The Digital Sanctuary

SxSW platforms LifeChurch on Measurable Results

Cynthia — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:35:16 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Remember way back when, when we all voted on panels for SxSW?

Videos of today’s SxSW gathering are already hitting YouTube. Thanks Tony Steward for streaming live on your iPhone.

Technology For Results, Not Profits featured a couple of the LifeChurch.tv digerati, Terry Storch & Bobby Grunewald, engaging audience members on ways nonprofits can maintain and even grow their support base.

“Profit isn’t a bad thing. When you incorporate free tools to engage your users (like LifeChurch.tv’s youversion), you are funded from a philanthropic perspective – people donate to support the cause,” Grunewald said.

Churches – quantify your results.
“It can be even more important for nonprofits to use online analytic services to stay in touch with their communities. Because many nonprofits are local, it’s important for members to feel connected and to know that their organization is in touch with them. As a nonprofit, it’s important to see your measurable results compared to how your community is actually doing. Crunch the numbers. See if you’re making an impact.” (via http://sxtxstate.com/)

Is your church measuring their results overall and in every department at every level? If so how? What metrics do you use and what do you measure?

Want a Dynamic Church Conference Discount?

Cynthia — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:15:37 +0000

My great friends at Fellowship One Technologies hosting the Dynamic Church Conference (DC10) are offering a $50.00 off deal! This is an unbeatable opportunity for all those happy campers who use F1 technologies and those interested in doing so.

DC10 is a three-day educational event focused on teaching users and developers how to effectively leverage Fellowship One. I, myself, have spoken at Dynamic Church Conference and inspire churches to impact their ministries through complete utilization Fellowship One. It will be held this year on May 12-14 at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.

The goal for DC10 is to educate and inspire churches so they can impact their ministries through Fellowship One. Here are a few reasons you should attend DC10…

Lower Cost… just $249 — that’s less than half the cost of previous years! (Use the promo code IMPACT prior to March 31^st to get $50 off the registration fee!)
Education focused… DC10 will feature 60 education sessions across six tracks, 40 breakout sessions and a Consulting Lab staffed with computers and Fellowship One experts
Dynamic Speakers… Check out featured presenters
Developer Track… Geared specifically to application and web gurus wanting to extend the power of Fellowship One, register now for just $99
Networking… DC10 Meet & Greet, Networking Lunch and panel discussions offer great opportunities to hear how other churches are utilizing Fellowship One to grow their ministries.

Ed Young Gets His Rap On

Cynthia — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:25:46 +0000

Ed Young gets his rap on…..

By referencing a handful of well known US pastors in this You Tube video rap experiment, Fellowship Church’s Senior Pastor, Ed Young takes ‘using video clips for ministry purposes’ in an unexpected direction.

Ed names Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Craig Groeschel, John Piper, Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, TD Jakes, Rob Bell, Dino Rizzo and others, uses simple editing technology & builds a rhyme to distribute his message – U. B. U.

Thoughts?

Catalyst West 2010 Discount

Cynthia — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:07:17 +0000

Beloved Catalyst West comes to SoCal again this year and if you act now (like today) you can still get in on the early bird discount registration. Hold these dates – April 21-23 and plan to hit Orange County for one of the most inspiring gatherings next generation leaders can experience. Most importantly, you can get a discount on your registration today if you use this rate code: BLOG. Tripp & Tyler invite you to CatWest here:

Catalyst West 2010 :: Tripp & Tyler’s Unusual Invitation from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Do You Get Relevant Magazine’s Neue Quarterly?

Cynthia — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:13:49 +0000

Several months back, Relevant Magazine’s Neue Quarterly released the article Multi-Conversation, a three-part conversation on plurality in the Kingdom. The piece is designed to be an exploration of new trends in church development. Exploring multi-cultural, multi-generational and multi-site movements, perfectly normal church planter Earl Creps, absolute wild-man pastor Shaun King and myself all review and assess these church trending topics. Enjoy the article, and order Neue Quarterly.

Worship Leader Magazine Adds Tech Expert

Cynthia — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:22:13 +0000

Worship Leader magazine just emailed me announcing that DJ Chuang will join the company as Network Developer. Although I forgot to blog it, I got the privilege of writing for Worship Leader last summer (Cynthia Ware – Worship Leader’s Toolbox) and have been so impressed with their persistent and ongoing focus on the use of technology and it’s overlap with worship. Hiring a specific Network Developer just seems so right.

DJ, who has been an amazing support to me over the years, has been at the forefront of spearheading network communications, software development, Web strategies, and multi-site church growth and administration with Christian nonprofits such as Leadership Network and the American Bible Society. He will contribute to Worship Leader’s efforts to inform their leadership community of over 35,000 subscribers—reaching well over 150,000 congregations in North America —regarding new media resources and their use in the service of worship.

