Blogger-extraordinaire Philocrites recently ran a workshop on Blogging for Beginners. He reports that, “During the Q&A period, many congregational webmasters asked about blogs as part of congregational websites.”

That’s great news. Webmasters thinking about congregational blogging are my kind of webmasters. So to answer their question, here are my top ten tips.

1. Start Your Own Blog

It doesn’t really matter what it’s about, though if you can find a topic you’re passionate about, that’s the best. The goal here is to learn blog basics, not to join one of the many crazy blog popularity contests or to make money. Just enjoy yourself. I’d recommend trying at least two types of blogs. Blogger is astonishingly easy, and even if you don’t end up using it yourself, it’s good to learn its strengths and weaknesses first-hand so you know when it’s the best tool for the job. WordPress and TypePad are my two top recommendations. And keep your eyes on Movable Type. It’s making a comeback.

2. Read The Blogging Church or Clear Blogging

These two books are my current favorites, but of course feel free to read whatever appeals to you. The point is to get a broad overview. If you do buy a book, a nice side benefit is that when you’re through with it, you can pass it on to someone else in your congregation who you think will make good use it. Then once you have the big picture, you would also do well to subscribe to a few of the many blogs on blogging, so you can stay on top of the latest.

3. Be an Unabashed Blog (or Tech) Evangelist

Enthusiasm is catching, and if you can build your own in the course of creating your blog, it’s going to rub off on the congregation. One way to do this is to comment regularly on other blogs you like. Do people in your congregation have personal blogs? Subscribe and comment on them. You’ll be amazed at the communities you’ll find, which in turn will give you a sense of ways to build your congregation’s blogs

4. Focus On the User

A congregational blog by definition isn’t a personal blog. It’s about what your congregation needs and will make good use of. In the end, this is always what it comes down to, and if you take just one thing away from this post, let it be this. Talk to people in the congregation. Look at site statistics. Find out what in particular they would like to have on the website. Some of it may be a match for a blog or two or three. Once you’ve started a blog, pay attention some more. Find out what’s working and what’s not, and adjust accordingly.

5. Find a Catalytic Voice to Seed the Blog

If you have the time and ability to contribute content to the blog, that’s great. But if, like most webmasters I know, it’s all you can do to keep up with the tech demands being placed on you, then the key is to find a person who will take charge of the blog once it’s in place. Likely suspects are the people who suggest that you start a congregational blog, plus tech-savvy staff members or leaders.

6. Prepare and Build Momentum

Once you have some good ideas, get buy-in from the leadership. Then have a meeting to flesh plans out. Of course, pay close attention to what they want.

7. Start Slowly

There’s rarely a need to hurry the start of a blog. Take time to plan, listen to potential users and experiment with various technologies. It’s an investment that will pay off.

8. Make Use of the Power of RSS

RSS feeds are built into all the major blog applications now. RSS is a phenomenally simple XML standard, and in its simplicity and standardization lie its power. It can be repurposed in all kinds of ways. If you have a geek-streak, go for it. Mix and match those RSS feeds, and make them earn their keep. You might even do an aggregator for your congregation like John Cooley’s UUpdates.

9. Have a Blogging Class for Your Church

You’ll have fun and so will those who come. Piggyback on Philocrites’ workshop. It’s a great way to continue building momentum and focusing on your users. If your church doesn’t have wireless, find some place like a coffee shop that does, and get those who can to bring their laptops.

10. Clarify Your Goals

It’s critical that you understand what the goals are for your blog. Don’t just have a blog for having a blog’s sake. That’s unlikely to work. Different types of congregational blogs have different needs. Ask yourself, “What do we plan to accomplish with this blog?” Once you can answer this, that in turn will answer any number of other questions, such as should it be password-protected, should commenting be turned off, and who is in charge of the content.

Here’s an assortment of possible goals. Hopefully some will be a good match for your congregation.

  • An announcement board, with commenting turned off, and authorship privileges given to all church leaders. We have a blog like that at my church. You can see where we’ve pulled its RSS feed on our home page.
  • A sermon blog, with an editor in charge of posting a podcast or text version of the sermon and commenting turned on. Needless to say, this requires the minister’s support.
  • A Children’s Religious Education blog. That’s next on our plate, and I can’t wait. More to the point, our Director of Religious Education can’t wait either. She is building momentum even as I type this, talking it up and finding people who are eager to participate.
  • A password-protected techies’ blog, where those who tend to the congregation’s hard and software can keep quick notes about licenses, platforms, wiring, manuals, cost estimates for major upgrades, and so on.
  • A ministry blog, where senior staff can speak with an authentic voice and nurture the dialog so many of us hunger for. Many ministers aren’t ready to do this, but if you notice your minister is thinking along these lines, jump for joy and do what you can to support him or her.

In the end, the future of church blogging is in your hands. Grow blogs and I believe you will grow your congregation and yourself.