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How can organizations get along in an organic movement?

djchuang — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:04:12 PST

There’s something about a movement that attracts attention, people and/or media and/or whatever. Some more than others. There’s the Tea Party movement.. Occupy movement.. Arab Spring movement.. movements can be social, political, even religious.

Some people have a degree of uneasiness with calling something that’s orchestrated by an organization as a movement, insinuating that a movement is more pure or more real if it is entirely organic and no one person or no one organization can be pin-pointed as the starting point of the phenomena occurring. Yes, there’s something more interesting about the organic thing, the random and uncontrolled.

I think language is elastic and whether a cause or movement is organized or organic, the intention is that of doing something to rally people and resources to make a difference in the world.

My drawing to the right was to help me sort out movements and how organized institutions and organic individuals fit into a cause. (Albeit oversimplifying something far more complicated.)

The 1st circle (top left) illustrates an organization’s effort to champion a cause, and the organization wants to promote the cause through advocacy and rally resources to its own efforts by recruiting people to serve the organization.

The 2nd circle (top right) illustrates the organic efforts scattered around one unifying cause. No formal organizational entity exists with the branding savvy to advertise and promote the cause, and yet movement is happening by word-of-mouth and word-of-mouse through the collective efforts of individuals and small groups of people.

The 3rd circle shows the mix of the organized and the organic contributing to a bigger movement to championing a cause. An organization could be one of several orgs in the cause/movement. And people who are allergic to the institutional machinery can participate in the cause through their own organic ways. While organizations do their thing to recruit people and mobilize resources for its efforts, a big-sized movement is going to take more than organizational strategies or organic randomness.

One organization can’t tackle a cause or create a movement alone. If it could, the cause isn’t big enough.

Here’s 2 other ways for an organization to go more after the cause rather than its own sustainability (or guarding its own brand or grasping for its own survival): [1] the organization can collaborate and partner with other organizations for some projects when it makes sense. Notice how movies and video games (and NASCAR) shows multiple brands in the opening credits. Don’t go it alone when you don’t have to. And you don’t have to. [2] the organization can equip and resource the organic individuals. Think of the impact that could happen if it’s more about the cause than just being about the organization.

What would you add?

Lessons from YouTube Channels Making Money

djchuang — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:54:02 PST

YouTube has become quite the pop culture shaper and launched a little cottage industry for thousands. I’d anticipate that will only continue to grow. That’s entertainment!

Wired magazine recently featured a dozen or so Partners in The YouTube Laugh Factory: A Studio System for Viral Video (December 2011) and distilled these 5 rules for getting noticed according to YouTube Partners (people making money via YouTube):

Make a lot of content. A lot.
Target a niche.
Connect with your fans.
Collaborate.
Optimize for the algorithms.

According to a USA Today article (June 2011), there are over 20,000 YouTube Partners and a few hundred are making over $100,000 per year. At least 1 has made over $1,000,000. Revenue estimates 2010 are projected in this article, How Much Money Do The Top Grossing YouTube Partners Make? quoting the Business Insider piece, Meet The YouTube Stars Making $100,000 Plus Per Year.

According to a YouTube Partners discussion thread, the legal (and confidential) agreement states that “… You may accurately disclose the amount of Google’s gross payments to You pursuant to the Program” though it’s often erroneously rumored that YouTube Partners are prohibited from disclosing earning figures.

Note you can make smaller amounts of money at an entry level called Revenue Sharing on YouTube videos; but to make bigger money and get extra perks, apply for approval to the Partners program. And YouTube provides tips and resources for producing quality videos at Creators’ Corner and Creators Hub. After all, if you make money, they make money.

Here’s 5 Secrets of YouTube’s Success (April 2010), an article published for the 5-year anniversary of YouTube with observations about why it’s succeeded beyond survival, and how it’s thriving and growing –

It elevated the absurd.
It got creative with advertising.
It plays nice with Hollywood.
It launched a new creative class.
It’s willing to reinvent itself.

And, by the way, it’s messing with our brains - Clive Thompson on How YouTube Changes the Way We Think (December 2008). Keen insights from the communication-meister Marshall McLuhan:

Marshall McLuhan pointed out that whenever we get our hands on a new medium we tend to use it like older ones. Early TV broadcasts consisted of guys sitting around reading radio scripts because nobody had realized yet that TV could tell stories differently. It’s the same with much of today’s webcam video; most people still try to emulate TV and film. Only weirdos like MadV are really exploring its potential.

