The Impact of Mobile

As mobile device adoption increases, we are seeing a great opportunity for ministries to reach people on their mobile devices.

Mobile Stats Over the last two years there's been an average of 162% increase in mobile usage. • Africa - 155% • Asia - 192% • Europe - 183% • North America - 69% • Oceania - 162% • South America - 96%

One third of the world’s mobile phones are smartphones. 91% of mobile Internet access is for social activities versus 79% on desktops. 86% of mobile Internet users are using their devices while watching TV 50% of Twitter users are mobile. 1 Billion of the 4 Billion daily YouTube views are from mobile devices. Mobile Internet usage is projected to overtake desktop usage by 2016 4 Billion people have mobile devices

SMS Texting SMS is an abbreviation for Short Media Service or otherwise known as texting. Texting is really the best way to communicate and reach people because it’s instant. The time it takes to dial a phone number, wait for a connection, wait for an answer and then started talking is eliminated. That’s why people use it so much. In fact, the average person checks their text 90 times a day and people are 80% more likely to check a text then an email. The ease of which someone can type a text simply adds to its popularity. With the new smartphones, you can talk into the telephone while it types your text for you making it even faster.

When ministries are developing their mobile strategies, they initially think about a mobile app or website, unfortunately they very seldom consider the impact of texting. Yes, mobile websites and apps get the most media and are the hot button topics but when it comes down to getting results, texting is the best start to an effective mobile strategy.

A Mobile Site When a smartphone user searches the internet and lands on a website that is not mobile optimized, the user sees the actual computer/laptop style website. The Wall Street Journal is a good example. When you explore that site, it isn’t mobile optimized. You have to blow up individual sections just so you can read it. The Wall Street Journal has made a conscious decision not to have a mobile website. Most businesses, however, have made a decision to have a mobile website.

The advantages of a mobile website are self evident. When a smartphone user accesses a website that has a mobile site, everything fits. You can easily read the information and access the proper links without having to make size adjustments.

Geek tip: Websites can be programmed to automatically show a different version (mobile or regular) of the website based on what type of device you are using. Whether it is a laptop, desktop, mobile device or tablet, a program called a "sniffer" detects the user’s web viewing device and directs the mobile user to the mobile site instead of the normal full size website.

A good mobile website should include (but does not have to be limited to) the following pages: Home – This page should consist of links to the banners of current series and events. Locations and Service Times.

Online Media. - Live services. - Archived Sermons or past TV shows. - Podcasts.

Online Resources. - Links to other ministry resources such as blogs or documents. - Online Bible.

About Us. - About the Pastor. - About the church/ministry. - Volunteering/working at the ministry. - Mission/Vision statement.

Online Giving.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

Is Your Ministry Website Ready for Mobile?

The future is mobile, a great iChurch should be accessible to anyone, from anywhere, anytime and anyplace. No longer are Internet users limited to computers plugged into their Internet connection at home or work. Folks are now mobile, on the move, all day long. This year, more smartphones, tablets and mobile devices are being released than any other prior year. As you are reading this, the transition from desktop/laptop computer users to mobile users is happening very quickly. In fact, recently for the first time since Facebook was launched in 2006, more users accessed their Facebook page via their mobile device then their desktops. This means that to reach all these users, your ministry must appear on mobile phones. When someone searches for God or Hope or Help from any device, your church needs to be there to answer them even if they are searching on a mobile device. With the mobile iChurch, you can do it.

I want to take a moment and tell you a couple of stories. This first one has to do with people in Africa living in very rural areas. These folks have cell phones that they charge up on car batteries. Even though their screens are low resolution, they can still visit the websites of churches and attend service with them, watch inspiring videos and receive the Good News. Their hunger for Jesus pushes them to find ways to reach Him.

Now imagine that “someone” who lives in your city, types into their smartphone “Is God real?” They see your iChurch on the search rankings and click on your website. Perhaps they send a text or email. Your staff instantly receives this inquiry at 8:30 p.m. and responds with an uplifting message directing them to a church service for more help. It happens every day.

How do get you there? First, you need a strategy. There needs to be a vision for the mobile presence of a ministry and how it will further the ministry. Let's look at the options your mobile iChurch has available.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

Online Church Leaders

I am excited to announce a great platform that I have been invited to contribute my expertise to called Online Church Leaders. This amazing platform was put together by my good friend Nils Smith, who has taught me an immeasurable amount about Internet Church Campuses and how to use them for ministry.

