120428 Buehrle Final Action Research Report

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Information and Learning Technologies Masters ProgramINTE 6720, Research in Information and Learning Technologies

Under Direction of Professor Jennifer VanBerschot, Ph.D.

April 2012

Stephenie Buehrle

Graduate Student

A Strategic Approach to Achieving a Digital Presence Phase I:

Improving Communication via Online Tools to Cultivate a

Cohesive Community at ICHTHUS Ministries


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A Strategic Approach to Achieving a Digital Presence Phase I

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Introduction and Problem StatementThe landscape of business, community, even friendships and family has significantlyevolved with the internet and the establishment of web 2.0 tools and social media.Organizations struggle to understand where to begin, how to participate and are uncertainabout how to most effectively establish their digital or online presence. As an extension of

this statement, organizations often do not know exactly what they hope to achieve byestablishing a web presence. Certainly, institutions of all sizes and disciplines stand togain a wide range of benefits with an approach that aligns their goals and strategies withoptimal tools and mindful implementation.

I am a member of ICHTUS Ministries (the name of the organization has been changed to thealias of the Management Teams choosing), and I was invited by a member of theManagement Team to help the church craft a strategic approach to achieving a digitalpresence. They recognized that, in the absence of a strategic plan, they would likely followone of two common ill-fated paths. First, poor or inconsistent communication couldalienate members rather than attract them to become more engaged in the church. On the

other hand, members might have continued to build their own sites and to establishaccounts without a strategic plan or guidance, leaving the institution and its membersvulnerable to misuse.

While I have extensive experience in process optimization, system implementation and theassociated training and communication considerations, only in recent years had I becomeinvolved in activities concerning the broad space of online tools and social media.Recognizing the immeasurable potential of penetration that these tools have and willcontinue to have in institutions of all types, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to drawon past experiences and to amass new ones.

As a member of the church, I am very interested in their goals, missions, events, activitiesand in being a part of the church community. Engagement in the church had becomeincreasingly difficult for me as a married mother of two rambunctious toddlers, who worksfull time, attends graduate school and attempts to support and maintain relationships withmy extended family. I read about 20% of the churchs electronic mail and followed thegoings on of a handful of families that I knew through church on Facebook. I certainly wasnot actively engaged, but I did interact with church leadership on occasion to ask questions,offer suggestions or support, to make requests and, from time to time, to simply fosterrelationships. My inquiry about a church Facebook page and expressed interest in thecommunications of the church is what prompted the church representative to request my

help with this project.

Our early discussions, which were more exploratory in nature, were intended to inspireand motivate while also imparting the importance of focusing on meeting a particular needusing online tools as a vehicle rather than engaging in online media without a plan. Thetiming of this community project aligned perfectly with the onset of my Research inInformation and Learning Technologies graduate course. The incorporation of this projectinto my coursework helped to provide structure, intermediate milestones, a timeline, and


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an invaluable pool of resources in the form of professional and peer reviews of theresearch.

Purpose and Intended Audience

The principal objective of the research was to meet ICHTHUS Ministries desire to improvecommunications between and among the church and the congregation to, in turn, foster amore cohesive community. With intention, the first phase of research concentrated on theexisting membership and not on the potentially larger virtual community that may later beestablished and perpetuated online. Through this work, ICHTHUS Ministries hoped tocreate 1) a public face for the ministry and 2) an on-line community for the attendees forthe free exchange of information and stories within the larger community of ICHTHUSMinistries and within smaller, satellite communities (sub-communities) [of] the largerbody (anonymous personal communication, February 13, 2012).

While the primary audience of the research was ICHTHUS Ministries Management Team,

the intent was for the entire church body to realize and partake in the benefits of theresearch, the improved communication, and greater engagement in the church community.

Due to the timing of the project and subsequent pairing with my graduate coursework, thepurpose was also to meet the requirements of the University of Colorado Denvers INTE6720, Research in Information and Learning Technologies course. In this context, ProfessorVanBerschot and my peers in the program were also among the audience members of theresearch.

As the methodology might serve as a reference for other studies and projects whereestablishing a strategic approach to achieving a digital presence is paramount

particularly for religious organizationsthe audience might also include others engaged insuch endeavors.

Research QuestionsDiscussions with the Management Team at ICHTHUS Ministries, following the pairing of thecommunity project with the graduate coursework, led us to set a course and to select afocus or pilot for this first phase of research. The Management Team was primarilyconcerned with using online media to improve communication within the current churchbody (existing membership) in order to build a more cohesive community.

With this in mind, the Management Team at ICHTHUS Ministries crafted the following asthe principle research question:

How can ICHTHUS Ministries shape their online presence to create 1) a public face for

the ministry and 2) an on-line community for the attendees for the free exchange of

information and stories within the larger community of ICHTHUS Ministries and

within smaller, satellite communities (sub-communities) [of] the larger body?


