical. Next, make a list of your most important steps. Start working the list today.

Young people being targeted

If you need more motivation, keep these stats in mind: Time spent with computers has tripled over the past decade among kids age 8 to 18. The bulk of this group’s time is spent on social media, followed by games, video sites and instant messaging. The average kid packs a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content into a daily seven and a half hours of media exposure.

So that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:11

Youth are at the center of an exploding digital culture. Alcoholic beverage and other companies have stampeded into this Wild West environment to create an array of “advertising experiences” to glorify their products to young people

Christian leaders must also provide great online experiences to reach and equip younger generations, or risk being left in the dust.

Like Phil said, it’s vital that you “get in the fight.” This time next year you will have stories to tell of how your team moved far beyond the blackboard to create unique digital approaches.

What makes media Christian has been a topic of discussion for decades.

I have come across renewed debate on a few blogs about whether new media should be labeled Christian.

The Christian New Media Awards & Conference sparked one of these point-counter point discussions.

At the outset, my feeling is that what we label our media is not worth dividing over, but I still think we can have an interesting and friendly exchange about it.

We are speaking about created media and distribution.

So, what does it mean when we identify our website, app, network, channel or created work as Christian? Differences of opinion tend to fall along a continuum between two points of view.

The Holy Huddle view, sees the term Christian media usually as a poor imitation of mainstream media, too church-like and too narrow to attract outsiders.

The Great Commission view, sees Christian media as a means for reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, with the point being…world evangelization.

There isn’t a “one size fits all” approach. Christian media for church, ministry and entrepreneurial endeavors is quite diverse.

Karla Faye Tucker (convicted of murder in Texas and put to death) was asked by fellow inmates to attend church and Bible studies but wasn’t interested. She came to Christ when a group from Teen Challenge came to the Harris County Jail with a puppet show.

After spending more than two decades working with Christians and nonbelievers in every aspect of the media world, I offer my own seven-point definition of Christian New Media.

Christian Media 2.0…

1. Sees media as God’s gift and uses it to proclaim biblical truth.

2. Is purposeful and aims for the highest artistic standards attainable.

3. Matches messaging parameters – teaching/preaching, evangelizing, positive Christian themes  – with the needs of the target audience.

4. Encourages and empowers the tribe for living faithfully in the culture and equips them for carrying out their mission in the world.

5. Promotes good works.

6. Seizes every media and medium for carrying the love of God to neighbors, nations and future generations.

7. Works at not being shaped by the world and asks two questions at every turn, “What’s the point? Is God being glorified?”

Beyond medium and message

For God shall bring every work into judgment. Ecclesiastes 12:14

A Christian puppet show, radio show, webcast or digital network may be of no interest to some. That’s ok. Minor flaws aside though, God has used the tribe, its media, and its networks to save millions of lives.

It’s not what the media and platform are labeled that should matter most to Christians. It’s what is done with the gifts. As one Christian media analyst aptly stated, it is about having “God-honoring motives, biblical discernment and honed skill.”

Call it what you will.

What would happen if a Christian media network offered to distribute streaming video content of churches and ministries to national and local audiences, at “no cost?”

The idea would be to create a syndication network with the capability of delivering video content to any device and media platform, “free” to the content provider.

A free live video streaming channel for content publishers. A free unlimited on-demand gospel experience for users.

Could a free high-quality video streaming model work on a regional market basis?

Let’s take a look at five reasons why that idea could work for the gospel.

Ignite a renaissance in local religious broadcasting. The next generation of communicators is using digital media, primarily video. A national network of local digital video channels, in partnership with local media pros, would give innovative churches and ministries a cost-effective way to bring their messages into distant regional markets.

Provide a transition path from traditional to digital media. Streaming local terrestrial audio signals is not winning the online relevance war. New streaming, cloud services are changing how people discover, listen to, view and share content. Fresh high-quality video gospel content that is regularly updated and added to could be the innovation and differentiation local broadcasters are looking for to build a digital future.

Expose larger numbers online to the gospel. Holy Spirit inspired, life changing, community-driven video content will attract viewers. Users are watching the gospel online in record numbers now, as we reported on Monday. The mass audience is available and they continue to watch more videos. According to Comscore, a growing 180 million U.S. Internet users engaged in a record 6.9 billion viewing sessions in July 2011. And each user watched an average of 18.5 hours of online video content.

Offer patrons (sponsors and/or donors) the privilege of creating digital platforms. A significant portion of the money needed to sustain commercial Christian radio and television comes from national media ministries paying for airtime. The cost of distributing video is getting cheaper by the day. If those savings were passed on to gospel communicators, I think Christian business leaders would be ready to step-up and help revolutionize how local media ministry is carried out in the U.S. And while they’re at it, establish a new digital advertising medium. The time is right. Video ads reached 49 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 35.9 times during July 2011.

