It is the intent of Big Heart Design through this blog to share proven methodology to help equip non-profit organizations make a difference in the world through the Web.
This past weekend, I was blessed to have the opportunity to share the keynote message at the UCC Web University in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This was the first in a series of regional web ministry trainings opportunities hosted by the United Church of Christ.
My presentation was titled “Web Ministry: Past, Present, and Future”. While I’ve been working in this field for more than 15 years now – it was a nice opportunity to share how things have changed from my perspective. The common thread that ran throughout the keynote was “change”. Specifically, how technology has changed the landscape of ministry, and how the Church must change to stay relevant.
The subject of “change” is often a risky subject to discuss in large groups – I was very pleased with the response. It was very exciting to participate in dialogue with a group open to new ideas. Blessings.
Below you will find both the slides from my presentation, as well as the transcript from live blogs that were posted to Twitter during the keynote.
Some congregations build attractive websites using WordPress blogging software (free) using free templates. #webu5:35 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Free social media: Wordpress, Blogger.com, Google Analytics, Drupal, YouTube, picnik, tokbox, twitter, Facebook … all FREE. #webu5:34 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Web ministry is inexpensive: low-cost web access, low-cost sites., free social media (Twitter, YouTube). Takes commitment, not $$$ #webu5:32 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Over 50-users fastest-growing group on Facebook and Twitter. #webu5:25 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Reasons no longer valid. Twitter and Facebook don’t require broad-band, for example. #webu5:24 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Excuses for not changing: our congregation is older, too small, not enough staff, ministry doesn’t happen online, we’re on dial-up. #webu5:24 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Online worship now a reality: not only webcasting worship but engaging in real-time interaction with visitors during worship. #webu4:52 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) empowers everyone to be co-creators of information. Church has to adapt to this. #webu4:49 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Top-down and push method of communication doesn’t work. You create content, push it towards a passive audience. #webu4:49 PM Aug 28thfrom web
great video on the rate of change in world called Did You Know on YouTube http://bit.ly/d4f3G – Dave Schoen #webu4:43 PM Aug 28thfrom web
People are hungry for spirituality and are turning to social media for spiritual experiences: an opportunity for the church. #webu4:40 PM Aug 28thfrom web
The number of text messages sent every day exceeds the population of the planet. #webu4:36 PM Aug 28thfrom web
One out of 8 couples who married last year met online. #webu4:35 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Mistake #3: over-designed home page trapped in an endless loop with loud Star Wars-style music. #webu4:27 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Mistake #2: home page last updated 2006 (announcing kid’s event from that year). Lots of noisy animated gifs. #webu4:25 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Mistake #1: a site all about the congregation, centering on the pastor: so self-focused visitors can’t see themselves represented. #webu4:25 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Matt will show us some web design disasters, but (out of tact) none of them are UCC. #webu4:22 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Matt Carlisle is founder of Big Heart design at BigHeartDesign.com and Ministry 2.0 http://ministry2.org4:20 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Folks here from Hawai’i, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, S. and N. Carolina, Minnesota, other states. #webu4:17 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Web U has great start. Matt Carlisle to make 1st presentation. See online resources http://bit.ly/KGHij – Dave Schoen #webu4:07 PM Aug 28thfrom web
Looking forward to a great Web U this weekend. Travel blessings to those coming. See you there! Dave Schoen #webu11:17 AM Aug 26thfrom web
We recently completed a logo design for Midwest Tent and Events located in Lincoln, Nebraska. We were pleased to see their first billboard go up this past week (see below). This is the first time to see our work on a billboard … we’re used to pixels, not yards.
The Tennessee Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (TAHPERD) recently launched their new website design with the assistance of Big Heart Design. TAHPERD first approached Big Heart earlier this year seeking our assistance to redesign their site and then ultimately develop an application to support their new portal site. A statewide association, TAHPERD needed a website that would allow for event and membership registration, inform members of the latest news, and encourage advocacy. Visit the new TAHPERD website.
We’ve heard the outcry! Church leaders and volunteers are seeking a unique, hands-on workshop experience from top-shelf speakers. Big Heart Design is pleased to announce that we are enhancing our training opportunities through Ministry 2.0.
Ministry 2.0 is a hands-on workshop and live event designed for church leaders and volunteers interested in enhancing their ministry using cutting-edge Internet tools. Event topics for 2008/2009 will include user-centered Web design, podcasting, fundamentals of HTML/CSS, managing and motivating web volunteers, working with RSS and much more! From hands-on workshops for beginners to the seasoned Web evangelists, Ministry 2.0 is the event for anyone interested in using Web to strengthen their local ministry. Unpack the possibilities of web in ministry at Ministry 2.0.We will launch Ministry 2.0 in Nashville this November. Look for us in these cities in 2009: Austin, Birmingham, Charleston, Kansas City, and many others.
I was recent reading about Jeff Swartz, the CEO of Timberland, in the latest edition of Fast Company. I was really moved by his testimony of faith and how he lives out his faith trough his company.