A bigger leap will occur when we get better tools for archiving and searching video. Then we’ll start using it the way we use paper or word processing: to take notes or mull over a problem, like Tom Cruise flipping through scenes at the beginning of Minority Report. We think of video as a way to communicate with others—but it’s becoming a way to communicate with ourselves.

10 Ethnicities Increasing Diversity in the OC

djchuang — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:20:36 PST

The OC Register put together a colorful photo slideshow to shed light on the many immigrant groups in Orange County, California, in O.C.’s top 10 immigrant populations. The content of this post is excerpted from the slideshow’s caption text by Cindy Carcamo, with demographic data attributed to the 2010 American Community Survey and 2010 U.S. Census. [ed.note: the captions note for every group that "It's unclear what portion of this population are U.S. citizens, legal residents or in the country illegally because survey officials don't ask."]

An estimated 918,000 foreign-born people lived in Orange County in 2010… More than half of this population is from Latin America, closely followed by Asia with about 400,000 people …

Mexico: An estimated 367,653 people in Orange County were born in Mexico. Mexican nationals make up 40 percent of the foreign-born population in the county. The longtime hub of the county’s Mexican community is in the city of Santa Ana, where Fiestas Patrias is celebrated each year in the downtown area. Mexican nationals have long been part of Orange County’s population. In Orange County, an estimated 888,255 people in 2010 described themselves as being of Mexican origin…

Vietnam: Vietnamese nationals make up the second largest group of foreign-born people in Orange County. Two years ago, an estimated 135,862 people in O.C. were born in Vietnam… The Vietnamese population is mostly centered in Westminster and Garden Grove. The Tet Festival is one of several celebrations for the community. The Vietnamese population is a political force in Orange County. Some leaders have gained key political positions in the county. In 2011, Michael Vo became Fountain Valley’s first Vietnamese councilman. He was a 17-year-old refugee fleeing the Vietnamese communist regime when he arrived in the United States in 1980.

Korea: An estimated 62,260 Korean nationals lived in Orange County in 2010… Many Koreans in Orange County reside in Irvine. Hundreds of people gather in the city for the annual Irvine Korean Cultural Festival. As the Korean population has grown, so has the community’s political standing in Orange County. In 2008, Sukhee Kang became Irvine’s first Korean-American mayor. Kang, a first-generation immigrant, became the nation’s first Korean-American mayor of a major U.S. city, according to news reports.

Philippines: An estimated 48,826 Filipino nationals lived in Orange County in 2010… Most of the Filipino-Americans live in Buena Park… Orange County has one of the highest concentrations of Asian residents, including Filipinos, in the nation… Filipino-Americans live throughout Orange County but are grouped mostly in Buena Park, La Palma, Irvine, Cypress, Fullerton and Stanton.

China: About 42,800 Chinese nationals lived in Orange County in 2010… This total includes about 20,000 people born in Taiwan. A little more than 30 percent of the county’s Chinese-American population lives in Irvine… Others live mostly in La Palma, Cypress and Fullerton. The Chinese-American population has taken leadership positions in organizations throughout the county, including the faith-based communities. In 2009, Francis Ng became the first priest of Chinese descent to be ordained in Orange County.

Iran: An estimated 27,500 Iranian nationals live in Orange County… The Iranian-American community is an active force in Orange County, often showing support for the people in their homeland. The Mehregan Festival is celebrated in Irvine by the Iranian community every year. The Persian festival will celebrate its 16th year in Irvine this fall.

India: An estimated 25,000 people in Orange County were born in India… The Indian-American population in Orange County is primarily centered in Irvine and La Palma… As the Indian-American population in Orange County has grown, so has the number of Indian eateries and grocery stores.

El Salvador: An estimated 18,000 people who live in Orange County were born in El Salvador… about 26,000 people in the county identified themselves as being of Salvadoran origin. This figure includes people who are born in the United States and identify as Salvadoran-Americans and people who are born in El Salvador. … Santa Ana is the hub of the Salvadoran-American community in Orange County. The community has more than doubled since 2000. The Salvadoran-American population in Orange County is nearly at 30,000. Despite the growing community, the Salvadoran consular office in Santa Ana closed late last year. Many in the community expressed sadness over the closure.

Canada: About 13,000 Canadian nationals live scattered throughout Orange County… Canadian nationals and Canadian-Americans are spread throughout the county. Some get together in O.C. to celebrate various Canadian holidays, such as Canada Day (July 1) and Canadian Thanksgiving (the second Monday in October). Canadian-Americans and Canadians nationals formed a group in Orange County as a networking platform. The group is called Canadians in Orange County.

