• How do we drive people within our local geographical area to our online spiritual training community?
• How do we drive people from around the planet to our online spiritual training community so that our ministry can have global missions impact as never before?  

The strategies for these two community-building goals are very different.  For this reason, I will address these two goals in separate articles. 

Let’s now explore 16 strategies for driving people from your local geographical area to your online spiritual training center.  While it may not be necessary to implement all fifteen suggestions to successfully build your community, the more recommendations your ministry implements, the larger and more successful your ministry’s online spiritual training community is likely to be.  The information offered in this article would likely cost your ministry many thousands of dollars if you utilized a marketing service to devise and implement these strategies on your behalf.  

One last word of encouragement, as you implement these strategies and your online ministry begins to bear fruit, please share your success stories with other pastors here in the E-Church Network.  

Strategy #1: Identify and mobilize a mentorship core within your church to create and support your online ministry.  

Strategy #2: Once your online ministry is basically set up, introduce the online ministry to your church through a three-part sermon series on the topic of Spiritual Formation:  

     Sermon 1 – “God’s Role in our Spiritual Formation”

1. God Created Us Intentionally  (Psalm 139:13-16)
2. God Positioned Us Strategically  (Esther 4:12-14; Ephesians 4:7; *1 Corinthians 12:18)    
3. God Empowers Us Effectively  (Acts 1:4-8; 2:16-21; Romans 8:26-38; *1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-31)

Application: Introduce the people to your online personality, spiritual giftedness and leadership style assessments.  

    Sermon 2 – “The Leader’s Role in our Spiritual Formation”

1. God Calls Leaders to Disciple People to Become Like Christ (Ephesians 4:1-7; Ephesians 5:1,2; 1  Thessalonians 5:12-24; 1 Peter 5:1-11)
2. God Calls Leaders to Prepare People to Serve Christ  (Ephesians 4:11-12)
3. God Calls leaders to Mobilize His People to be Effective for Christ  (Ephesians 4: 12-16)       

Application: Introduce people to your online e-learning center and mentorship program.  

     Sermon 3 – “Your Role in your Own Spiritual Formation”

1. We Were Called To Serve  (Hebrews 9:14; Romans 7:4-6; Ephesians 4:16)
2. Through Our Service We Mature  (Ephesians 4:12,13)
3. As We Mature, We Become Unified  (Ephesians 4:13-16)                                                

Application: Introduce people to your community forums and team-based virtual meeting rooms.  

Strategy #3: Provide “PC” for “JC” Training.  In the late 1600’s and early 1700’s in Great Britain Sunday School was born from a desire to teach illiterate people how to read, by having them learn to read the Bible.  The postmodern variation on this theme is to conduct computer and internet training classes, and to use your online spiritual training center to help facilitate the educational process.   Alternatively, for people who already know how to basically use a computer and the internet, you can conduct training on how to spiritually mentor people online.  

Strategy #4: Promote from your website topical “Ask the Pastor” online events, scheduled after 9:00pm on specified evenings.  The discussion will take place within your community forums.  I would recommend creating a forum entitled: “Ask our Pastors”.  The topics ought to be controversial issues or issues highly relevant to your target audience.  Note: Make sure you “seed” the online discussions with a few people committed to participate before-hand.   

Strategy #5: Unleash the blogosphere!  I cannot stress enough the potential impact of this strategy…both locally and globally.  However, to understand how this strategy works, you need to understand what a blog is, and more importantly, why blogs on the E-Church Network specifically can greatly benefit your online spiritual training community.   A blog is an ideal platform for writing articles, providing resources to people and sharing spiritual meditations.  I believe every pastoral person SHOULD blog.  For an example, click here.  Young adults prefer blogs 10/1 over viewing websites.  The reason is that blogs have relevant content that is constantly changing, the content can be “broadcast” directly to their computer through the use of “News Reader” programs, and because blogs enable people to respond and comment on each blog entry…a blog is more conversational.  

How E-Church Essentials handles blogs is very unique and is designed to build online synergy for your ministry.  Within your ministry’s online ministry account, each member has the option of having their own multi-media capable blog.  Our philosophy is that your key staff and lay leaders should have a platform in which they may communicate their heart and ministry to others.  Here is the kicker…The more blogs that exist through your exclusive online community, the more doorways you have for bringing people into your online spiritual training community.  And since your numerous blogs are all ministry-based, you will be attracting people who are truly spiritually hungry.  A modernist analogy to this strategy would be door-to-door evangelism.  The more people you can send door-to-door (back in the 1940’s -1970’s), the more people you are likely to lead to Christ and bring into your ministry.  We need to knock on as many internet doors as possible in order to maximize our online ministry impact.  

Strategy #6: Make sure that your church program/bulletin and newsletters all promote your online spiritual training center, and clearly explains how to become an active participant.  

Strategy #7: If your ministry makes use of large screen projection within your services, create a promotion regarding your online spiritual training center and display the promotion prior to the beginning of your service, and following the conclusion of your service.  

Strategy #8: Assign multiple mentors/instructors to each e-learning course you create, and charge them with the responsibility to recruit and care for their online students.  

Strategy #9: Send a mass email campaign to your email database, announcing your online spiritual training center and its benefits.  You may wish to model your announcement after professional online university announcements that target young adults.  

Strategy #10: Send a traditional snail-mail campaign to your database membership promoting the on-line spiritual training center and its benefits.  I would recommend that your ministry create a full-color tri-fold brochure for this mailing, and also use them for bulletin inserts and at your ministry information counters.  If you need help creating these brochures, E-Church Essentials can design them for your ministry.  

Strategy #11: If your ministry makes use of radio, newspaper, telephone book and/or television advertising, you will want to make sure that you include information regarding your FREE online spiritual training center.  

Strategy #12: If your ministry resides near a college or university, post flyers about your online spiritual training center on public bulletin boards.  You may also wish to network with campus-based para-church organizations that may be ministering at the school, and offer them FREE community forum space and e-learning space.  

Strategy #13: Create a “Christian Singles Connection” through your website and community forums.  Network and partner with other Christian Singles ministries as a “local chapter”.  

Strategy #14: Negotiate Banner Ads on all local websites…in particular survey your congregation to discover what websites are supported by your own membership.  Encourage every member of your congregation who possess a website or blog, to provide a banner link (You must create a banner for them to use) on their site.  If you require help creating banner ads, E-Church Essentials can help.  

Strategy #15: Make sure that you take advantage of local radio and television Public Service Announcements (PSA’s).  This is free advertising for your online spiritual training center.  

Strategy #16: The last strategy is not free, but it can be fairly inexpensive.  Google provides a banner advertising service called Adwords.  Recently, Adwords was expanded to include “Targeted Sites”.  Targeted Sites enables you to identify specific websites on the Google network and have your test-only banner advertisement display on that site.  The cost is as little at $1/1000 views.  Now what makes this strategy so effective for local online community building is that you can identify and restrict your banner advertisement coverage to your local region.  This reduces your potential expense and increases your local traffic.  In addition, you can list websites that you know of that originate within your local community, and target those websites for your banner advertisement.  This is a phenomenal regional traffic generation strategy.  To get your ministry started, go to https://adwords.google.com/select/.  

Conclusion: I hope these suggested strategies spur your ministry’s creative juices.  I hope your ministry shares my attitude that “we must do everything possible to reach as many people for Christ as possible”.  Thank you for extending your ministry online.  

In Christ,  

David Posthuma
E-Church Essentials