Pastors, the Internet, social media and boring slides

January 15, 2010

Today, I was given the opportunity to speak to a small group of pastors and ministries and share with them on “Tools and toys to enhance your ministry”. Having been in church for a good 30 or so years of my life, I’ve experienced heaps and I am sensitive to what engages and what doesn’t. I hear a lot from people who are both creative and non-creative.

As such, I decided to try and help expose the group to the current trends and what tools can be used for God’s glory.

Free eBook: Facebook for Pastors by Chris Forbes
Great book / DVD on presentation methodology: Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds

Images and videos for free, or at a low cost for church presentations / illustrations
Please bear in mind, I support respecting the copyright of the image owners and NEVER use something if the image owner does not approve.

sxc.hu (free images)
everystockphoto.com (free images)
istockphoto.com (microstock images at a low cost)
images.google.com (free images)

bluefishtv.com (videos from USD$1.99)
ignitermedia.com (videos)
36parables.com (videos)
openresources.org (free videos)
youtube.com (free videos)

Tools and toys that I shared about were:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Streaming video: live and pre-recorded
  • Online payment gateways
  • Blogging
  • Email newsletters
  • Online forms to email
  • Slideology resources

Tips for pastors starting out on Facebook

  • Culture shock, do not judge!
    - You may encounter information about certain members that you never knew before. Be calm, and reserve passing judgment on them. The main purpose of connecting on Facebook is to achieve true friendship.
  • Treat each friend as a real person
    - Though it may seem like a virtual relationship, each person behind every account is a real-life being who needs as much prayer as a person who walks into your church. Pray for them as you would every member in your congregation.
  • Don’t get sidetracked
    - Facebook can be pretty addictive, really! Be careful not to spend copious amounts of time looking through photos and watching videos, if you should be focused on other tasks. Facebook can be a great communications tool, and it can also be a HUGE distraction.
  • Ask for help
    - If you get lost, don’t hesitate to ask your children or fellow congregation members for assistance. Nothing works best than human guidance.

Videos I used during my presentation

Statistics on the Internet (as at 2008)

What Twitter is all about

Random photos from my session with the pastors

Here are some of the pastors from FGA, KL, SIB KEC, Miri and beyond.

The slightly more tech savvy pastors. Grinning at the camera is Pastor Thomas from Penang.

Thanks for these two photos, @sivinkit.

Here’s a sample of bad, BAD slideology. They’re slides I designed back in the year 2000 when presenting ideas to prospects. Urgh… proof that you CAN learn design! (or marry someone who is better than yourself for a quick shortcut like I did!)

Before I share some of my slides, here are the resources I mentioned during my talk that are relevant for you.

by TheBackpackr |
View Comments |
Creative, Personal, Presentations, Social Media, Technology, Training
  • http://www.dannyfoo.com/blog Danny Foo

    Er, Google images aren’t technically free right? You still have to ask permission for some of them. :P

  • http://www.integricity.com TheBackpackr

    Yes, you do have to ask for permission to use them, depending on author and what their terms are. I totally advocate asking for proper approval.

  • http://sivinkit.net/ Sivin Kit

    wow nice to see my copyrighted photos :-) hehehe

  • http://twitter.com/sivinkit/statuses/7949380750 sivinkit (Sivin Kit)

    Twitter Comment


    RT @TheBackpackr: Pastors, the Internet, social media and boring slides [link to post] / ~ Interesting looks from the pastors :-)

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/daniel_szehau/statuses/7950232609 daniel_szehau (Daniel Lim)

    Twitter Comment


    RT @TheBackpackr: New blog post: Pastors, the Internet, social media and boring slides [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/leviasher/statuses/7949189291 leviasher (Levi Asher)

    Twitter Comment


    @sunitaphilips Check this out.New blog post: Pastors, the Internet, social media and boring slides [link to post] (via @TheBackpackr )

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • Christopher Choy

    I’d like to express my gratitude to Bro Alex Lam our coach for the Shepherds’ Track. Enlightening and informative. After the track, I logged on to Twitter and get myself an account.

    Looking forward to next year’s Charge Up Conference. Till then, I’m interested to receive any media support that could help me to enhance my preching and teaching. Shalom!

  • http://www.samkoh.net Sam

    Great read and links! :)

    Here’s another that I’d like to add – http://www.worshiphousemedia.com.

    I use some of the videos here for my worship sessions at church and various other sessions I lead on worship.

  • http://www.amandabee.com/2010/02/how-the-internet-has-help-us-connect/ How the Internet has help us Connect | Amanda Bee’s

    [...] Although i do not consider myself a social media addict but i am a heavy user of social media networking tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, therefore I get most of my updates from there, both personal and related news of the people i follow. I came across this link that was shared through Twitter, where he was sharing his talk given to pastors from various churches how they could use these social media tools to help grow their ministry. Like business, you sometimes need to go with the flow in technology, to improvise, be willing to change and adapt to the new terms and technology used also be aware of the soon to come of what lies ahead in the near future. So the same goes when comes to saving souls, just be very careful not get hooked and addicted to these tools You can checkout his particular blog post here Pastors, Social Media and boring slides [...]

  • Joshua Asiwome Fugar

    I am really enjoying your site and its really a good add up to what I want to do.

    I have a similar presentation to make to a group of pastors in my church in the coming week. I wish you could do me a favor and mail me your outline and possibly some of the learning resources as per materials you used for your group.

    Thank you and God bless.

    Josh

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