Here is a great explanation of Online Church: Online Church is more than streaming a video, it is leveraging technology to expand ministry and further the great commission to make disciples of all nations. It is a relevant and relational way to connect people around the world through digital interactions. Most pastors assume that it requires tons of time and money, but that is not the case. It is our goal to shed light on these myths and break down the barriers that may arise when considering such an undertaking. Our hope is that by giving away our systems and processes and sharing the things we have learned along the way it will save you time and money. We will provide you with the tools you will need and guide you in your calling to reach the world.

Register and join today! - http://OnlineChurchLeaders.com

On this platform I will be teaching online giving and eCommerce tactics from my iChurchMethod.com books. As we are looking to train leaders on how to better utilize online platforms, we want to make sure they understand how to effectively generate revenue online and make it easy for online users. There are a variety of topics taught on this platform by many of my online church expert friends.

Topics such as: Building Your Platform Creating Your Content Engaging Your Audience Developing a Volunteer Team Online Groups and much more

From Experts: Nils Smith - Community Bible Church Alan George - LifeChurch.TV Jay Kranda - Saddleback Church Seth Farrior - Seacoast Church Jason Morris - Westside Family Church Nate Merrill - LakePointe Church Kenny Jahng - Liquid Church DJ Chuang - .Bible Consultant Nick Ovalle - Community Bible Church

It's 100% free and we also post no affiliate links. We believe that God is doing an incredible work through Online Church and desire for every church possible to expand their impact through these powerful resources.

Register and join today! - http://OnlineChurchLeaders.com

Come join me at the OnlineChurchLeaders.com launch party, July 15 at 1pm CST, this new platform will be a great resource for church leaders around the world - https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cm2jocf9mbtueeg7sb92io7qccg

Will Internet Church Replace the Traditional Church?

I work with a variety of churches and more often than not my role is to help the ministry advance online. This can be in a variety of ways such as websites, online streaming, internet church campuses, online video, online donations, social media, internet tv, mobile websites, mobile apps and much more. I believe that technology/internet plays a major role in the distribution of information, and therefore the important information that is “The Gospel” should utilize all methods of distribution to get the message to the masses. Since my role is a technology based role, I very rarely have to address theological issues regarding technology because my job is to help distribute the message online, not change it. But, as technology progresses at a rapid rate, there are more questions arising that have theological ramifications concerning technology, and this is an issue that I find myself having to explain more often than not to decision makers. Issues such as:

- Can you be saved Online? - Can you assemble Online? - Can you actually go to church online? - Will the online church enhance or replace the church building?

Digital ministry enthusiasts like myself believe the answer is yes to all of these questions, we believe technology enhances the ministry and we want to use it to reach the world, but unfortunately from a biblical perspective, there are church leaders that will say the online aspect of church is outside of the building and thus not church. Or they may believe that the online church (digital delivery of the gospel) will try to replace the traditional church just like iTunes replaced Tower records.

Overall, I don’t believe internet church will replace traditional church, it’s an extension of traditional church delivered in a digital format (audio or video or social media) to your preferred device (laptop, desktop, mobile, television). But if the church is going to take ministry to the people and really step outside the walls, there has to be an internet component (especially mobile) that allows ministry content to be accessible by anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world and that is how you take the gospel to the four corners of the globe.

For more information on internet church please check out The iChurch Method Vol. 2: Changing the World When You Login.

Steps to Advance Your Ministry Online

As you may or may not know, The iChurch Method consists of five key areas to advancing your ministry online. These five area, websites, multimedia, ecommerce, social media and mobile, have proven to be very effective areas in reaching people online. I recently conducted a webinar with a group of Pastors about the iChurch Method and how they could use online tools more effectively. As my gift to you, I would like to give you this video and audio for FREE! Yes, just click the link below and download this teaching today!

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/store/#!/~/product/category=5897035&id=36695834

How to Set up Your Internet Campus

There are a few services you can use to setup your internet campus such as LifeChurch’s www.Churchonlineplatform.com, or 316 Networks http://solutions.316networks.com/ and these are some good services. But the online software that has the best user experience and is the most cost efficient has to be Plain Joe’s Media Social (www.mediasocial.tv) Internet Church Campus software. Media Social has come up with the easiest solution; if we look at the following screenshot we see how they setup their online campus software. Here are the features of Media Social’s Internet Campus Software

• Ad Space – Ad space area for the ministry with images to showcase products, events and services of the ministry.
• Login/Logout – This is the login/logout area of the administrator.
• Who’s Online List – This area shows who all is logged in to the internet campus. This area is used for the ministry to communicate with individuals as well as see important information about everyone logged in and watching.
• Video Player – This is the major viewing area of the online campus. The live or archived video stream is shown here in 640x480 format.
• Announcements/Polls – This great feature allows for real time announcements and polls displayed right under the video player. A great way to communicate with online viewers in a quick and efficient manner.

