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.

Mark Zuckerberg announced more changes to the Facebook experience at Thursday’s annual f8 developers conference in San Francisco.

The revamped profile as featured in this video is called “Timeline.”

Media is now an important part of Facebook’s strategy to maintain its position as the world’s No. 1 social network.

The new features will tightly integrate music, movies and other media.

Facebook’s new tools include: the music initiative, onsite viewing, and Open Graph, a platform for developers to exchange information and the heart of Facebook’s effort to become the social center of the web.

One digital news source put Facebook at the forefront of a paradigm shift already underway.

Time will tell if the new features deliver as promised.

For Christian media organizations the Facebook changes signify the continuing shift of audiences and every sector of society into social and digital media.

I found three implications and opportunities for gospel media in the Facebook changes.

1. Partnering increases engagement and revitalizes businesses. Facebook is shrewd and smart in the whole notion of bringing partners and even competitors together. With Timeline, they are working with movie and TV partners, music and publisher partners to bring in their content while they focus on what they do best – the social experience. For many of the companies getting on board, the goal is to revitalize and extend their platforms. One exec said that partnering with Facebook could help the company grow to twice its current size.

The more Christian organizations create Great Commission partnerships, the more people will discover the gospel, the more likely they will be to engage. If they are more engaged they are more likely to financially support the initiatives that God is using to bless their lives. It’s time to partner up. God will bring the increase.

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. Luke 16:10

2. Integration enhances experience. Facebook shines at integrating media with experience. Their new capabilities not only integrate streaming music and video but, for the first time, add-in real-time interaction among users. Click on the name of a song or movie or begin listening or watching in real time with your friend.

The entire gospel experience is meant to be a shared experience. That’s why social and digital media are a natural for ministry. The opportunity for Christian IT architects is to connect the dots between creating content for new media, digital distribution, and the real-time sharing of Christian’s lives with seekers.

Efficient technologies now allow the creation of entirely new ways to help people find gospel oriented content to watch, listen to or read. Through social media, those people can broadcast what they are watching and the exciting things God is doing in their lives to others through various apps. People could then add apps to their online profiles to show what they are learning and experiencing. When all those pieces are integrated into a holistic ministry platform, we could see mind-blowing momentum in digital missions.

We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. 1 Thessalonians 2:8

3. Reinventing accelerates growth. Facebook is always reinventing and moving fast. Pushing toward the future. They have a vision and it keeps them growing. 800 million and counting…

Imagine what could happen if Christian media organizations were restructured to embrace change, variation, newness and innovation. The more we innovate and let go of whatever holds us back, the faster we can grow. There is an inherent driver for this innovation. It is Jesus Christ himself and the consuming passion for using media to share the gospel with as many people as we can before He returns.

See! He is coming in the clouds. Every eye will see Him. Even the men who killed Him will see Him. All the people on the earth will cry out in sorrow because of Him. Revelation 1:7

Some Christian organizations are building community and doing outreach “exclusively” in partnership with secular social media networks. Is there a risk in aligning the personal spiritual development endeavors of ministry so closely with web companies that have no obligation to support those activities?

A sage king said, “The prudent carefully consider their steps.” Proverbs 14:15

In this conversation, let’s consider a few of the implications of creating online ministry connections inside secular media platforms only.

Online ministry connection is any church related activity mediated by technology and taking place outside normal church interactions.

That would include evangelism, discipleship and prayer; creating conversations within the community; tapping into the collective reservoir of information, resources, and knowledge within the community; and bringing people together to work on causes.

We are not talking about using social media for setting up a church page, for content sharing, or for marketing purposes. We are thinking through what it might mean for a church to put all of its media ministry outreach eggs in one basket.

Simplistically, the decision would go something like this.

Church leadership has decided it is time to facilitate online connections between its members and attendees, and do online outreach to the larger community. The money, materials and staff have been allocated. One or more secular networks will be chosen to host the church’s online ministry platform.

