media salt

Yesterday Steve Fogg (@stevefogg) posted Church Happiness Machine. He challenged churches to break the stereotypes and become a “dispenser of happiness… No holds barred. Generosity with no strings attached.”

Check out this video he included in the post.

Servant Evangelism

I got all nostalgic when I watched the video because it stirred up memories of my days at New River Community Church, and all of the Coke giveaways we used to do during Friday afternoon rush hour (as busy as rush hour gets in Lake Wylie, SC).

It was a blessing to watch folks realize we weren’t selling but actually giving stuff away.  In fact, there were a lot of people who literally would try to make a donation to the church — of course we turned it down.

Servant Evangelism Through Technology?

What can we as church media and technology geeks gurus do or build to “dispense happiness” with “no strings attached?”

How can we leverage the skills, experience, and knowledge God has blessed us with to change the game?

Here are several ideas, not all ground-breaking, but a a good start to get the thought juices flowing.  I’d like to know what your suggestions are.

• Mommy blogs: Have moms in your church start a local mommy blog.  These are really popular.  Build a community of moms all throughout your community.  Talk about struggles with parenting, what family-friendly community events are going on (including your church events), etc.
• Digital Welcome Wagons: Create a site for newcomers to your community.  List local churches, businesses, and even coupons for local restaurants.
• Alternate Reality Gaming: Eric wrote about this a while back. “It wouldn’t require a huge budget to create riddles and hide some swag, both online and in the surrounding community. I think the buzz generated from some seriously intrigued youth would be tremendous, and it could serve as a gateway to many of those youth pondering spiritual questions for the first time.”
• Free Cake No Fake: My former church in Nashville set up a special website where folks received a voucher for a free Shoney’s Hot Fudge Cake just for submitting their information.  It was an idea originally inspired by Chick-Fi-La and their FreeChickenANDCoke.com campaign.  We advertised a big church event we were having on the site, but ultimately it was a free cake giveaway with no strings attached.

How can your church be a “dispenser of happiness” through technology?  What would it look like?  Steve asks, “Would something shift in people’s perception of your church?  Of you?”