Content in Pastors' blogs

What content should appear in a pastor's blog? Anything they want, of course. On the other hand, it depends on why the blog was created and the purpose of the blog.

Pastors may arrive at a church with a blog already. They may well use it for publishing daily happenings (journal style) and musings. If the church wants "their" Pastor's blog to integrate with the church web and church worship, the church and pastor need to discuss a blog that is directly tied to the church. Both type blogs can exist at the same time. Authoring multiple blogs is common.

The Christian Web Trends blog posting lists some great content ideas for "Supercharging sermons with a blog", which I have added to the below tips.

Come decision points about pastor blog content and design on which the church and pastor need to reach agreement:

• If the pastor has or wants a personal journal type blog, is the pastor also willing to author a pastor's blog that is a more direct extension of the local church?
• Should the design integrate with the church web design or its existing blogs?
• Should the pastor's blog contain any sermon texts, summaries, or outlines? Sermon messages can be one form of online evangelism.
• Should a "Sermon blog" be a separate blog or mixed in with the other postings in the church's Pastor's blog?
• Should the church offer (and link) sermon podcasts or video?
• Should the blog allow comments, as is the norm?
• Should any comments should be "moderated", so as to avoid anti-Christian rants and foul language appearing in blog comments? Yes, of course!
• Should the blog contain short "point of view" postings about spiritual life in a secular world? These could be "thought for the week" style, supplement a past sermon, or based on the pastor's and congregation's daily life experiences.

Sermon information

If the pastor's blog will contain sermon information, decide the following:

• When should such information be posted?
  Immediately or after a week or two delay?
  Some pastors and church leaders may fear that offering full text or even outlines immediately might lower actual church attendance. Others may want to immediately offer the message to shut-ins or people who were unable to attend church.
• Should it be full text, paragraph summary, or outline?
  I suggest a two-level outline format, which is easiest to scan. After all, research shows that most surfers scan, not read text on web pages. An outline of two levels includes the key points and yet is short.

Add sermon resource links

If posting sermon outlines, help people dig deeper by stirring in:

• Links to resources related to the sermon topic. Remember that your own church web may contain information or related link collections.
• Links to bible passages for the sermon.
• Titles of materials available in the church library.
• Links to Books, say available from Cokesbury, that are a really great reference.

Add the "So what?"

Sermons at their best are like editorials, not just commentary. Editorials urge their readers to take action. Here's the pastor's chance to reinforce the Christian actions that readers should take in their lives during the coming days and weeks. The Christian Web Trends blog calls these "Action Steps." Be specific. Make each action step short. Use bullets – make the action steps easy to scan.

Encourage contact

If you have enabled comments, your blog postings automatically have a way to "contact us". Some readers, though, may wish to contact the pastor personally, not via a blog comment. So it's best to also add a "Contact us" link. Since this is a Pastor's blog that is tied to your church, how about adding a "Send a prayer request" link too? It couldn't hurt and might be just what some blog reader needs.