Guatemala: An estimated 12,000 Guatemalan nationals live in Orange County… Guatemalan-Americans make up the third-largest Latino population in Orange County. However, the closest consular office is in Los Angeles. The Guatemalan consulate set up a mobile service in 2003 in Santa Ana to make it easier for the local community to get passports and identification cards. Hundreds stood in line for hours on that day for services. While Mexican-American businesses dominate in Orange County, Guatemalan immigrants have also set up some specialty shops, especially in Santa Ana.

whether to connect Twitter to Facebook or not

djchuang — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:34:38 PST

2 social networks dominate the new media landscape at this point in history — Facebook and Twitter. At the time of this writing, Facebook has 800+ million active users and Twitter has 100+ million active users.

Many of you, like me, use both Twitter and Facebook. But given the disparity in numbers, many more are on only Facebook and not Twitter. Thus, my rationale for sharing my Twitter tweets (which I use more) to my Facebook status updates, so that both my Twitter followers and Facebook friends can see my latest finds — a large %age of my updates are links to goodies I find. (I do have my Twitter Facebook app configured so that my twitter @replies do not get posted to Facebook.)

I didn’t want to be insensitive to my friends on Facebook; I’ve recently asked them if I should continue feeding my Facebook status updates with my latest tweets, or keep the two separated. The results ended in a close heat, by a margin of 9 votes, more of my friends wanted to keep my tweets connected!

The wisdom of the crowd is split on whether you should or shouldn’t have social networks connected with mirrored content. My counsel: be considerate of your Facebook friends, yours may be more Twitter-averse.

Here are comments that came in during polling season, for your reference, to assist you in making an informed decision about how you might use your Twitter and Facebook accounts:

KL: “It annoys me when people post to both twitter and FB because I have to see the same thing twice. Then again, I don’t follow many people on both twitter and FB so in practice this isn’t really a problem.”

TL: i think ideally you want to separate fb and twitter because they are different mediums with different purposes and circles (no google+ pun intended). so tweet certain things and fb post other different things. but who does that really?

i think the reality is that most people are heavier users of either one or the other. so it’s probably the minority that would see your posts duplicated on twitter and fb (and previously buzz)

KH: i think connecting different social media platforms is a great invention! =)

SM: i don’t know about ‘overwhelmed’, but i tend to prefer separate streams…

RM: Only because every one else says this.

WS: And I like to read them here too!!

LL: selective tweets is a good option so it doesn’t flood your fb

VS: it is a question I’ve wrestled with myself. At the moment the “time” issue is the determinant…I don’t have to do independent posts. When that changes, I will probably split the information.

MM: I also use the Selective Tweets. I appreciate the option of determining which tweets come to Facebook.

SK: I’m probably not a good one to ask, because I port all my tweets over to Facebook. Using Selective Tweets is too mentally taxing. I don’t have time to parse whether a tweet is “appropriate” for Facebook or not. I just know that everything I post on Twitter shows up here on FB, and that’s fine. Two different audiences (for the most part). Different conversations take place around the same content. It’s all good. That’d be my vote, keep on keepin’ on.

SS: I’d say go with your instinct, your gut feel. I like the way you think and reason!

SO: I would vote for Disconnect if it wasn’t for the parenthetical addendum. Its for strategic reasons I advocate separating them, not because I am “easily overwhelmed”

LS: Pile it on! I love reading your stuff.

DI: I say disconnect them! Why follow on facebook & twitter if both have same content?

CM: I use selective tweets. I think that works best also!

JR: I follow you on twitter. plus you can use selective tweets.

BW: I see all your Tweets on Twitter, so I wouldn’t need to see them here too. But, if it’s easier for you, I don’t mind them in both!

BR: Use select tweets so updates appropriate for FB can still be brought over. [re: what is appropriate?] Things that you think your friends might comment on as well as just less than twitter. Things w/o hashtags too.

What counsel would you add about whether or not to connect Twitter to Facebook?

Now, It’s also possible to connect things the other way, so your Facebook status updates get automatically posted over to Twitter. When do you think it’s better to connect it the other direction?

List of Christian podcasts that aren’t sermons

djchuang — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:43:37 PST

Recently I’ve been looking for podcasts to subscribe to for my commute time. I’m most interested in the intersection of social and spiritual things, aka people & relationships, which isn’t as popular as topics like technology or cooking or celebrity gossip.

