Can you be more specific as to what kind of information you're going to have online?

You are spot on Pastor Dale. Very common issue for churches as we have such a wide age demographic to cover. You are talking accessibility. You could widen this to also cover those with disabilities. I think for audio, make it easy to deliver CDs, DVDs, etc. For text, make sure you have an easy way to print materials for those who prefer hard copy. You can always keep a few around and see how it goes.

Hey Pastor Dale,

To be honest, my gut reaction was the same for anyone who does not attend an event. However, Shrop's post made me rethink my somewhat harsh initial response. Jeff Eaton, a Drupal guru, recently wrote the excellent An exercise in learning, and humility. It's a good reminder of how intimidating technology can be.

It might work to experiment with several attempts at introduction:
• Create a step-by-step guide of how to log in and post or host a workshop where folks can come to the church for a hands-on demo. (Obviously this won't work for people w/o access, but it may help some.)
• Consider e-mailing the content. (Many folks see the 'net as nothing more than a giant mailserver.)
• Provide internet access before or after church events.
• Create a printed digest and post it on a bulletin board or pass a few printed copies around.
• Allow signup for regular printed updates. It's really only wasted paper if people don't read it. It seems reasonable to consider asking them to contribute the cost of printing. (The smallest donation will establish value and throttle the number of folks who are interested.)

What you don't want to do is kill the good things happening online to pacify the few who are not involved. However, the heart of the issue is that you have people who are struggling with how to be fully engaged...and that's a really great thing.

-NP

Hi All!!!!!

Have a an internet room at the church or some ones home. This would be a place people can figure things out with help or just be a part of the meeting or get needed information.

We presently have three online communities. All three are with Joomla and Jomsocial. One community communicates by PM, blogging or Instant messaging. The other two communities communicate through the website and Skype. During a Skype meeting, we can send files or links.

We have tested at other options, but we always come back to Skype. Also, for our online community in South America, we have a major problem with internet speed.

I personally like Moodle as a virtual meeting place, but participants need some computer skill, so this was not an option now. Maybe in the future.

Another option we were looking at is Connect Now. With this option people can call in to the meeting and do not need a computer. Looks good, but I have no experience.

Tim

I'm listening to the April episode and am glad this thread sparked a great conversation.

Re: Meetings, we have an elder who lives 45 minutes away. Coming to a meeting is a major time commitment for him. We set him up on Skype this month, so he was able to attend the meeting. Everyone else was actually present, so basically, the screen was just another person at the table.

And I wrote the following newsletter article, which didn't appear on my blog, but did in our newsletter (This is the first "newsletter article" I've written since August. The rest of the time, the secretary just copies and pastes one of my blog posts for the print newsletter.):

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Feeling Left in the Dust?
When I was at Seminary, we were told, “When you start in a parish, make no changes the first year. Your second year, make one change.” When I came to Shepherd of the Ridge, I saw some changes that would need to be made in less than a year, but I intended to follow this advice at least in spirit, if not to the letter.
Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed that it didn’t take long before I abandoned that rule altogether. When I arrived, I wanted to make sure to honor Pastor Paul’s legacy and attempted to follow in his footsteps as much as possible, but many people in the congregation encouraged me to step out boldly, so I’m doing so. We’ve been trying many new things, some things so new that no church on earth has tried them before, and I promise that what you’ve seen already is just the tip of the iceberg, laying groundwork for what’s to come.
Most of the feedback I’ve received so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and I appreciate the vote of confidence, but at the same time, I recognize that, while I’m trying to bring the church into the 21st Century and make sure it’s prepared for the 22nd, many of you were perfectly happy in the 20th Century and have no desire to be dragged into the present, much less the future, thankyouverymuch. I want to tell you that you’re not forgotten.
(1 Corinthians 12:16-21) Or suppose an ear says, “I’m not an eye, so I’m not a part of the body!” Would that mean it’s no longer part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? So God put each and every part of the body together as he wanted it. How could it be a body if it only had one part? So there are many parts but one body. An eye can’t say to a hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
Just as our retired members won’t generally participate in our youth group events (though some do!), different people have different needs, and just as some LCMS churches still have German services along with their English ones, we will still speak using both the languages of technology and the more traditional. We want to reach everyone with the Gospel, so just as a missionary has to go among the people he wants to reach, we need to go among those around us. Since most younger people are online to some degree, we’d be disobedient to the Great Commission to ignore this mission field, which we can enter without ever leaving home. But at the same time, we don’t only want to reach those who speak tech. If we did, we’d send the message that you need an Internet connection to be a Christian, which of course is dead wrong.
So over the next several years, you will see many changes around here. Others, you won’t see, but will hear about if you’re not online. At the same time, we will, to the best of our ability, include everyone. We will continue to have local meetings, classes, meals, services, and plenty of opportunities to be involved without ever touching anything electronic. At the same time, many will be involved in our online ministry. For example, we’re starting a Cyber Evangelism team, but this will in no way change or eliminate our existing Live Evangelism Board. We need both.
As we implement changes, we’ll try as much as possible to keep a balance and include as many people as we can. Rest assured that we have many plans that have little or nothing to do with technology.
If a change makes you uncomfortable, as much as I appreciate encouragement, I covet constructive criticism and questions. At the same time, ask yourself, “Is this a change I can get used to if it benefits others, or is it just too much?” While we sometimes need to step outside our comfort zones for the sake of others, I don’t want anyone to feel a sense of foreboding when they think of church, and I never want anyone to think the Gospel is inaccessible to them here.
So please, keep the communication lines open. Tell me what’s on your mind. Tell me how you feel. Yes, I communicate a lot with my smartphone, but I still make house calls and always will, and I’d love to come and listen to you and help you however I can.
Meanwhile, please keep the church in your prayers, and ask God to show you where you fit in, because everyone does. Ask God how you can use your unique gifts to share His love with those in your life.
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I wrote the article under a time crunch, so I'd like to reword some stuff had I the chance, but you get the gist of the idea.