We're typical, I suppose.

I did not have an Internet connection until AD 2000. I began using it almost immediately for some parish business. As I vaguely recall, about half of the parish council had email. Now all members do, and it will soon be an unwritten policy that we will only accept as members of the parish council those who have email.

I use the "Iconograms" service of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese extensively, particularly to remind the parishioners of weekday Festivals, such as Epiphany and the Ascension. About 1/3 of those receiving the Iconograms actually view them, according to the read receipts I receive.

The congregation web site was designed and constructed by a high schooler for his Eagle Scout project in 2006. It took over a year to have 300 hits on the home page. During this Lent the site is receiving 12 - 14 views per week.

We do not have Facebook presence, and, if I have anything to say about it we never will; that is, unless FB morphs into something other than the condependency of narcissists who post what they are having for dinner and voyeurs who seek TMI (too much information) about their "friends". At this juncture FB seems to be an Eighth-Commandment-free zone and hardly appropriate for a Christian congregation.

On the other hand, we have more people who live in our community and do not attend the parish following our Facebook page than we have actual active parishioners following the page. Some of these are lapsed members, and children and grandchildren of members (some no longer living). There is an argument here for meeting people where they are and maintaining ties, such as we are able.

Joy,

Thanks for this article. I'm moving the thread to Parishes and Evangelization - which is where I think technology is of utmost import - and I'm going to sticky it for a bit, to give it some much needed exposure.

Many years,

Neil

Bless, Pastor Thomas,

Wonderful!!! There was a thread posted here a long time ago, in which we discussed the value of parish websites. At the time, I suggested that parishes which couldn't afford professional web design should look to their youth (some of whom have such skills) or to local high schools, junior colleges, etc, with classes in web design that would welcome the chance to build a site.

I hadn't thought about Eagle Scout projects, but those fit right into that same discussion and offer another opportunity for pastors and parishioners who don't have the skills to do it themselves and whose congregation lacks the funds to contract for such services.

Many years,

Neil

Having a presence on FB is very important. There are many, many wonderful sites on FB that are in no way impinged by the greater FB system.

The young man who built the site has moderate CP, and, even so, it took a lot of convincing "up the chain of command" of the local Scout Council that this would be an appropriate project. With his physical limitations this was perfect.

The site is now a little over six years old. It took a whole year to register 300 homepage views. Now we are very close (maybe now, slightly over) 5000 views.