In the Christian podcasting world, most podcasts are sermons or teachings or devotionals or church tech; that’s okay for the masses. I’m looking to check the “other” box, not so much what books tag as “Christian life”; just Christians (and Christian-friendly people) talking about a faith-informed life.

Here’s a list of active podcasts I’ve found so far — if you know others, please do add a comment:

Frank the Podcast - a humorous and irreverent look at life informed by faith (w @DarinMcWatters et al)
One Extraordinary Marriage – Tony and Alisa DiLorenzo share tips and stories on how to create the marriage that you want
Something Beautiful - stories worth talking about: stories about God, life, friends, family and why it all matters (w @JDBlundell et al)
Foster Parenting – foster parents Tim and Wendy as they discuss foster care and adoption
Homebrew Christianity – Tripp & Chad crafting, experimenting, imagining, and sharing a Christian faith that is life-giving
Let’s Talk It’s Relationship - Bob, David, and Loren from Family Room Media discuss real life issues and the exciting journey of life in God outside of institutional Christianity
Beyond the Box - life beyond the box of institutional religion
Two Blind Squirrels Podcast - Christian comedy podcast that features everything from new contemporary Christian artists to two off key goofs singing about nothing.
[update] Lifehouse Podcast – discuss how God has influenced our lives and interviews with other Christians [iTunes]
Frederica Here and Now with Frederica Matthewes-Green and more podcasts at Ancient Faith Radio
International Arts Movement (IAM) podcast
The Wally Show – Wally infuses Christian radio with a good balance of humor and heart

Aside: the term “podcast” has been co-opted for audio files posted on a website. Podcasts I’m listing here are those that can be subscribed via iTunes or a podcatcher app (cf. Google Listen or Podkicker on Android), and are recorded & produced only for the podcast show, not recordings from other broadcast media. This list isn’t for dormant podcasts (cf. The Nick & Josh Podcast, Wired Parish), only those that are actively updated, like weekly.

Asian American churches in the metro Washington DC area

djchuang — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:55:13 PST

Question: “I’m looking for a church in the DC area with a large Asian American demographic in attendance. I really want to be integrated into the Asian American community. Can you refer me to such a church in DC? I don’t have a car or know how to drive, so my traveling options are limited to just walking.”

Answer >> There are several churches in the metro Washington DC / Virginia / Maryland area that are predominantly Asian American, or significantly so, oh, let’s say, at least 25%. And by “Asian American churches” I’m assuming English-speaking autonomous churches, not the ethnic Asians that’d be a part of a Korean or Chinese church with an English ministry. As for not driving, what’s awesome about DC is the subway system called Metro that gets you to many parts of DC / VA / MD.

Here’s the ones I know of that demographically fit the description, excerpted from my list of next-gen multi-Asian churches plus a few others. Please do add a comment if you know others:

Washington DC

Washington International Church (NW) [Metro: Tenleytown-AU]
Worthy Life Baptist Church (NW) [Metro: Friendship Heights]

Virginia

Ambassador Bible Church (Centreville)
Great Commission Community Church (Arlington) [Metro: Pentagon City]
New Life Church (Falls Church) [Metro: West Falls Church]

Maryland

H.O.P.E. Church (College Park)

footnote: Open Door Presbyterian Church (Herndon) and Christ Central Presbyterian Church (Centreville) and Grace Community Church (Silver Springs) are what could be considered a “2 churches on 1 campus” model so that could kinda fit too

aside: also see Open Directory of Multiethnic Churches and wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Washington_Area_Asian_American_demographics

Pastor Mark Driscoll writes marriage book with his wife

djchuang — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:05:25 PST

Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together by Mark & Grace Driscoll

As a leading voice of the next generation with growing impact around the world, Pastor Mark Driscoll and wife Grace have authored an incredibly relevant book for our sexually-charged culture. The book comes with well-grounded biblical teaching to exhort married couples to live out the Gospel and what that looks like in everyday life. The Driscolls also reveals their personal and family histories to give a context for how they’ve worked at growing their marriage towards oneness as friends and lovers. An accompanying DVD set adds to this personal texture and makes it easier for small group discussions.

Pastor Mark is also unafraid to candidly address the sex questions today’s people have about whether they can or can’t do something. After all, if the church doesn’t have an answer, people are left to make up their own answers under the influence of a mainstream media-driven culture that knows no moral boundaries. The most valuable part of the book for this reviewer is the final chapter that maps out a comprehensive “reverse-engineering” framework of discussion questions that makes accessible the honest communication often advised for marriages but often incomplete in other Christian marriage books.