Would a strategy like that have any downsides? Maybe not, but given the nature of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12), it wouldn’t hurt to consider the risks, I believe.

Three questions to consider

These are a just a few of the questions that church leadership should ask to start the thinking process.

• Is it possible to adapt the systems and processes of a secular company to accommodate a church’s policies for security, privacy, or protection of data and intellectual property?
• Would it matter if, now or in the future, the ‘Terms of Use’ of a social network precluded members of the church’s community from speaking out on crucial social issues?
• Should a church continue to support and enable through exclusive partnership a secular media company that publicly supports anti-Biblical causes?

Other solutions

Leadership might also consider alternatives. Is there a social media platform built by Christians for churches?

Could integrating two solutions for ministry be a solution; using a secular company’s platform for evangelism and outreach, and partnering with a Christian media company for ‘going deeper?’

Just some thoughts.

Intuitive interface, professional support, customization with apps, timely updates, excellent design, etc. would be a necessity for any solution. This is where we say, if you needed a heart surgeon, would you only consider a Christian doctor? Probably not. You would want the best, most qualified, most experienced heart surgeon specialist available.

Christian media companies need to offer services comparable to secular companies and be able to help a church achieve its mission. Churches shouldn’t be expected to use schlocky products or services just because they are sold by Christians.

No retreat

To be sure, this is NOT a call to retreat from secular social media ministry. I am an advocate for Internet evangelism. It is the focal point of our posts here, here, and here.

Jesus said, “Wherever you go in the world, preach the Good News.” That means everywhere people are.

Even the President, who made a live appearance on Facebook for an afternoon town hall, knows that people are congregating online.

Christians and ministries must be active in those spaces. Responsible, professional practices observed. Hearts open, ready to serve, creatively and sensitively engaging the masses in every possible way.

Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. Matthew 10:16

Every church has a communications center for the spiritual warfare it wages. And, in a war, the first thing the enemy tries to knock out is communications. If partnering exclusively with secular media companies for outreach has risks, taking steps to have contingencies would seem prudent.

Social Media is now a primary form of worldwide communication. When making decisions about engagement in this space, this is a time to “be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

Questions: What other questions should church leadership ask when considering partnerships in ministry exclusively with secular media companies? Do you see any other risks?

Trying to keep up with trends in the constantly changing, ever-expanding world of technology and new media is a daunting challenge.

Inexact science, predicting future trends is. I will leave the sophisticated research to the professionals.

Watching, on the other hand, is very important.

History has many examples of those who failed to grasp the opportunities revealed by trends.

When you have time, I’ve listed four reports to help you examine the emerging global trends that are reshaping Christian media.

Trendsetting thrills and chills

View from the top: global technology trends and performance, Ernst & Young – Benchmarks, insights and questions around communications equipment, computers, Internet, IT services, software, and smart mobility.

10 Social Media Trends for 2011, Entrepreneur.com – A take on social trends that are on the horizon next year. From plug-ins, to location-based marketing initiatives, to the move to higher bandwidth.

7 Digital Media Trends of 2011, Daniel Anstandig, President McVay New Media Consulting – Digital ad targeting technology, Audience-driven programming, Social networking for broadcasters, Local retail ad networks and more.

Mobile Ministry Forum – 16 mission strategists representing 15 organizations focused exclusively on the mobile platform’s potential role in the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Rebuilding the platform

In 1996, I began watching how traditional church and broadcast media were adapting to the changing world of global communications. In 2011, I think a full scale reconstruction of the legacy platform is under way.

Christian media has always been something “they” did. Radio and television stations, publishers, broadcast ministries. The expansion of electronic media platforms – Internet, mobile, social -  has empowered every Christian to become a communicator.

YOU are Christian media!

Individuals, as well as organizations, are now leveraging the most powerful communication technologies tools ever created to do the work of the gospel.

