Several years ago my good friend Josh introduced me to his dad, Lindsay Cofield. Since that time I’ve come to really appreciate his posture towards Church and his drive for getting his message out. We’ve worked together on a number of projects and I’ve been really inspired by the way he’s taken to social media to share his dreams and visions. What Lindsay does really well is to take essentially the same message, add a little twist for each audience he wants to target and then share it via websites and social media. With his insight, I thought it would be worthwhile for ministries, churches and even small businesses to pick his brain a little — so I asked him a few questions about it last week – and this is what he had to say…
What is your primary message you hope to share?
Church can and must be simple, relational, contagious, and life-engaging… as it is Holy Spirit led/empowered/controlled…in order to become viral and reach into every subgroup of every community in every nation (especially the US). Money, events, and conferences cannot accomplish this. Paul’s simple Biblical example is as effective as it gets… in Acts 16 its just him depending on God, prayer, and the working of Holy Spirit to catalyze evangelism/discipleship/church planting in groups he would never have chosen with his own reason. If I’m right about this the Spirit will speak to your heart that it is so. If not I’m willing to be over-ruled by HIM!
When did you start using the web to share that message?
About 7 years ago a friend put up my first static site….very basic.
How did that impact sharing your message?
At first I had no way to share the site other than email and word of mouth, so it was difficult to track usage…just an occasional email response, maybe 2-3 a month.
How did you start?
I purchased a $1600 ad in a Christian mag….that helped a bit…but was toooo expensive. Once I got Google Analytics for my sites it was apparent they were being read in places I’d never have guessed….I attribute that to God’s Spirit directing them through various Christfollowers one person at a time. The real spread happened when acquaintances in Austin, Denver, and Florida, passed the sites forward to their friends via email. It was like a small sneeze….nothing dramatic, but the “germ” of the ideas on these sites began to spread to likeminded church planters.
Was Facebook your first introduction to social media? When did you start using Facebook?
Yes…my sons set up an account for me about 3 years ago and I started posting church planting examples regularly….I began to see that the internet/social media was a new Roman Road for traveling with the Good News at a rapid pace.
You’ve also used online video to share testimonies, ideas and conversations – what impact have they had?
I think the EXAMPLES are the most effective at sharing simple church ideas….others are hungry for relational authentic church…they want to gather in being HIS Hands/Heart/Voice/compassion in their circle of overlooked friends and the pics/videos/conversations open a window for them to see how it simply it all works.
You’ve recently started using Google+ and Twitter – why did you decide to add the additional networks to your workflow/platform?
I’m always looking for new ways to scatter the seed of simple church and a computer-guy-Christ-one made it easy for me to set up accounts with G+ and Twitter. I was reluctant to try them until he showed me how easy it was. I assumed these networks would help me connect with new planters.
Google+ seems to attract a more serious crowd….they share tech ideas/interests/articles more than what they are having for lunch. Facebook is more random info about absolutely everything. Twitter seems to have some of both but a vastly broader network.
How do the differences impact your message or interaction with others?
My message is the same in each but I find the most interaction on Facebook
What would you recommend to those still who aren’t using Google+, Twitter or Facebook for sharing their message?
I suggest you use them all, but focus on what you want to pass forward to them in life, and respond to their posts with respect, conversation, affirmation, reposting. If you are a Christfollower I think you should as HIS SPIRIT to connect your posts to the persons HE has ready to hear them….then trust HIM to do this whether you know about it or not. GODS SPIRIT IS THE ULTIMATE NEWORKER….ALWAYS HAS BEEN!
Lindsay runs a number of websites including Coffee House Churches, Green Church, Everywhere Church, Simplechurchipedia and Mi Casa una Iglesia. You can hear more of his story on our podcast and find him on Facebook, Google+ and follow him on Twitter at @LCTXB_Missions
