I just sent out a flurry of tweets expressing my dismay (but , at this point,  not surprise) at how the church needs to apply its theology to their Web efforts.  For up to now,  the Web has been something to be used the way most of the rest of the world uses it:  as marketing and commerce.  Little to no thought is given to questions like “What does it mean to be the church in a Web context?”

Therefore,  the entire “Web development” effort is deaf to theological issues. And the people who are theologically sensitive/aware,  are often clueless about how to see their theological identity expressed on the Web.

So we get job descriptions for Web developers that ignore the theological;  basically,  the positions are filled with people who are often technically skilled,  but have no sense of a collaboration of Web skills and vision for the church.  They receive instructions from marketing and print content folks to “build us X”,  and this is repeated over and over at the whim of management.

There is a huge chasm between what the vision for the church might be,  and what kind of Web approach to take (ie,  what available tools and technologies would best achieve this,  and what kind of data do we need to collect in order to present an experience that aggregates the most relevant stuff and the most helpful social connections) ?

These “social connections” are much more important (or should be)  for us,  the church.  The idea of koinonia and the “Body” make the issue of “connections” a “feature” to be highly prioritized  for a church or church organization’s Web presence. 

But this “social”part of “Social Media” is sorely lacking.  It has turned into marketing.  Where it works is in connecting the audience.  The church ought to be focused on helping its audience find key people and resources.  It ought to be much more concerned with helping its diverse body find conversations that matter to them.  Thus far,  what I see is a whole lot of in-house promotion.  Links that are 90% or more to their own web properties.  This is the opposite of what the best Social Media leaders are suggesting.  They point out (Chris Brogan is the one I have in mind here) , that the person we tend to avoid at parties is the one who drones on endlessly about their company  or their accomplishments.  The people we like to talk to are those who show an interest in finding out who we are.

It discourages me deeply to see job postings for Web positions in church agencies where I cannot tell their description from that of a secular company.   I consider my theological education and church experience to be central to the kind of Web I want to see the church build and what kinds of habitats it can build online to the edification of the Body of Christ.  A friend of mine once called that “Habitat for Community”.  The church is called to be a distinct people.  It’s Web strategy should also exhibit some of this distinctiveness;  it ought to stand out in its efforts and investment into building a data-awareness about its users that enable ways for us to extend our knowing of one another,  and find those conversations that help us to find our calling as God’s people and our individual place amongst that body.