Addendum: Of course, Driscoll is a lightning-rod for conversation and controversy (though he’s not as edgy as he once was now that his popularity and influence has grown), so as the book releases, it is getting an energetic promotional and marketing effort, and a growing amount of blog and news buzz.

Washington Post observed how Christian leaders talk about marriage and sex with mention of Tim Keller and Rick Warren — and I’d agree that it’s a bit late to the party, as this article noted how Joy of Sex was published back in 1972. Really, almost 40 years later? If the church and pastors don’t address the topic of sex, mainstream media and pop culture sure will and does and has for decades. Better late than never?

Rachel Held Evans has noted in Why Being a Pastor Doesn’t Automatically Make You a Sex Therapist her reactions to the book’s good, bad, and ugly. Tony Jones (A Complementarian Who Thinks Mark Driscoll Is a Misogynist) won’t review this book. David Moore blogged at The Burner that Mark Driscoll Thinks Wives Are Only Good for Sex. Raleigh Examiner stated the obvious: Mark Driscoll and Real Marriage spark controversy.

What these critiques have overlooked (or editorially left out due to length, or their emphasis on points of disagreement) is Driscoll’s emphasis on the crucial essentiality of friendship in a marriage, the value of genuine curiosity to cultivate a real relationship, and not that marriage for just sex; thought Pastor Mark freely uses the phrase, “friends with benefits.” One quote I found in the book, ”The biblical pattern for Christian marriage is free and frequent sex” raised my eyebrows. Hadn’t heard that one before.

[disclosure: I received a review copy via booksneeze]

OC Christmas Tour 2011 recap

djchuang — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:37:03 PST

We had a most memorable Christmas this year as a family, having family time together _and_ family time with the Family of God, as we took an OC Christmas tour all over Orange County to attend Christmas week worship services at a total of 10 churches. (Couldn’t quite make it to 11, as originally proposed; kept the family a priority and not the events.) I’m happy that my family (wife and 14-year-old son) could enjoy these times with me – I know that many people don’t enjoy so many church worship services as I do (if any at all). Here’s my video about the OC Christmas Tour, with on-site debriefs compiled together into one:

Thanks to all the staff and volunteers at each of the 10 churches for celebrating Jesus’ birth and making our Christmas all the merrier:

Harvest OC, Irvine
Eastside Christian Church, Fullerton
Friends Church, Yorba Linda
NewSong Church, Irvine
ROCKHARBOR, Costa Mesa
Saddleback Church, Lake Forest
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach
Mariners Church, Irvine
Kingsfield Church, Aliso Viejo
Coast Hills Church, Aliso Viejo

While I won’t name any one particular church service as a favorite or as the best, I will list these highlights and comments:

Biggest Surprise: big-band-style concert band at Friends Church
Most creative production: shadow-puppets retelling the Big Story at ROCKHARBOR (Journey of Joy video) [probably over 1,000 pieces cut-out & painted and every performance live!]
Best Christmas gift: family portrait photo-shoot at Eastside Christian Church
No more room in the inn (full-capacity crowds): Harvest OC, ROCKHARBOR, Saddleback Church, Mariners Church
The more popular Christmas songs: Silent Night, Angels We Have Heard on High, Joy to the World, O Holy Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Don’t recall hearing: Away in a Manger, O Come All Ye Faithful, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Deck the Halls, Jingle Bell Rock
Most consistently-presented theme: Eastside Christian Church [paper-mache Christmas trees and paper snowball as physical prop for responding to sermon to "let go"]
Most comfortable seating: Friends Church, Coast Hills Church
Screen with the widest aspect-ratio: Kingsfield Church
What we didn’t see: a Gospel Choir, Handel’s Messiah, Christmas musical cantata, live Nativity with live animals, drama/skit
Quietest worship time: late-night 11pm worship in the chapel at Mariners Church (very cool to hear the chapel bells ring at midnight of Christmas)
Best-dressed choir: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (actually, the only choir we saw, and they sounded great!)
Children singing: Eastside Christian Church, NewSong Church

And the memories that stay with me about the OC Christmas Tour 2011 and a few learnings about churches: Christmas has inspired people all walks of life, not just churches and those who follow Jesus, most obviously through the arts and movies. We love a wide variety of expressions of worship in different churches. Churches really do produce their best worship services for Christmas, and that takes a ton of planning, preparation, and volunteers. It takes a lot of planning of logistics to get from one church to the next — gotta tip your hat to itinerant speakers/preachers who travel a lot. I can sympathize with those who go to church for the first time (or rarely), and how being in a strange place not knowing where to go or what to do is quite daunting.