Here are additional features with Media Social’s Internet Campus Software. Let’s start by looking at the icons that are in the left column of the interactive module beneath the announcements/polls area.

• Livewall – The livewall is the live chat area for real time communication and chatting with administrators and online viewers.
• Notes – The Notes tab allows users to take notes and email them to themselves or others.
• Schedule – The schedule tab shows the schedule for live and/or archived shows.
• Facebook – The Facebook tab is the facebook integration where users can interact with facebook within the internet campus.
• Map – The Map tab shows the locations of online users, anywhere in the world.
• Unlock Tab – The unlcok tab allows the tab to unlock from the page and become it’s own webpage module.
• Additional Ad Space – Beneath these tab features is additional space for image ads for ministry events, products and services.

With all these features setup for you, your organization is responsible for providing video content that you want to stream (mp4 video files) as well as a live streaming provider. In my last book, The iChurch Method Vol. 1, I talked about how to use livestream.com or Ustream.tv as a free live streaming provider and that solution could work with Media Social as well. Another feature not mentioned here that’s available in the back-end is the scheduling feature. Many ministries want to broadcast at a certain time and/or setup a schedule of shows for the day or week. This feature is available via Media Social and the internet campus can become an entire media center for the viewers with scheduled programming very similar to the traditional television experience.

2014 Pastors and Leadership Conference

Coming up quickly, March 6 - 8, 2014, I will be teaching/attending/working at the 2014 Pastors and Leadership Conference. It's always a great experience for me at this event because this was the first conference I ever spoke at back in 2011. It also was the event that I released the first iChurch Method book in 2012. Another great thing about this conference is that in addition to speaking at it, I work the conference's online experience including social media, mobile apps and online streaming experience.

This year I am looking forward to teaching four sessions which include Social Media Basics, Social Media Advanced (twice) and Digital 360 (The iChurch Method). I am also continuing my pattern of releasing new products at the conference by announcing that I am releasing the following products:

• The iChurch Method Workshop Training DVD
• How to Get One Million Social Media Fans Workshop Training DVD
• The iChurch Academy Online Training Course - Updated and Expanded
• The iChurch Method: How to Advance Your Ministry Online Book
• The iChurch Method: Changing The World When You Login Book
• How to Get One Million Social Media Fans: Take Your Social Media to the Next Level Book
• The iChurch Method Digital Download Card with all iChurch Method Products and Online iChurch Academy Access

Make sure you join me there!!

Online Church is Effective

Normally I would talk about how to implement an online church or quote stats on how it has impacted churches but today, I just want to do something different. I want to tell a great story. This past weekend I taught quite a few sessions at the econnect conference and it was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had for a variety of reasons. Here are the reasons:

1. I was able to meet the great people at Group Publishing (including Brian Abbot and Bob D'Ambrosio) and they truly took care of me and Nils Smith.

2. I was able to teach, fellowship and serve with my friend Nils Smith, a great guy and as I always tell him, my long lost brother in digital ministry.

3. I taught, interacted and engaged with a diverse crowd of people that were eager to learn how to utilize online tools more effectively for ministry. This crowd was hungry for knowledge and they were open to everything we were teaching. Even with their past traditions and church informal ways, they looked past all of that and said how can we reach the millions that are online and do church in a new way! And best of all, I cannot say how many times people mentioned to me that they were appreciative of what I taught....that blessed me immensely.

4. This is the most important thing, I heard a story that encouraged and transformed the way I think about what I do. First let me say that I have had moments where I wondered how effective The iChurch Method was and should I change my focus from churches to businesses and teach in that realm. Well after this story I am about to share with you, I will surely let you know that I am on the right path and The iChurch Method will continue well into the future. I was talking with a guy and he mentioned that his wife recently passed due to cancer but prior to passing she spent much of her time bed-ridden. But she managed to worship by watching T.D. Jakes Online and to be more specific, the internet church page that I played a role in creating. His wife also used Social Media to form a facebook group for women with cancer and they communicated and shared what they thought heaven would be like. And he just wanted to thank me for what I was doing and he was happy that he met the guy who created the page that helped his wife worship prior to her passing. Those words encouraged me so much that I knew I was on the right path.