Removes another barrier to full-time digital ministry.  The enemy works non-stop at building barriers — cost, complexity, staffing, lethargy, or whatever — between those that deliver the gospel and those that need to hear it. We are to “Remove whatever the enemy is using to blind them and keep them from trusting Christ.” Collaborating to provide live streaming video free to ministries could smash through one of those walls.

Can streaming video syndication of the gospel succeed if it relies on generating financial support primarily from patrons rather than pastors? Oh yes! It can! And a team of talented and dedicated professionals is working together to give the breakthrough idea life.

It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. Isaiah 55:11

None of us with legacy operations would start the same Christian media businesses or media ministries if we were starting them now.

Digital technology has changed the way every form of media functions.

Communication has been changed forever.

The good news is…God has provided the opportunity for a “do-over.”

We are not talking about the kind of do-over that means what was done before was a mistake.

It most emphatically was not.

Hundreds of millions worldwide have come to true faith in Christ through traditional media.

We are not talking about a “mulligan.”

All the previous efforts will not be stricken from the record. For all those who believed in Christ through media, “He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)

And the reward for those who, down through the decades, have been faithful in witnessing for Christ through traditional media is ‘the crown of righteousness.’ (2 Timothy 4:8)

Still, many thought radio and television would make world evangelization possible.

Perhaps they have, similar to John being sent to ‘prepare the way’ for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 1:2-3). Traditional media workers, who quickly figured out how to leverage technology for the gospel, have created a favorable environment  and made it easier for those who will be charged with completing the task.

This do-over is a God-given second chance to complete the Great Commission, using media … digital media.

What would you do differently if given the opportunity to start-over? One thing I would suggest is to work like a startup.

That means:

There is a time to build. Ecclesiastes 3:3

1. Work fast and agile.
2. Have very few people.
3. Use a minimum amount of resources.
4. No big shiny offices.
5. Everyone shares responsibilities.
6. Eliminate silos.
7. Share knowledge and collaborate.
8. Build off core principles and ideas.
9. Test live, at scale, in context, on the Internet.
10. Make the smallest things you can create, push it out, and get data back.

Create an entirely new business unit. A new business model. A new revenue center. A new brand. Start prototyping in months, not years. Validate ideas after the prototype is made.

Now is the time for Christians to step-up. Make new things to communicate the gospel. It is time for a “do-over.”

Media curation is the professional practice of aggregating media content from multiple sources.

Someone sorts, categorizes and presents the assembled content to create a unique experience for the end user.

What is Christian media curation?

In aggregating and curating Christian media, the content is tied to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christian media professionals often create content platforms because of a conviction to facilitate communication of historic, traditional, Christian views.

Faith-based media content aggregators may also adopt “doctrinal statements,” require content providers to have a statement of faith, or hold membership in national organizations to maintain high standards.

Christian broadcasters have been successfully curating media for decades.

They have organized content from the most distinguished and gifted teachers and preachers in the nation. Christian broadcasters exist to work alongside the church in meeting the spiritual needs of non-believers and believers alike.

Because broadcasters perfected 20th century business and ministry models, they have been able to perform this service at no cost to the end user.

Why will Christian media curation be important in the digital world?

Like it or not, technology has fundamentally and irreversibly changed media distribution in the 21st century. The Internet has made it possible to find and access religious content from a variety of sources. You can have it delivered via your email inbox or smartphone.

The ability to do this is powerful, when you know who or what you are looking for. Or, you have been equipped to determine the theological legitimacy of content from sources you are unfamiliar with.

But… What about the millions and millions of people that don’t know where to go, or who to turn to for spiritual guidance? What about those who don’t yet know what “truth” is, much less “sound doctrine?”

The large and unwieldy volume of religious content being created and pushed out can overwhelm mature believers. For a person outside a Christian frame of reference, the idea of trying to determine what online sources can be trusted on spiritual matters can be a nonstarter.

Worse, with false teaching from cults and world religions as accessible online as the true gospel, seekers can stumble down the wrong road as easily as the right one. Many unsuspecting people will be lured into potentially dangerous influences.

A few of the largest ministries and churches may be able to advertise as a means of breaking out from under the avalanche of deceptive religious content online. Not many though. They need help.

Five ways media aggregators will serve the mission of the Church

They will:

1. Build critical mass awareness for those who have established the credibility and trust for proclaiming the true gospel of Christ.

2. Make it possible for users to easily find and access reliable content on the web, in the cloud, everywhere.

3. Leverage technology to manage the volume of excellent Christian resources with search, tagging and sharing solutions.

So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. John 8:36

4. Provide experiences tailored to people unfamiliar with church and, through human touch, help them take relevant steps toward the Savior.

5. Develop new business models, so the Good News that sets captives free will remain free for all God brings to it in the digital world.