And, for us, you can never get too much of Christmas!

Going to 11 churches for Christmas 2011

djchuang — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:35:12 PST

We love Christmas yes we do, we love Christmas how ’bout you? Worshiping Jesus is what Christmas is all about, and in Orange County there are many worship times serve many people. And it’s even possible to worship at 11 different churches for a more fuller and wider experience of worshiping together with a wonderful variety of styles and presentations! It does take considerable planning to pull this off, though.

To make this Christmas Tour 2011 possible, I went researching and found 19 OC churches that had special Christmas worship services, starting as early as Wednesday 12/21 all the way through Sunday 12/25. Here’s the schedule charted out via Google Docs’ spreadsheet:

It’s not easy to fit in 11 worship services due to geography and scheduling overlaps. One itinerary to map out the tour:

Wed 7pm @ Saddleback Church, Lake Forest
Thurs 7pm @ Harvest OC, Irvine * Phil Wickham concert
Fri 3pm @ Eastside Christian Church, Fullerton [+ quick dinner]
Fri 7pm @ Seacoast Grace Church, Cypress
Sat 12pm @ ROCKHARBOR, Costa Mesa
Sat 1:30pm @ The Crossing, Costa Mesa [+ early dinner]
Sat 5pm @ Mariners Church, Irvine
Sat 7pm @ St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach
Sat 10:30pm @ Crystal Cathedral, Garden Grove
Sun 9am @ Compass Bible Church, Aliso Viejo
Sun 11am @ Coast Hills Church, Aliso Viejo

How would you arrange an itinerary to visit 11 churches for Christmas in the OC?

I confess that I personally won’t be able to get to 11 churches during this Christmas week. I do prioritize family time and that’d include time to be with extended family. What I can do is report my tour stop in real-time via my twitter @djchuang . And note that the above list is an attempt to design a schedule to fit in 11 worship services, and it won’t be the itinerary of my whereabouts. Realistically, I think I can get to 6 or 7 this year – that’d be a great Christmas!

[photo credit: sister72, *clarity*, jeffweese, jdbradley]

How many churches have websites in America

djchuang — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:47:27 PST

What is the number of church websites in the United States? Yes it’s quite a herculean effort to count the exact number and I’m not sure there’s research money to pull off such a census. Plus the wide range of differing theological definitions for what is a church exacerbates any attempts to quantify them.

First, the big number, that is, how many churches in America. Hartford Institute estimates there are roughly 335,000 religious congregations in the United States. Of those, about 300,000 are Protestant and other Christian churches, and 22,000 are Catholic and Orthodox churches. And: According to the book Beyond Megachurch Myths, there were 320,000 Christian U.S. churches in 2007.

Two surveys have an answer for how many churches have websites: 69% and 78%. Doing the math on the conservative side (because just having a website doesn’t mean the information is current), 69% of 300,000 is 207,000.

Here’s the numbers behind the numbers –

The FACT 2010 Report: A Decade of Change in American Congregations 2000 – 2010 cited “… By 2010 over 90% of congregations used email; seven in ten had websites, and four in ten had Facebook pages…” // … the FACT 2010 national aggregated data set includes responses from 11,077 congregations, and over 120 denominations. … Sampling error for a survey such as FACT2010 can only be roughly estimated. We believe a conservative estimate is +/- 4% at the 95% confidence level. … with responses from 14,301 congregations it remains the largest national survey of congregations ever conducted in the U.S.

LifeWay Research study sponsored by Axletree Media cited “… survey of 1,003 Protestant churches found that while 78 percent have a website …” // Their methodology: LifeWay Research conducted a phone survey among a stratified, random sample of Protestant churches Sept. 8-20, 2010, interviewing 1,003 staff members most responsible for making decisions about the technology used in their church. Responses were weighted to reflect the natural size distribution of churches. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed ±3.2 percent.

how to pick a mission statement if any one will do

djchuang — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:26:31 PST

Mission statements are supposed to be really important, along with vision and values, for an organization to have purpose and alignment and the like.