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Given that the church expressed great concern for improving online communication,building a more cohesive community and the fact that they did nothave a budget forsoftware development or investment in a custom solution, the secondary questions guidingthe research were:

How can ICHTHUS Ministries improve online communication with and among thecurrent membership?

How can ICHTHUS Ministries online communication help to build a more cohesive

community among members?

Which existing online vehicle(s) is best suited to assist the organization in improving

communication with and among their current membership?

I want to note that I initially set out to help the organization identify the best tool, or tools,to meet their needs and planned to further research best practices regarding the

implementation of the selected tool(s). I had hoped to provide the stewards directionregarding the objectives for each medium and to share guidelines for directly engagingcommunity members online. Upon gathering a better understanding of the timeline andmilestones of the research program, it became clear that this scope was still too large toeffectively research within the boundaries of the course. Upon this realization, we reframedthe research to focus on the identification of an online communication tool, or tools thatcould be used for enrichment of ICTHUS Ministries community.

Context of StudyAt the time of inquiry, approximately 616 households were represented in ICHTHUS

Ministries congregation. This translated to approximately 1,464 members made up of 872adults and 592 children. The congregation meets in the northwest suburbs of Denver,Colorado. The family-focused church is of the multi-ethnic Evangelical Covenant Churchdenomination.

As a member of ICHTHUS Ministries, I recalled receiving periodic emails on a wide varietyof topics ranging from information on the weeks events and requests for prayer, to jobnotices and announcements. I inquired about whether the church had considered settingup a Facebook page similar to one used by another church in our community so thatmembers of the congregation could more easily share and receive such information. Thisinquiry led a member of the Management Team of ICHTHUS Ministries to ask if I would

help the church craft a strategic approach to achieving a digital presence.

The representative reported that, up to that point, the church had established a web siteand two of their ministries had (or, set up) their own Facebook pages. They shared weeklyand monthly email updates with those who had provided email addresses, and severalmembers of the staff had Twitter and Facebook accounts. They had not applied a masterplan or strategy to the employment of online tools and, therefore, the congregation andothers witnessing their presence were unsure of the best way to provide and to receive


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information. Left unattended or without a plan and governance, this community waswithout an easily accessible or reliable means of communication. Large segments of thepopulation served may only have received partial information and might have eitherstruggled to engage, or they might not have engaged at all. Ultimately, the communicationissues raised resulted in concern for their effectiveness regarding church community

development.

Literature ReviewThroughout the course of the project, I heard it repeated many times that communicationis the single greatest issue or problem of the churchand not just the church that I wasfocused on for this action research project, buteverychurch. Performing a review ofliterature was critical to help me gain insights into this area of research. For example, I setout to find scholarly studies on the use of the internet to improve church communications.Additionally, the review of literature was useful for determining what conclusions othershave reached based upon their research.

What I found was an overwhelming amount of information and literature on everycombination of topics surrounding church communication, social media, creating orimproving community and creating community online. There were also some apparentthemes in the research and some clear gaps. Religious institutions, like all institutions,stand to benefit by engaging in online communications. This finding was not particularlysurprising. Perhaps more surprising was the finding that community can be enjoyed invirtually any environment, pun intended. Because we are primarily concerned with how toimprove online communication for ICHTHUS Ministries, an unfortunate finding was thatthere are probably as many ways to go about getting started as there are results on asearch for onlinechurch. While the literature review findings did not prove useful as a

guide for practical application, it did result in an abundance of encouragement for enteringinto the online communication space. It also provided support for thepossibilityoffostering and enriching community using online media. Additionally, the review supplied awide array of examples that might serve as models for ICHTHUS Ministries and otherreligious organizations.

Literature Review QuestionsThe overall research question also served as the primary focus for my literature review.How can ICHTHUS Ministries shape their online presence to create 1) a public face for the

ministry and 2) an on-line community for the attendees for the free exchange of information

and stories within the larger community of ICHTHUS Ministries and within smaller, satellite

communities (sub-communities) [of] the larger body?

For the purposes of finding applicable sources, I adjusted the literature review questionsslightly from the overall questions:

1. How can religious institutions utilize the internet and social media to communicatewith the congregation?


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2. How can churches foster community using the internet or social media?3. How can religious institutions engage the congregation online?Literature Search Procedures

I started with generic Google searches on phrases such as church communications online,improving communication between church and congregation, improving communication

between church and congregation using social media, and engage membership usingsocial networking in religious organizations. All of these searches yielded thousands ofresults. While I did find a few in the top search results that were helpful, I continued tonarrow my search.

