"The Blogging Church" by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch

Brian Bailey and Terry Storch, blogging pastors at their local churches, have put together an argument for the power of blogging as a ministry tool. “The Blogging Church addresses the why, what, and how of blogging in the local church” (p. xv). The authors argue that “blogging connects people and builds community in a whole new way” (p. xvi). Divided into sixteen chapters, The Blogging Church gives an overview of blogging and why your church should become a blogging church, explores the many ways you can use blogging to make a difference in your church and community, explains the basics about “how to” blog, and gives you a solid foundation on which to build your blog. Interspersed with interviews from blogging professionals (including some in ministry), The Blogging Church is a guide to help you get started with blogging as a tool for your ministry.

As a speaker/writer looking to use blogging as a tool for my ministry, there were actually a lot of parallels between a pastor at a church using a blog and myself using a blog – both to reach more people with our message and give them an authentic view into our lives.

The combination of rising mistrust with rising access has changed what we expect from organizations. We want a relationship, a true conversation, not a one-way recitation of marketing brochures and talking points. The result is that honesty and transparency are now valued above all else. The desire is not for perfection but for openness. (p. 8)

Blogging provides an open and honest communication to take place (p. 8) – it gives the reader a glimpse into the life of the organization and allows him/her to interact on a one-to-one level with the organization. Blogging helps ministries to be relevant to the culture they find themselves in (p. 9). “Blogging is all about connecting communities through conversation” (p. 15). Blogging allows you to expand your ministry’s reach around the world – having a true impact on lives you may never meet in person (p.15).

The book didn’t seem to have any weaknesses in relation to the proposed thesis – in fact, I thought the author’s did a great job hitting all the major points. However, the correlation between being a pastor who blogs and an author/speaker who blogs is not 100% - it’s probably more around 75%. That being said, I found the majority of the content to be relevant and challenging, with only a few pages that I could set aside completely. Did I agree 100% with the authors’ view of blogging? No. But reading their thoughts challenged me to think through my own convictions and put into words why I feel the way I do.

In all, this book was what I expected from having read the reviews of it on Amazon. It was a well-written book, aimed at helping individuals in ministry use blogging as a tool to advance the cause of Christ. There was a lot of solid information and a ton of challenging questions and thoughts to ponder in regards to my current and future use of blogging as a ministry tool. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone thinking about using a blog as a tool to enhance their current ministry.

I purchased this book on my own, and my review is 100% unsolicited.