I feel blessed!!

Top 5 Social Media Predictions for this Year

It's 2014 and I am looking forward to this year in terms of social media and online web technologies. There are so many new advancements that we will see this year and I can't wait till they are released. But first, I wanted to talk about my top 5 predictions I have for social media this year. Check out the video above and if you don't have time, here is a quick summary.

1.Diversity Your Networks - There's more to social media than Facebook and Twitter and this year many organizations will realize that. More specifically, Facebook will make it much more difficult for organizations to use that network as their only social media presence. There are many social networks (in addition to Facebook and Twitter) that are effective for reaching your online audience such as YouTube, Instagram, Vine, Pinterest, Google+ and more.

2. Visual Social Media - Use more photos and videos to tell your story via social media. Photos are the most shared form of multimedia on social networks and video is the most engaging form of multimedia on social networks. Therefore, we need to incorporate more photos and videos to better tell our stories and connect with people via social media.

3. Pay to Play - Facebook Promoted Posts, Twitter Ads and Google Ads will become more important to reach your online audience. You may not have to have a large budget but you will need to consider spending something in order to reach people online more effectively.

4. Mobile - Think Mobile first and then Desktop. Mobile is growing by leaps and bounds and online users are connecting with our web properties (social networks and websites) with mobile first and then desktops. Therefore, we need to make sure our website strategies and social media strategies take into account people on the go using mobile devices.

5. Analyze, Optimize, Repeat - Have a strategy, just don't Wing it! Use your Google Analytics, your Facebook Insights, your Twitter Stats and other data to develop a strategy and see how effective your social media efforts are. This year we need to work for efficiently, streamline our processes and get measurable results.

Join me at the eConnect Conference [Updated]

I’m most excited to be able to share this special discount code with you for $50 off:

The code is: SpecialOffer (one word; case sensitive)

If you register by January 10th you will still get the early bird rate and get the cost down to just $149. This event will be great for you to attend whether you know very little about technology or consider yourself an expert. Group offers a very warm and conversational space for you to learn and engage with other ministry leaders about utilizing online tools for ministry purposes.

I would love for you to join me at the eConnect Conference on January 29-31, 2014 in beautiful Loveland, CO. Group Publishing is hosting this amazing event where we will be discussing how to use social media, online video and other online tools for greater ministry impact. I’m also very excited to be joined by my good friend Nils Smith, author of the Social Media Guide for Ministry and soon to be good friend, Brian Abbott.

At this event we will discuss social media, websites, mobile apps, and how all of these things translate to becoming effective ministry tools. I can’t wait for the conversations that will be had and hope you will be a part. Click here for more information and to register for this exciting event!

The iChurch Method TV - Why I wrote The iChurch Method

I wrote the book for a few reasons. One, because I wanted to get the information and knowledge that God had put inside of me out to the masses. I work for large churches; they have large budgets and great resources and stuff like that, but smaller churches may not have the resources or the expertise to hire a Jason Caston, so I wanted them to be able to have access to the information and knowledge that I had. I wanted to put these resources into a book format that they could get access to.

The book, for a low cost of an average book, $9.99 and $19.99 or something like that, you can buy the book and see the approaches that I took with these large churches. Now, when you see it happening with these large churches you may think it’s costing $10,000 dollars, $20,000 dollars, $100,000 dollars just because you think that church has that budget. In actuality it’s costing $100, $500, maybe $1000 dollars, and that’s well within the reach of a small church. So, I wanted them to be able to have access to that.

Literally the iChurch Method, the book, is a brain dump of what I do in a typical week working with these ministries. I don’t want people to think the book was something that’s not actually going on right now in real time. It’s not old technology; it’s real technology that’s current and going on right now. I wanted them to be able to have access to that.

I also wanted them to have access and reach people the same way large churches are doing it because when it comes to a website it doesn’t matter if you have a bible study in your living room or a small storefront church or a large mega church. The technology that you have access to is all the same, so you just need to have the resources and the knowledge and expertise on how to utilize it, and that’s what I put in that book.

After looking at the book, the next step is to figure out how you want to approach it. The book was written twofold. The first half of every chapter is written with a strategical perspective, so that’s for the decision makers or the pastors or the leadership to be able to make a well informed decision about what they want to do with the technology that was presented.