I transitioned to Advanced Searches on Google Scholar. Initially, I focused on a keywordsearch where all of the following words appear anywhere in the text: communications,church,social,and media. This produced more than 386,000 results. A related searchnarrowing to just those articles where my wordsoccur in the titleof the article returned 5

results that were not related to my research or Literature Review questions. Much of theliterature at this point related to the impact of church on social communication or theresponsibility of the church regarding social media. I discarded these results as they werenot relevant for this undertaking.

I started again with a Google Scholar Advanced Search for online church where my wordsoccur in the title and looked only in the areas of biology, life sciences, and environmentalscience; and social sciences, arts, and humanities. This yielded 42 results that were more

in-line with my research.

In addition to examining these 42 results, I looked further into the resources cited withinthe 42 results and looked at literature that cited the related works that I had found. I didfind two relevant and useful pieces.

In addition to the Google searches, I reviewed literature that had been shared with me bythe management team of the church and followed a similar pattern of looking more closelyat those cited in these materials. This led me to some great examples that will prove usefulfor exploring further with the management team.

Finally, I explored the Auraria Library online and the Skyline Catalog. Coming up with norelevant literature, I enlisted the help of the online librarian who escorted me through theEBSCOhosts Academic Search Premier database. With her direction, I was able to findthree sources that were related to my topic. I circled back to the Academic Search PremierPlus database and found a few studies that were relevant and helpful for gaining insightsinto my research area.

Literature Review Findings

When focusing on how to improve church communications using online tools in order tocreate a more cohesive community, the literature generally fell into one of two themes: 1)


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churches should be communicating online and 2) face to face interaction is not required tocreate community. A third observation: there are numerous examples of religiousorganizations using social media to communicate and serve a wide range of purposesonline.

Encouragement for the church to communicate onlineI discovered an abundance of material declaring that online communication and socialmedia are standard communication tools. Embracing online forms of communication is acritical consideration for virtually all organizations, including the church.

Mullins (2011) asserts in his doctoral dissertation that [the internet] is potentially thevery tool that God will choose to use to reach every tribe in every nation. The church mustconsider this challenge carefully and be openly willing to take up the charge from God tocarry out His mission online (p. 47). To this point, Mullins (2011) traced online churchparticipation back to more than 100 different countries (p. 36). While his dissertationdoes not explicitly detail the data collected, it appears that he spent approximately twoyears studying online church and received input in the form of survey responses from 19

different pastors, 89 church staff members and an estimated 384 congregation members(Mullins, 2011, p. 165-197). Furthermore, he posited that online church is more efficientthan the physical church in the area of accessibility based on his research finding that63.5% of those surveyed agreed that they felt they could connect with a pastor via e-mailor online chat when needed or desired (Mullins, 2011, p. 101).

Persinger (2009) urges churches to notwait until members are ready for the technology.Instead, he suggests that leaders think of creative ways to take them by the hand andimpart knowledge through baby-stepexperiences (Persinger, 2009, para. 5).

Similarly encouraging, Graham (2011) referenced a higher authority in her pieceFacebook, social media can bring church back to its roots when she quoted Pope Benedict

XVI who said, I would like then to invite Christians, confidently and with an informed andresponsible creativity, to join the network of relationships which the digital era has madepossible (para. 9).

I found it interesting that at about the same time that Graham quoted the Pope, Noomen,Aupers and Houtman (2011), completed their research study including in-depthqualitative interviews with twenty-one web designers who either professionally or on avoluntary basis work in the Dutch Catholic, Protestant or spiritual milieus (p. 1103). Of

those, nine were engaged with the Catholic field, six with the Protestant milieu, and sixwho associated themselves with the field ofholistic spirituality (Noomen, Aupers &Houtman, 2011, p. 1103-1104). They determined that all of the groups in the studystruggled with less television and print (newspaper or periodical) access to their audiencesand, therefore, turned to the internet as the only channel left through which the church

can directly address an audience (Noomen, Aupers & Houtman, 2011, p. 1105).


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So, the use of online media to communicate with the congregation might be a necessarypath for communication as other, more traditional media is used less or no longer used atall. While these sources did not explicitly study online communication methods withcurrent membership, they do represent a wide array of sources that strongly encouragechurches to engage online media as a vehicle for communication. They also serve as

examples and food for thought as ICHTHUS Ministries considers which vehicles might bebest suited for their communication goals.

A community can be generated and well supported onlineSeveral sources state that community can certainly be fostered online. Similar to the

Noomen study (2011) referenced previously, Cheong, Poon, Huang, and Casas (2009) notonly conducted in-depth face-to-face interviews with twenty representatives of religiousinstitutions, they also conducted a websphere and hyperlink analysis of 177 websites of

Protestant Christian organizations (p. 294).