People around the world are keen to learn, improve and share ways to use digital tools for ministry. They are hungry for information and help.

Twelve communications improvements

With a deep sense that God has opened a door to an astonishing array of opportunities through information technology, doers are coming forward to set the pace of the reconstruction:

1. Extending complete Christian community to the Church online – teaching, personal interaction, stories, prayer, sharing faith.
2. Creating tools and resources for one-on-one Internet evangelism in local and cross-cultural environments.
3. Developing free Bible applications to run on mobile platforms.
4. Harnessing the power of film and digital media to communicate God’s Word.
5. Offering college courses to help the next generation of leaders learn how-to use the Internet and social media for ministry.
6. Establishing a peer learning community of Church and ministry IT people.
7. Writing books inspiring and challenging Christians to live their faith online.
8. Forming online communities to share spiritual experiences, distribute inspirational content and do social good.
9. Building church systems for content management, search engine optimization and search engine marketing.
10. Providing software solutions to support effective ministry, discipleship, and decision making.
11. Hosting web-based workshops to teach church leaders and volunteers about the latest technologies.
12. Initiating an annual worldwide focus day to showcase the potential of the Web for effective evangelism.

Cross-organizational collaboration and non-traditional partnerships and alliances are starting to emerge. Christian organizations are combining resources in new ways to have the greatest possible impact in their communities and globally for the gospel. These are trends that have encouraged me greatly.

Growth trends

Statistical data shows that a strong foundation is being put in place. Two mind-blowing reports paint the picture:

On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18

Global Media Outreach, an Internet ministry based in Campbell, CA reported for 2010 that it had 119,444,072 visitors to its 102 websites; 15,507,537 decisions for Christ, and 2,468,662 emails requesting follow-up.

LifeChurch.tv, a multi-site church in Edmund, OK finished 2010 with 2,848,144 absolute unique visits to its Church Online campus, representing 231 countries and territories. 16,162 people received Christ, and 2,809 new believer kits were mailed to people around the world.

In a message to his congregation on January 9, during the 15th Anniversary service of LifeChurch.tv, I thought Pastor Craig Groeschel summed up the building process so far, with this vision:

“We will not continue to do what used to work. In order to reach people no one is reaching, we will have to do things that no one is doing – video church, church online, and leveraging technology. We will do anything short of sin to reach people who do not know Christ. This is just the introduction. The foundation is being built for something God wants to do everywhere.”

Question: What trends are you watching? What communications improvements have you seen?

Dancing is one of the oldest human activities.And there is certainly nothing new about people communicating with each other. Social media and social dance are alike in other ways. Here are four:

• Personal relationships and interaction are integral.

• Participants congregate around shared experiences.

• It takes time to become competent.

• There are leaders and followers.

There is one glaring difference though. Everyone could dance, but doesn’t. Put me in this group.

It simply doesn’t matter what the benefits of dancing are, we’re just not going to put in the time and effort. Slow dancing with my bride or a wedding waltz, the occasional exceptions.

On the other hand, being online is quickly becoming indispensable to communication, to business, to ministry and many areas of life. 66% of online Americans use social networking sites and the number is rapidly growing. 43% visit multiple times each day, according to Experian Simmons stats.

It’s OK to just watch people dance. I find flamenco very entertaining. There’s nothing lost by sitting it out. Staying on the sidelines as the online social gathering gains momentum may turn out to be a colossal miss.

This is THE Big Dance, friends.

Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
2 Corinthians 2:14

Why would we want to miss out on bringing the gospel to the largest social gathering of people the world has ever seen?

So you think you can’t dance? Yes, “We” can. You won’t be alone. No one will notice, at least for now, what skills we have or don’t have. We’re all learning, with God’s help, how to move online together.

Social Media is like dancing, awkward at first but after some practice, your dance moves will become as natural as walking.

Let Jesus take the lead!

Question: What other similarities can you think of between social media and social dance?