So, if a pastor reads the first chapter which is about websites, the first half of it is about the strategy of websites and why are we using them and what technology is being introduced to provide that solution, that way the pastor or leadership can have a well informed discussion with the technical person that may actually implement the solution. The pastor is well informed enough to have a conversation so that the technical person is not able to take advantage of them. That was another aspect of me writing the book was to empower leadership and pastors and the people of the smaller churches to have the knowledge to not let companies take advantage of them that are maybe out to just try and make a profit off of the church. I don’t want that to occur.

The next step is to figure out, from a strategical perspective, if you want somebody else to implement it for you. If so, then you can take this book, know exactly how you want to implement it, hand it to them and say, “Look, I want you to do what’s in chapter one, do what’s in chapter three, not so much chapter two; we’ll get to that later, and do what’s in chapter four. I read the book, so I know what’s in it and I just want you to implement the solutions that I’ve seen.” I think that would be the best approach for that. Now, there’s another aspect to it if you have a pastor that’s tech savvy. Some pastors I’ve worked with have wanted to implement it themselves. So, the second half of every chapter is a technical section where I’ve actually given code snippets or I give screenshots of walkthroughs of how to implement and set up Facebook fan pages, how to set up podcasts or how to load up videos on Vimeo.com and stuff like that.

If you want to get hands-on and roll up your sleeves and actually do it, then I provide solutions for that as well and examples on how to do that. If people want to do it themselves, they can; otherwise they can hand it off to someone who can do it for them and they know exactly what it is they want done.

The last week of April 2013, maybe early May 2013, I’m going to release Volume Two of the iChurch Method. Volume One that I released was called How to Advance Your Ministry Online. That was just the introduction as far as me showing people how to utilize the technology and advance your ministry online starting from nothing.

With Volume Two, Changing the World When You Log In, is taking what was introduced in Volume One to another level. For example, in Volume One we talk about how to get your website up, what content management systems to use. In Volume Two we’re talking about taking that website that’s already implemented to another level using technology such as the parallax, responsive design, and stuff like that. We just want to keep taking things to the next level.

A good example is in chapter two. In Volume One we talk about multimedia, podcasting, online video, online streaming. In Volume Two in the multimedia section we’re talking about creating an entire internet church campus. Now I felt like I had to wait to give people information on how to implement an internet church campus because I wanted them to first have a website before they tried to jump up and try to create an entire internet church campus.

Once you start putting all these multimedia aspects together and these interactive aspects together, you can start creating that internet church campus, and that’s what I want to start guiding people towards with that. Of course with social media, the next level of that is we’ve seen Facebook bought Instagram, we’ve seen Pinterest really take off, and we’ve seen this visual social media really take off based more around video and pictures and stuff like that and I want to educate and inform people on how to utilize that.

Of course in mobile, mobile websites are really the initial step of getting a church or ministry online, but now let’s talk about mobile apps and how to take that to another level. Let’s talk about tablets and how to best utilize those and implement and integrate those into the church.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

The iChurch Method - Vol. 1 and Vol. 2

Since I have released The iChurch Method Vol. 2, I have been getting the same question, what’s the difference between the two books? And, which one should you buy?

First and foremost, the two books is that they are continuations of each other. They both focus on the five areas of The iChurch Method, which is websites, multimedia, eCommerce, social media and mobile. The difference between them is that vol. 1, How to Advance Your Ministry Online is the basics of The iChurch Method and vol. 2, Changing the World When You Login, is the advanced version of The iChurch Method.

Here is a breakdown

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Vol. 1 - How to Advance Your Ministry Online Websites Objectives of a Website Using a CMS (Content Mgmt System) Website Layout Multimedia Podcasting Live Streaming for FREE Archived Video Adding media to websites eCommerce Basic Online giving setup Basic Online store setup Social Media Social Media Strategy - Part 1 Sharing content from website Facebook/Twitter basics Mobile Mobile Websites

Vol. 2 - Changing the World When You Login Websites Advanced websites with Responsive design. Search Engine Optimization Analytics Multimedia Internet Church Campus Google Hangouts eCommerce Online giving forms Offline Commerce Social Media Social Media Strategy - Part 2 Visual Social Media Mobile Social Media Mobile Mobile Apps

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The reason I have two books is that technology is always evolving and changing, therefore in order for organizations to keep up, they need books and trainings that are always evolving and changing. I will continue to publish The iChurch Method volumes as long as necessary to keep ministries updated on current technologies.

