Excellence in Online Ministry Project
by Kevin Ring on Nov.04, 2009, under Conferences, Excellence, Internet Strategy, Kingdom, Media & Technology
Update: The project has officially been named the Excellence in Online Ministry project. You can follow the progress of the research at the State of Ministry Online website. The results will be presented later this year at the Christian Leadership Alliance’s Ministry Internet and Technology Summit and later at the NRB’s Advanced Research Symposium.
If you are part of a ministry I encourage you to participate in our research by taking the following survey. Click here to launch the “Excellence in Online Ministry” Ministry Leader Survey.
Thanks, Kevin
Earlier this year I had a number of conversations with Drew Goodmanson of Monk Development about how the Internet is changing the face of the church and ministry. Through our discussions it became apparent that we both recognize the power of the Internet to advance the Kingdom of God. But we also both believe that Christians need to develop strategic approaches for doing so and not get caught up in the ways that the rest of the world is engaging online.
As we discussed different ways to collaborate and help churches and ministries develop web strategies I got an idea that wouldn’t go away. “What if there was a model for ministries engaging online that took exception to the givens of worldly-wisdom? What would that look like?” The answer that I kept coming back to was:
Kingdom Excellence
It was like that thought popped into my head and suddenly by brain exploded with all these ideas about what Kingdom Excellence is, why it’s important, what it looks like, how to define it, how to assess performance against it… It became very clear (in my mind). But unfortunately (or fortunately), by it’s very nature, a definition of Excellence can not be defined by a single point of view. Rather, it is a standard that transcends any individual’s or group’s values, experience, beliefs. So in order that this idea of Kingdom Excellence not be limited by my personal limitations and weaknesses, I have been working with Drew for the past nine or so months to turn this idea into a reality.
And so I am pleased to announce the Online Kingdom Excellence Project, a collaborative research effort to define an approach to Internet strategy and activities for ministries that is centered on Kingdom principles, based on excellence, and aimed at long-term success through Kingdom advancement and benefits to the organization and to society.
The project will consist of three (3) phases:
Phase I - Concept Development: working with leading organizations and thought leaders in the areas of ministry and Internet strategy, we will identify guiding principles, core beliefs, and a strategic framework for evaluating online excellence. We will approach excellence from many different angles including theology, practical experience, best practices, intuition and insight, previous research to identify what constitutes Online Kingdom Excellence.
Phase II - Ministry Evaluation: based on the framework developed in Phase I, we will utilize a variety of research and analytic methodologies to evaluate a broad sample of ministries. We will look at the perceptions, practices and performance of these organizations in order to better understand what impact Online Kingdom Excellence can have for organizations.
Phase III - Publication: in order to help advance the mission of ministries, we plan to use an opportunity available to promote and share the outcomes from this research. The primary opportunity we currently have is to present the findings at the Christian Leadership Alliances 2010 conference which will be held in San Diego, CA in April.
This project is being led by myself, Drew Goodmanson (CEO of Monk Development and cofounder/pastor of Kaleo Church) and Dave Bourgeois, PhD (Associate Professor of Information Systems, Biola University). So far we have had a tremendous response from people about this project and are in talks to collaborate and partner with a number of well respected Christian organizations and leaders. I’m excited to promote these groups as they join the project so look for further announcements.
The primary home for information about this project will be a new site: The State Of Ministry www.stateofministryonline.com. I’ll be posting throughout the project both here and there. So head on over, bookmark it, add it to your RSS reader and stay tuned as we work together to define what Online Kingdom Excellence is.
If you’re interested in more information about the project or if you are with a ministry organization and would like to participate, please email me at research@unconventionalmethod.com.
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November 6th, 2009 on 8:18 pm
Hey Kevin,
We met at Cultivate last week and spoke briefly after Drew and Gabe's session. I'm very interested in the research that you're doing. I read tons of blogs and articles about websites, social media, and church media, but most of them speak from a theoretical/conjecture/opinion point of view. I am really interested in being a part of an effort to go beyond that to looking at what is actually working (looking at analytics and case studies) and then really getting into the details to find out what is it about the churches, tools, systems, and processes that are working that separates them from those situations that aren't working.
I look forward to see what comes of your efforts and I'll shoot you an email to see if there are any ways OurChurch.Com or my church can be involved.
November 7th, 2009 on 8:27 pm
Thanks Paul. I agree, a lot of what you here as recommendations for ministries is based on anecdotal evidence. Given the significance of the life transformation we want to see happen around the world, we need to understand what works and what doesn't so that we can prioritize our efforts and investment.
Given how much people are investing in these technologies, there is a significant need for this research. I look forward to collaborating with you.