Look at this list actual mission statements below. I confess the meaning of a mission statement is lost on me. I can’t tell what it is that the company or organization is actually doing. So if you’re starting an organization, does this mean you can pick any one of them? They all have good purposes and apparently they’re working.

Maybe a mission statement like this could work just as well: “to make money so the world can be a better place” or “to make a difference in the world by providing good jobs and making great products” or “to give people a great experience“. Yes?

Look for yourself ::

“… to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with (us).“

“Be America’s Best Quick-Service Restaurant“

And, these mission statements, all from Fortune 500 companies:

To help all people live healthy lives.

To nourish and delight everyone we serve.

Bringing the best to everyone we touch

Our purpose is to enrich the lives of people we touch.

… to earn money for its shareholders and increase the value of their investment.

Profitable growth through superior customer service, innovation, quality and commitment

… to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.

Be the best in the eyes of our customers, employees and shareholders

Undisputed Marketplace Leadership

To supply outstanding service and solutions through dedication and excellence.

to provide products and services to the market which meet or exceed the reasonable expectations of our customers.

Our mission is positive outcomes.

We are a market-focused, process-centered organization that develops and delivers innovative solutions to our customers, consistently outperforms our peers, produces predictable earnings for our shareholders, and provides a dynamic and challenging environment for our employees.

Serving Others For Customers A Better Life For Shareholders A Superior Return For Employees Respect and Opportunity

Our goal is to be the leader in every market we serve, to the benefit of our customers and our shareholders.

We are committed to attracting, developing, and keeping a diverse work force that reflects the nature of our global business.

We will provide branded products and services of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’s consumers. As a result, consumers will reward us with leadership sales, profit, and value creation, allowing our people, our shareholders, and the communities in which we live and work to prosper.

We will continue to build a corporate culture that respects and values the unique strengths and cultural differences of our associates, customers and community.

Our mission is to design, manufacture, and deliver products and services that meet the unique needs and expectations of each customer.

How to get a custom welcome page for Facebook

djchuang — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:53:00 PST

Getting a custom welcome landing page (aka welcome tab) to invite someone to Like a Facebook Page has become a popular tactic for businesses and organizations to build its audience. While there is Facebook Developer documentation online that has a Page Tab tutorial, I don’t find it plain and simple to use. Here are template-driven web apps for generating a custom welcome page (and asterisked ones have additional apps that integrate into Facebook page tabs):

http://www.pagemodo.com
http://www.shortstack.com
http://northsocial.com
http://fanpageengine.com
http://hostfb.com/
http://socialstage.com
http://socialdragonflys.com
http://wp4fb.com
http://www.faceitpages.com * [ed.note: this app calls it a "fan gate"]
http://iframes.wildfireapp.com
http://www.tabsite.com
http://apps.tradablebits.com *
http://www.socialappshq.com *
Static HTML: iframe tabs
http://pages.wix.com/ppcfpa/fb_102
other apps listed in socialmediaexaminer.com, another list
+ Steve Fogg’s step-by-step guide to build one for free http://www.stevefogg.com/2011/10/09/how-i-created-a-facebook-landing-page-for-free-and-you-can-too/

Of course, growing audience engagement takes more than a welcome page, but sometimes non-techie decision-makers aren’t aware of the total cost of effort to keep fresh content flowing consistently. (cf. When A Welcome Tab Isn’t Enough: Use Custom Facebook Tabs To Give Fans More)

you choose who goes to Verge 2012 for free

djchuang — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 12:30:59 PST

There are so many reasons people want to attend Verge Conference 2012. And this week is the open poll for you to vote who gets to go for free (1 gets a free trip to Austin and 5 gets a free registration) — here’s the excerpts of the reasons why these candidates want to attend and your vote will determine who gets to go!