The iChurch Method TV - Ep 15 - Ministry Growth Online

Continuing The iChurch Method TV series about ministry growth online, here's the transcript from the video above.

I would tell a minister that basically you could continue to do ministry as you do it for your local and regional reach. Continue to push out the content that you already are; preaching your sermons and ministering the people in the way that you do. But, understand that now it’s going to be packaged and distributed to an international audience.

I’m not trying to tell them to change the way that they do ministry, I’m just letting them know that I’m giving you a larger distribution of the content and of the ministry and taking the gospel to the four corners of the earth.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

Join Me at #iMinistry2013 [Updated]

UPDATE: There are two major updates that have occurred since I first published this blog back in September 2013. First and foremost, I will be speaking at the conference on Wednesday, Oct 16 during the Social Media and Online Advertising sessions. Second, the conference will be streaming live at http://go.mediasocial.tv/iMinistry starting at 1pm CST on Tuesday, Oct 15. These two great new happenings have made me even more excited about the conference and look forward to you joining me there or online!! (follow the conversation on social media as well using #iministry2013

Original Post below Last year I was searching for any conferences that incorporated Church and Technology. For some reason, there weren't many (Biola Digital Ministry Conference, iMinistry Conference, TDJ Pastors and Leadership Conference, Echo Conference, Christian Leadership Alliance Conference) and it seems that the church continues to show a blind eye to the advancements in technology and how the church can use technology to reach the masses. But in late August, I found out about the inaugural iMinistry Conference, so I figured I would check it out and I was amazed.

Now, let me preface these next lines by saying, it takes a lot for a conference to impress me, not because it has to be a grand production, but because I am very good at what I do so I need to see quality content being taught in addition to people who are very good at what they are teaching. This was definitely the case at iMinistry Conference, people such as Seth Farrior, Nils Smith (who seems to think just like me, we must be twins), Jason Morris, Jan Touchberry, Nate Merril and a score of others. Many of these aforementioned people I connect with on Facebook/Twitter daily and in the case of Nils, have even traveled with.

This year they are continuing to teach a variety of topics such as Social Media for Ministry (a panel that I will be participating in), Online Church Campuses, Connecting with users online for ministry and much much more. I enjoy a conference like this because in addition to learning from these very gifted and talented individuals, I enjoy the camaraderie of being around like minds and people with visions to reach the world online for the kingdom.

You should join us this year, register today and get $50 off using the discount code FACEBOOK.

How I got involved in working with Ministries

Continuing The iChurch Method TV series, here's the transcript from the video above.

The first ministry that gave me the opportunity to work with them was Crenshaw Christian Center out in Los Angeles. When I got there in 2007 they were utilizing technology as best they could. The people they had on staff were working on some great technological things but they just didn’t know how to utilize the internet as best as it could be used at the time.

What I was able to do was come in and look at what they had going on and start looking at how they could do it better. Coming to a large ministry—from the outside looking in— you think that they know everything; they have everything going on. What I was able to see was how I was able to utilize my skill set and actually make an impact instead of just coming in and being a cog in the wheel.

With that ministry I was able to start working on developing solutions for their websites and multimedia, eCommerce, social media, and stuff like that, and see how it actually transformed the ministry because it was able to bring those aspects to the ministry in a way that they weren’t using them before.

Likewise, when I was working with TD Jakes Ministries and went out there—even starting back to when I came in for the interview—they asked me what I could bring to the ministry. I gave them five areas; I said, “I can help you out with your websites, multimedia, eCommerce, social media, and mobile.” Subsequently those five topics became the chapters in the book I wrote, The iChurch Method.

What really helped me out with these ministries is seeing the things that I was bringing to the ministry, actually seeing the impact of them and how people were able to interact more with the ministry via technology. But, I also see that even as large as these ministries were and the great impact that they already had from me watching them from afar all these years, I saw that something that God put in me was actually able to help them at a time such as now.

It was two-fold. First let’s go back to Crenshaw Christian Center. Starting with them I was a one-man department. Basically I was hired to revamp the entire web presence. Everything that was going on on the internet that you see such as the social media aspect of it, the mobile, the website, I was a one-man department. I had a graphic person that worked with me but any internet solutions, whatever I came up with, was the solution they went with.

I worked very closely with the pastor. He was a young guy like myself, early 30s, so we had a good idea what we wanted to do in terms of technology and he would give me his ideas and I would make them happen in terms of technology.