“I am excited to welcome DJ,” say’s Chuck Fromm, publisher of Worship Leader magazine. “We have been dedicating significant editorial space to the discussion of the digital revolution, Christian networks, and the lead-worshiper’s role in participatory culture—the major trend set off by new media. Whether singing a hymn in the sanctuary or engaging in community prayer via the Internet, participation is a core practice and value of the worship community,” relays Fromm. “Through the digital production and distribution of music, worship leaders have been at the forefront as early adopters of new media. They have discovered through Facebook, MySpace, Ning sites, Twitter, and a variety of blogs how these technologies can be managed to engage with God and each other. Because of his deep theoretical and practical knowledge, DJ is an important contributor to that mix.”

Daniele Kimes, Worship Leader’s VP of Sales & Marketing weighs in saying, “New and mobile media are changing Church communications by the micro-second (digital minute). We are using every tool possible to serve our advertisers and those who are part of our training network.”

DJ brings an impressive history in the Christian nonprofit world to his role at Worship Leader and says, “I’m thrilled for the opportunity to bring my work and life experiences together to serve a growing and thriving media ministry. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the team and anticipate a great working relationship.”

Chuang worked at L2 Foundation (developing next generation Asian American leaders), at Leadership Network (as Director of Digital Initiatives) and The American Bible Society (in software development and Internet donor development). In addition to his work with Worship Leader Media, he currently serves as Leadership Community Director for Multi-Site Churches at Leadership Network. Having served as a pastor for five years and with both a degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech and a Masters in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he is a perfect fit for Worship Leader Media, merging media savvy and theological practice and application.

What Your Church Can Learn From Zappos

Cynthia — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:02:11 +0000

Zappos is a growing company with a unique culture, an innovative marketing style, and a brilliant reputation. Compared to most young upstart companies, it’s pretty amazing what they’ve accomplished.

In 10 years Zappos has grown from “nothing” into a billion dollar industry leader, no small feat if you’re just selling shoes! When this happens in business, it’s no accident. When a company is doing this well following their launch they’re worth studying.

Given, the Church is obviously not a “business” that can be governed by “best” practices. But that being said, can your church learn anything from Zappos? In fact, is it possible that Zappos may be activating spiritual principles and successful because of it? And if more churches were doing the same we could see greater things accomplished? Zappos has been fruitful, and multiplied. How’d they do that?

According to the company, it’s pretty simple. They’re able to define their core values in 10 sentences. See the following….

Zappos Core Values

As we grow as a company, it has become more and more important to explicitly define the Zappos core values from which we develop our culture, our brand, and our business strategies. These are the ten core values that we live by:

I don’t know about you but I can think of scriptures that most of these values reflect. Do you see any scriptural foundations in Zappos core values?

It’s likely that having a clear vision, mission & set of core values might be what sets your church apart…. or not. Clear definition creates intense focus, momentum & effectiveness. Think of ambient lighting versus a laser beam.

Can your church state it’s core values?

Launch 2010 with a Digital Business Card

Cynthia — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:20:20 +0000

Need a 10 minute project to benefit you for the rest of your 2010? How about simplifying your life by ordering a digital business card?

If you’re all over the web like so many of us, why not make things easier for people looking for you online?

Go green & paperless by ordering a digital business card and use it as your personal landing page for everything.

Simple, super affordable, smart.

It only takes about 10 minutes to order your card from ‘the man’, Sam Druegger and if you do it now, you can relax for the rest of the weekend and enjoy your New Year’s start having made such a smart investment.

2010 Daily Bible Reading Plan for iPhone

Cynthia — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:09:27 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Following yesterday’s You Version post I should probably direct you to a Daily Reading Plan since it can be overwhelming to pick from so many.

If I were just getting started I would use Pastor Wayne Cordiero’s “First Steps” and I know hundreds of people who have benefited from Pastor Wayne’s Bible reading & journaling plans over the years.

Which reading plan do you recommend?

New Year’s Resolution? Mobile Bible Reading

Cynthia — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:12:32 +0000

Exciting news to report from the YouVersion Team. (thanks @tonysteward)

They’ve just launched 20+ Bible reading plans across their website and their mobile applications.

Although there have been lists and plans out there for while, this is the first time they’ve integrated them into a free Bible platform that offers so many different translations/languages and is on over 3 million mobile devices.

With New Year’s just a day or so away many people are looking to make new commitments and resolutions. Reading the Bible daily is the single best habit a person can establish. I’ve been reading the Bible on my phone for 3 years now and love it.

YouVersion Reading Plan Details:

20+ plans are available online and on your mobile device, so you can keep up with your reading no matter where you are.
You can customize each plan to match your schedule by making it shorter or longer.
Easily track where you are by checking off each day’s reading. We’ll also show you how far along you are with a percentage of completion.
Your online and mobile accounts will synchronize your information, including your plan and your progress.
Soon, you’ll be able to build a support system by opting in for accountability emails to you and/or a friend.

Links:
Reading Plan Page: http://www.youversion.com/about/reading-plans
Mobile: http://www.youversion.com/download

If you already read the Bible on your phone or use the You Version app, can you encourage others here?