Matt Cote mattcote.net ”As a future church planter I would love to be a part of this conference. Francis Chan, David Platt, and Alan Hirsch will be there! Connect with others who will be attending. Learn and be challenged.”
Michael Rich in-formatio.com ”… Verge 2012 will be an opportunity to hear first hand from some of the leaders of this movement, to network with folks who are at the forefront of the movement, and to prepare myself for working in my own community and the world in a missional way.”
April Salvant salvant7.blogspot.com ”… I would love to see a movement of missional communities spread throughout Haiti. Why? Because they (MCs) have literally changed my life on numerous occasions MORE than any church service EVER did.”
Allen Smith allenandsandi.com ”… I’d love to go with a band of like minded brothers who are striving to connect the gospel with mission and community.”
Tim Hoeksema timhoeksema.com ”I desire to connect with other like minded folks. Verge 2012 is such a gathering of people. People united around the Gospel. Learning to live it in community and on mission in this broken world.”
Frank Friedl theoppositepc.blogspot.com ”… to fellowship with others who are like-minded to seek and save the lost, make disciples who make disciples, and practice the pure and faultless religion of taking care of orphans, widows and our communities in need. I’ve already been piling on to my reading list thanks to Verge: For the City by Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter and Building a Discipling Culture and Covenant and Kingdom by Mike Breen. Now I want to learn practicals- hands on and first hand from those doing it.”
Blake Thompson blakethompson.net ”I want to be able to know more, to experience more, and to be able to cast the vision of what it means to live on mission in all areas of our lives. … I need help in figuring out how to practically lead our current community group ministries into understanding the heart of Missional Communities. “
Miguel Labrador pathwaysinternational.org ”Having Served in the Cloud Forest Communities of Ecuador as a missionary for nearly six years now, I’ve only attended one conference and produced one. Both were edifying experiences and seemed to take place in that perfect time between the need to be encouraged and the desire to equip others. … we work in remote areas as Missionaries to the Marginalized, but often, this produces a debt of the “Wisdom of Many Counselors.” “
Hal Khalaf missionalmotorhome.com ”"
Dawn Carter chroniclesofdawnia.com ”I am a mom who needs help. … I crave hearing more. I want to learn from folks who live this out, who share the good news of Christ’s love in tangible ways. I need to see how others wrestle with living out love each day to people who are different. I suck at it, but I’m learning.”
Aaron Clayton aaronandcharity.wordpress.com ” in learning what it means to live this way and rubbing shoulders with those who have been living this out, this is a good place to be.”
Josh Collins nycdisciples.wordpress.com ”I have attended a few lectures and conferences and benefited from the leadership in the missional community, my wife however has not been able to attend these with me. This year we would like to attend as a couple. We really feel that our community, our church, and our neighboring communities will benefit from our attendance.”
Nicole Quiring nicsdays.blogspot.com ”… to choose a conference each semester to attend in addition to his seminary classes. He has picked one out for the Spring. It’s called VERGE. It’s one that hits where our hearts have been the last 5 or 6 years. It resonates with the journey God has us on right now. It has a line up of some phenomenal speakers. It’s in a great state. We could talk ministry, future and dream with each other for several days without the normal responsibilities of life.”
Jeremy Davidson jeremydavidson.org ”I want to go to Verge Conference 2012 to discover how Harrah Church can begin embedding ourselves deeper into the fabric of our community. How can we weave our small group strategies around serving the neighborhoods where our groups meet? What kind of ministry can we do within the daycare centers in our community? What can we do to help the schools improve student achievement test scores and graduation rates? What established groups within our city can we pull up to and begin working beside? What kind of ministry is taking place in retirement and nursing home communities? How do you support foster families who are taking in the kids displaced by addiction? How do we increase awareness and bring solutions and education to our community about the social problems that are affecting families? How can we connect the faith communities in our town with the needs of our neighbors? I want to go to VERGE to find answers, to meet practitioners, to discover solutions to our community’s issues, to discover answers to questions that I don’t even know to ask yet.”
Benjamin Titsworth iamnotbutyouare.wordpress.com ”to partake in the great teaching and fellowship. But that’s not all this conference is about… This conference is about the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST and making that GOSPEL known.”
Allen Kleine Deters allenkleinedeters.wordpress.com ”… now that I’m the senior pastor in a long established 107 year old little country church, I am even more aware of the DNA of entrenchment. But these folks are different in that they want to be more missional. … We recognize that we live in one of the poorest communities in the country with the two poorest counties just south of us.”
Sean Peters creatinggrace.blogspot.com ”The honest truth is that trying to plant a church that goes against the grain of traditional church planting models is difficult to say the least. There is very little support and encouragement, and there is a great deal of pull to simply jump on the status quo boat and simply do things that way they’ve always been done. I need to be reenergized, reinspired and reminded that the picture of the church that God has laid upon my heart is right and true. I think that having the opportunity to attend this conference would do the trick. “
Steve Allen thejourneyofachurchplanter.blogspot.com ”Having spent the last four years teaching church planters here in Zambia, we find ourselves embarking on a new journey as scary and exciting as the one that led us to Africa four years ago… as a missionary coming back in December 2011 to church plant, I need this weekend in Austin, Texas to continue networking and learning. “

Vote Now!