On the other side of that, with T.D. Jakes Ministries, it was a much larger environment. I was a part of a team. I came in and initially they wanted me to work specifically just on websites but then when I started telling them the other expertise that I had, which was the eCommerce, the multimedia, and stuff like that, I started to expand to other teams. Initially I came in working with online marketing and that was initially what they thought I could do. Then I kind of became a hybrid of working with IT because of the actual programming stuff that I knew how to do as well.

The real kind of pivot came when social media really took off on the scene. TD Jakes Ministries, when I got there, they weren’t really using social media in that manner and this is 2010. So, when I started showing them some solutions and developing some strategies for them to help utilize social media on a whole other level—mainly Facebook and Twitter at that time—then they really let me just go ahead and run with it. Basically kind of probably to keep me quiet.

But, the thing that happened that was phenomenal was social media took off; it exploded. When I got there they probably had 2000 people just off of the name of the pastor, Bishop Jakes. Within two years we increased that to a million.

The iChuch Method at ACU Summitt

In the middle of Texas there's a small city called Abilene. In Abilene is one of the most advanced Christian universities called Abilene Christian university. Prior to stepping foot on campus december 2012, I had never heard of the school but I am glad that I was invited back then as well as Sept 16 - 18, 2013 for the 107th ACU Summit. In December 2012, I was invited by Prof. John Weaver to come record a set of interviews and teachings about my thoughts on Church and Technology. Here are the interviews.

It was a great opportunity for me because not only was I called in to be a guest speaker but also Prof. Weaver used The iChurch Method books in his course. This marked the second university (Biola University was the first) that used The iChurch Method as a training manual.

At the end of my visit, I was informed about an annual conference ACU has where numerous people from around the country gather to discuss how to better conduct ministry as well as learn from the brightest in the kingdom. I was also invited to teach The iChurch Method at this conference since it was one of the first methods for the church that focused on the technical aspects of doing ministry online.

Therefore, if you are able, join me Sept 16 - 18, 2013 at Abilene Christian University where I will be teaching The iChurch Method for 3 days from 4:00 - 4:45pm as well as selling and signing The iChurch Method and How to Get One Million Social Media Fans books.

How to Advance Your Ministry Online

The world is rapidly changing, and in order to keep up, and minister effectively to your congregation, you need to take advantage of the latest technology that your parishioners are using to stay connected with friends and family, do business, and take care of their personal and spiritual needs. This can be a confusing set of circumstances to navigate, with all kinds of media sites and technology out there clamoring to be utilized, all claiming to be the best way of reaching your current and potential congregation. How do you proceed? Here is a rough, abbreviated breakdown of the technology that is available to you to help you reach and expand your congregation.

Your Website If you don't already have a website, why not? Printed phone books and encyclopedias are nearly obsolete, as the internet makes information so much more easily accessed, from finding local vendors to answering your children's homework questions. If your church does not already have a website, it should. And if it does, it should be updated frequently with fresh, informative content to keep parishioners checking back regularly to see what's new.

Multimedia - Interactive Multimedia Your church building may only hold 100, 200, or 500 members, but your virtual church can reach millions, through the power of media. Do you have a pastor who is a particularly powerful speaker, someone people wait all week to hear? Videotape the sermons and make them available online. You can post them on your website, your Facebook page, YouTube and more, to attract more members to your church, or increase your revenue by offering them for sale, via CD, DVD or audio or video download from your online store, which brings us to…

eCommerce Take donations online, sell recordings of sermons and motivational lectures, allow parishioners to purchase tickets to special events and more with an eCommerce site.

Social Media Harness the power of the most interactive technology the world has ever known by leveraging social media to get your message out to more people than your predecessors could have ever dreamed of. With the right message, or a captivating photo, video clip or other post, your church can go viral, and expand far beyond the reach of its physical walls.

Mobile Technology Almost everyone seems to have a smart phone these days, and they're always surfing the net. If they're looking for spiritual guidance, be the one to give it to them with a mobile-optimized website. What difference does it make? Imagine seeing your current website on a 2-inch square screen and you'll understand. A mobile optimized site shows your visitors what you think is important, and lets them browse through the rest of the site at their leisure.

