Tonight I finished reading another book that Josh Griffin recommended, The Blogging Church by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch.

While I thought the book was great and very informative, I didn’t get quite as much out of it as Josh did, perhaps because the book really needs to be in the hands of other members of my congregation.

The reason I purchased the book wasn’t to learn about blogging (an aspect of the book in which the authors cover quite well in extensive detail) but instead to learn what benefits a blog has to offer a church.  As it turns out, there are far more benefits than I realized.

The first, and perhaps most obvious, benefit of a church blog is that it can share news about the congregation.  From stories about recent and upcoming events, to testimonies and stories of life change, to ministry news and the weekend message, there’s lots of information about a church that needs to be disseminated to current and prospective members.  A blog serves as a quick, easy and inexpensive means of distribution.

Second, a blog can cast the vision of a church.  Instead of simply posting the church’s vision and mission statement (which should be done anyway), a blog can help define the congregation’s identity.  It can also help answer questions raised by parishioners and explain why the church does the things it does.

Finally, and perhaps most important, having a blog can help a church reach out to others.  This process begins by starting conversations and extends further by helping to develop relationships and, eventually, build community.

I’m going to recommend this book to my Pastor and Directory of Lay Ministries and see what they think about using a blog as a communications tool.  If implemented and used correctly, I think a blog could be a tremendous asset to my congregation.