[Fast Company | September 2008] “The only thing that stops the circle is faith. I have a religious feeling that guides me. [Swartz is an observant Jew.] I can’t show you the scripture that relates to the rights of a worker, but I can show you text that insists upon treating others with dignity. It says in the Hebrew Bible one time that you should love your neighbor as yourself, but it says dozens of times that you shall treat the stranger with dignity.
The power of transformation isn’t in somebody else’s hands; it’s in ours. There’s a story I like to tell about a woman whose only possession is a parakeet. She puts the bird in the window so she can share its song with the kids walking by. But these two knuckleheads come by; they live in the same neighborhood, the same circle, but have a different worldview. “We have nothing, so we will take your bird.” They stand in front of her and ask, “Is the bird alive or dead?” If she says alive, they will kill the bird, and if she says dead, they will let it fly away. Her answer is: “I don’t know. It’s in your hands.” It is her way of putting responsibility back on them.
When I tell that story, I say to people, “Look at your hands.” There could be one finger up because my speech is long and boring, or your fist could be clenched because you are furious at the way the world is. But if you unclench your hands and look at the palms, at the creative power in your hands, you recognize it is in your hands, nobody else’s. So join hands, and save the world.”
Recently, we have had a number of requests from clients looking for a simple way to get their podcasts and videos posted online. As we shared a few months back, E-zekiel.tv’s streaming service is great for churches, but we have really come to appreciate the ease of use and simplicity of the new Flip Video camera. The camera is a simple point and shoot and allows you to easily upload your video to your computer or your video streaming site of choice. It’s affordable (under $200), and offers better than average image quality. Learn more from this Computerworld Video review.
Big Heart Design is pleased to announce our recent partnereship with TechShop, a ministry of United Methodist Communications, and the Arkansas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church to offer Web services. The staff at Big Heart recognizes that the needs of churches are very different than that of secular organizations. We understand that churches have the desire to create relevant websites and online applications, but are limited by tight budgets and overworked staff. TechShop and the Arkansas Annual Conference have partnered with us to offer an extensive menu of offerings at reduced prices to churches and members of these organizations. Learn more about this partnership.
At Big Heart we’re constantly IMing (instant message) friends and colleagues. So when we saw Microsoft’s latest update to Windows Live Messenger, it seemed like an easy way to make a difference without much effort. For those of you who are intrigued by UX design, this new initiative is a great example of social action design. Check it out. It’s easy to set up and makes a difference. Here’s more:
The i’m™ Initiative from Microsoft™ makes helping social causes easy. Every time you use Windows Live™ Messenger or Windows Live Hotmail®, our free webmail service, we’ll share a portion of our advertising revenue with some of the world’s most effective social cause organizations. Exactly how much will we share with our partner causes? Well, that’s up to you and the growing masses of registered i’m Initiative users. The more messages you send, the more we give.
Now the small things you do every day, like e-mailing and IMing, can make a big difference. Learn more
I recently heard about GracePoint Church in Wichita, Kansas and their unique launch to their building campaign. While other churches take the traditional approach of constant requests and phone calls, GracePoint Church decided to have their members give away the churches money to those in need. Bryson Butts, GracePoint’s pastor shared the campaign concept on his blog.
I am so proud of GracePoint Church. It is such a privilege and honor to pastor this church. We kicked off a revolution Sunday with the UNLEASH campaign and gave away $10,000 as everyone in attendance received an envelope with cash in it. If you missed last week, all I can say is it sucks to be you.
Our instructions were very simple. There were no strings attached to this money, we just asked everyone to perform a random act of kindness by giving this money to someone and then telling us what you did with it at unleashwichita.com. I have been reading the stories EVERY DAY this week and they are absolutely amazing. I am completely blown away. If you have not yet gone and written your story, PLEASE DO SO!!!
Not only do we appreciate their fresh approach to fundraising, but providing members the ability to share their stories of giving back through their website is a really novel one. We encourage you to read GracePoint’s stories and seek opportunities to make the world a better place through service.
[MakeUseofIt.com] Yet another cool meeting scheduler that requires almost no effort. Meet-O-Matic lets you easily plan and coordinate the ideal meeting time with as many people as you want. All you need to do is to type-in a meeeting name and select a number of possible dates. Following this, Meet-O-Matic will give you two links, one needs to be forwarded to meeting attendees and the other, to be used to follow-up on progress.
You will be able to monitor responses as they arrive on a custom monitoring page with a table (see below).
Once everyone has replied, Meet-O-Matic will lookup the best dates and list them, from best to worst.
Additional Features
Plan and schedule as many meetings as you want.
No restrictions on the number of attendees.
Custom page to monitor responses as they happen.
VIP person : When selected Meet-O-Matic makes sure that meeting takes place on one of the dates selected by a VIP user.
Attendees are able to come back and edit their choices later.
#webu4:22 PM Aug 28th from web 
November 8, 2008
I was recent reading about Jeff Swartz, the CEO of Timberland, in the latest edition of 
