When I first started as Director of Communications and Media for the Rio Texas Annual Conference, I wanted to find one church website solution that I could offer to most every church. Finding a “one size fits all” solution proved more difficult than I imagined. After months of working with local churches…
The blog has been a little lonely lately. I have been filling in preaching in the traditional service at University United Methodist Church in San Antonio during their time of pastoral transition. It is good to get a chance to proclaim the Gospel on Sunday mornings though it makes it a little hard to keep…
I am currently reading Moisés Naím’s, The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn’t What It Used to Be. It may seem little far from my normal reading list but this book is essential reading for those who want to understand the rapid and transformative shifts that are happening in the…
At the risk of putting myself out of a job, I still have to tell you, technology is not going to grow your church… all by itself. You still have to tell people about Jesus. That doesn’t mean that technology doesn’t have an essential role to play for the modern disciple. My mission is…
Here at the Rio Texas Media Center, we do a lot of website evaluations. Rio Texas Churches can submit a form and we will review their church website and offer an evaluation with suggestions for improvement. When I get a chance, I like to go back and see what they did in response. Sometime last year,…
This week a colleague of mine shared a fantastic post by Carey Niewhof entitled, “5 Disruptive Trends That Will Rule 2016.” It is a great piece, if you get nothing else out of my post, go read his. I was really struck by the first trend he shared, “Church online will become an advance, not…
Whether or not you are one to make New Year’s resolutions, the end of the year is a good time to take stock and think about the year to come. For church folks (and my non-profit friends,) this might be a good moment to think about some plans for 2016 in the area of technology….
![Technology in Rio Texas [Survey Results]](https://i0.wp.com/pastorwill.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/speed.jpg?fit=768%2C517&ssl=1)
As part of the plan that created the new Río Texas Annual Conference, our annual conference committed to ensuring that all of our local churches have the required tools and infrastructure to stay connected to the conference and their mission field. The unification plan called for all churches to eventually have the internet connection and…
I believe I have completed my virtual tour of the websites of the Rio Texas Annual Conference. I have started my physical tour of the churches though I have a lot more driving to do. I have found that a very small percentage of the churches in the conference offer and online giving option. That…
Seriously, your church needs a website that works on mobile devices. Notice I didn’t say that your church needs a mobile website. That was the thing a couple of years ago and that thing has passed. You now need one website that works on computers, tablets and smartphones. We will talk more about that in…
