Your church has the same problem as my blog. What a coincidence!

For the last two weeks, I put away my guitar to preach at my church. I get to do it a few times a year, and I always love it. I like coming up with a captivating intro, and then working to make a Bible story come to life for the people at my church.

Photo courtesy of Kah-Wai Lin at Flickr.com

And over the last couple of weeks, I've realized that creating a sermon is, in a lot of ways, just like writing a blog post. And a church family is, in a lot of ways, just like a community of readers for a blog. 

I could go on about the similarities between a church and a blog. But most over the last couple of weeks, I've noticed again and again how my blog has a lot of the same problems as many of the churches I've worked at. And the problem is this:

My blog doesn't have a clear path for people to follow to become invested members of the community. I regularly post new content, which is similar the weekly services most church's have. And while this blog has a steady flow of new readers, it lacks a clear and compelling way for people like you to move to a deeper level of involvement. I have a 'subscribe' button in the right side bar, with a free ebook, but no explanation of how subscribing to my blog benefits your life. 

And many churches face this same problem as my blog. They hold weekly services, but they don't offer people a clear and compelling way to move to a deeper level of involvement. Most churches will encourage you to move to go deeper by inviting you to become a member or join a community group, but they don't give a clear explanation of what a membership or community group will do for your life.

Solving the involvement problem in your church

Often, the thing holding a church back from attracting new people is a lack of a clear path to deeper involvement (you might refer to this involvement as discipleship). If that's the case, it's time to sit down and draft one up. I feel fortunate to work at a church that has a clear process for discipleship. After working there for a few years, it's become evident that the only reason my church as a clear and compelling path for people is that the staff and elders set aside considerable time to draft one up. 

If your church needs a clearer, more compelling path to bring people to a deeper level of involvement, it's time to set aside some time to figure out exactly what it will look like. You'd do well to grab a copy of Andy Stanley's book, Deep & Wide. It's got boatloads of great info about discipleship planning. 

The upcoming plans for my blog

This week, I've set some time aside to plan out blog posts and other content for the next 6 months. During that time I've planned to relaunch my website with a completely new theme; fix some of the technical issues people have told me about; and deliver a clear and compelling way for you to get involved with the timhswanson.com community that will help you discover more potential than ever before. Here are some of my plans. 

Creating killer content: I'll be thinking through these 3 questions, which will guide all of my writing and posting.

1. What conversations are people having right now?
2. What conversations do people need to be having?
3. What are the felt needs of the people in my tribe?

Building an online tribe: As I look to rolling out my new theme, I'll be asking myself this question on several levels, in order to offer people my very best.

1. What value will I add to the lives of my readers?

2. What value will I add to the lives of my subscribers?

By thinking through these questions, I am going to be working toward discovering more potential in my writing and online community. My hope is that my blog will become a more valuable part of your life. And I can't wait to show you more of what's in store.

What's the best thing you've read on this blog that you would like to see more posts like it

Please leave your comments in the section below.