In summary, as bewildering as it may seem at first, the newest technology that is overwhelming us with its rapidly evolving applications is a powerful tool for churches to reach out to members and potential members in a way never before possible. It's a brave new electronic world out there. Make sure you're a part of it.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

Google Glass Review

I finally got a chance to play with a pair of Google Glass, and I recorded my thoughts in the video above. Here are some key points:

• They are a great step forward in mobile hardware and software
• The interaction of using them without having to use your hands is very innovative
• The interface is easy to see and easy to use, so much so that when I let my daughters put them on they were able to catch on (ages 6 and 8).
• Integrating Google Glass and other devices, tablets, phones (maybe), smartwatches, internet tvs and so on, will make the lines between offline and online always integrated.

The iChurch Method TV - Ep 11 - Churches and their Understanding of Technology

http://youtu.be/5dRvqGTyd00 The church as a whole, I’d say maybe there are about 5% of churches that really have a good grasp of technology. They have the resources to actually utilize a lot of the new things that are going on out there, but 95% of the churches I see out here just don’t have the resources. They know what they want to do but they don’t have the resources and the expertise to actually implement it so they might have a volunteer come in and do the website; someone that really has a good heart but just doesn’t have the knowhow to make it look as effective as it could be. Or they may hire somebody that doesn’t have the integrity that the people in the church have. If they don’t have that integrity then they might just take them for their money and not give them a high-quality website.

So, in seeing those types of situations I started to realize what they needed was someone they could trust and someone that also has the expertise to allow them to take advantage of the technology that we have out here because it changes rapidly.

Content Strategy They are somewhat aware. They understand that they want something that’s innovative; they want the neat, shiny, new thing on the block. They also understand that they want a content management system; something that they can still work with once the website is done and handed off to them from the developer. So, they understand that part of it.

What they don’t understand is just the expertise that it takes to actually develop that. They might not understand that the stuff they see that’s easy for them to use on the website might take weeks or months to develop; they don’t understand that part.

They’re starting to understand that the key buzzword is social media. So, when they see a new website they always want to know where’s the social media aspect of that, but then they may not think about the other aspects that you need in a website which would be the eCommerce aspect with online donations, online stores, the stuff that people look for when they come to the website. They want to know contact information, locations, service times, those basic things about the ministry. Those basic things need to be looked at before we even get to the new shiny, touchy-feely website. We need to look at a content strategy.

The hardest part that I’ve seen with ministries is not the website; they know they need a website because they see a whole bunch of churches with one, but they have a hard time figuring out how to get the content from the pastor or from the leadership and onto the website and onto the social media in an effective streamlined manner.

What was going through my mind was looking at these five aspects that I had, each chapter to me was something I actually would do in a typical week at work. In a typical week I work on the websites and multimedia, eCommerce, social media, and mobile, so when I’m putting this book together I’m thinking, “What is it that I do that people would need to know from the most basic level all the way up to the most technologically advanced level?” I want to make sure if we have a pastor who’s not as technically savvy, he can look at the book and understand, and have a conversation and hand it off to someone who is technologically savvy.

But, what if the technologically savvy person picks up the book? I want to make sure this book challenges them as well and gives them new ideas and strategies so that they can utilize them within their ministry.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

The iChurch Method TV - Ep. 9 - How to Become an International Ministry

Continuing The iChurch Method TV series, here is the transcript from the video above.

You become an international ministry as soon as we flick the switch on your website, as soon as you set up the Facebook fan page, as soon as you set up your Twitter account. What ministries don’t realize is they may have, we’ll say 100, a couple hundred, or a couple thousand people that will come into their sanctuary. But, if you get one person that tunes in to your ministry, your website, your online stream, from India, from Europe, from Africa, that makes you an international ministry. Had you not utilized those technological tools, that person would not have been receiving the ministry from your church.

That’s the thing that ministries have to understand; as soon as you give people a way to connect with your ministry that are not in your regional or national area then you become an international ministry. Just those simple steps of setting up your website or setting up your social media channels, that makes you become an international ministry.

[You] have to realize that initially we start off and we only think in the box that we’re in. We think about only having our services in English. We think everybody is watching the service at the same time we would watch it, or we think people are connecting with the ministry at the same time we’re connecting with the ministry. A typical example would be a ministry might have office hours from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Well, international time that may be midnight to 8:00 a.m., so they’re not connecting with your ministry at that time. They’re connecting with the ministry at the hours that they would like to.

So, when you have social media then you have to look at the fact that people want to connect with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So, you just have to basically evolve your strategy to accommodate ministry at hours outside of what you’re used to, at times outside of what you’re used to, and in languages outside of what you’re used to.