Hulu has further developed this
trend with entertainment programming. I no longer need to be at home at
a particular time during the week to see my favorite show, nor do I
need to worry about missing an episode. I simply login to Hulu and all
of my favorite shows are queued up and ready to go. It doesn’t matter
if it is CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, Comedy Central, etc. It also doesn’t
matter if it is a Monday night or Thursday night show. I get what I
want, when I want it.
The newspaper industry is
floundering because they are still operating on the old paradigm that
people will pay 75 cents to get the news from their paper. Many people,
of course, have subscriptions that the paper would come directly to
them, but in our information age news the next morning it is already
old. More importantly, people have to seek that information through a
subscription or going to a newsstand. And it is only from one
source for each purchase or subscription.
As a church we still see the world
through this old paradigm. We think people will seek out a particular
church and only be concerned for what that church’s materials and
perspectives. Even more peculiarly we, as churches, still seem to think
that people will tack up the calendar from the bulletin or newsletter
on their fridge; will surf to the web calendar several clicks into the
church site; or, more surprisingly, think that people have a paper
calendar they are writing everything on. What people really have in
their pockets -many at least- are PDA’s, or more likely internet
connected cell phones. What people are beginning to really value is
calendars that are delivered directly to them. Our church offices
should be using calendars that can be subscribed to directly by our
congregants so that our calendars are sitting side-by-side with theirs
(such as google calendar)....but I’ve partly digressed from my point. And the whole staff and leadership, more importantly, has to buy into this system.
The church needs to stop using
proprietary website stuff. No more calendars that can only be viewed
online or need to be updated by one particular person with web design
expertise. Videos should not be put on the site in such a way that
people must go to the website to see it. Youtube (or vimeo), google
calendar and other avenues of communication that people are already
using should be implemented, instead. If we do this then, yes, the website can be
more dynamic and more up-to-date for people who go there, but more
importantly the stories and content are out on the web for people to
stumble across, to subscribe to, and to share on social media with
friends. Why not setup the church website with “share” buttons so that
stories, photos and videos can easily be shared to their facebook,
youtube, twitter and email friends?
The church has to get outside of
the old paradigm. We have to take our story outside of the new
boundaries of church: the church website. ...and don’t forget we’re
taking stories and faith, not information!