Through their research, they found that theinternet is much more than a medium to engagein begrudgingly as a last resort (Noomen,Aupers & Houtman, 2011, p. 1105) it providesa vehicle for a wide range of communications asshown in Table 1 (Cheong, Poon, Huang, & Casas,2009, p. 296). Citing a number of supportingresources, they also stress that the combineduse of images, audiovisuals, and interactivity, inaddition to maps, texts (e.g., description ofchurch community), and numbers (e.g.,membership size), enables sight and sound to beconnected to place, which in turn reinforcesreligious community building (Cheong, Poon,Huang, & Casas, 2009, p. 295).

While twenty five of the 177 institutions in the Cheong (2009) analysis see value inproviding a link to an interactive online forum or virtual community (p. 295), there are

still many religious leaders who feel strongly that online or virtual interactions can neverreplace physical or face-to-face, real-life membership (Dixon cited in Hutchings, 2007, p.246). Even so, there is no doubt that religious congregants from all reaches are fixed on theidea of incorporating technology in their spiritual undertakings and in generating

community online. In Hutchings (2007) case study approach, the survey results of one ofthe three institutions studied showed that among the 114 respondents to the survey, halfwould contradict Dixons remark, as 49.6% regarded themselves as belonging to the onlinechurch (p. 248). What's more, while 93% had previously attended physical church, justunder 50% continue to do so (Hutchings, 2007, p. 248).

Estes (2009), made it plain to see why there are a number of people on both sides of theargument concerning whether community can be created online. "It seems impossible that

Table 1.Representation of religious organizations online

Religion-online Total (%)

Background of organization 80.2

History of organization 58.2

Faith beliefs/vision 77.3

Religious services 88.7

Religious programs 81.4

Community programs 41.7

Photo gallery 37.1

Map of church 67.8

Webcast 8.5

Audiocast 47.5

Discussion forum 14.1

Note. N = 177 references.

(Cheong, Poon, Huang, & Casas, 2009, p. 296)


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people scattered all over the world can sit in front of machines and somehow form realcommunity. And it is impossible if we look at the computer to try to understand such anoutlandish claim (p. 56-57). Estes (2009) went on to say, The computer doesnt hold theanswer; people doIts not the technology that creates community; its the people" (p. 57).

Moreover, Estes (2009) believes that online communications are not only conducive to thedevelopment of community; he also declares that virtual-church communities couldimprove connections between believers (p. 71). His excitement about the time that we findourselves in is contagious.

Researchers, Campbell and Calderon (2007), not only believe that community can existonline; they set out to identify exactly what constitutes a Christian community online (p.262). In their study, they observed the interactions of participants on an online bulletinboard and found that discussion threads monitored from August through November, 2006,fell into four themes: topics ofreligion/faith (which amounted to 408 discussion threads),self-revelation towards community(included 169 threads), connection (which included 58

threads) andprayer and encouragementwhich included 52 threads (Campbell & Calderon,2007, p. 272). Because ICHTHUS Ministries feels strongly about building community andencouraging two-way communication, these findings will certainly be taken intoconsideration.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that a growing number of believers worldwide

feel so strongly in the ability to establish community online that they are founding whollyonline churches, often referred to as virtual churches, in great numbers. In fact, this was theprimary focus of the thesis submitted by Gilmore in 2009 entitled A Church Without Walls:

Finding Community in Central Christian Churchs Online Campus. In her research, sheidentified twelve churches in the world attempting this online, interactive presence with

what they call Internet (or online) campuses (2009, p. 1). Of the177centralonlinecampus.com participants who completed Gilmores (2009) survey, 74% areregistered online (p. 21). This is an important point, she emphasizes, as the traditionalsense of community can be severely weakened if participants in the community arepermitted to remain anonymous (Lindlof cited in Gilmore, 2009, p. 21-22).

While ICHTHUS Ministries was not interested in establishing an online church (at least notyet), these findings certainly support the notion that churches can engage the congregationonline and can foster community using the Internet. It also provides some useful andactionable guidance on best practices for supporting community, in the traditional sense,online.

A Sea of Examples

I encountered innumerable examples of religious institutions embarking on the use ofsocial media, such as Facebook and Twitter, and many are blogging and beginning toincorporate mobile technology in their practices. To get an idea of the wide range ofapplications, one needs only to type church and Facebook into any search engine andsee the long list that results.


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At the time of this review, blogs, Facebook and Twitter seemed to be the vehiclesof choice for churches (and a wide range of other institutions, as well). While itwas not originally planned as a formal segment or data collection scheme for thisresearch project, observing the variety of methods employed for the use of socialmedia by religious institutions provided a great deal of information and ideas for

how a church might use online tools to engage in two-way communication withtheir congregation.

Take, for example, Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Mich., [which]spent two weeks educating their congregation about Twitter (Rochman, 2009).Rochman identified Mars Hill as one of these examples where churchgoersregularly tweet throughout the service (2009). While Westwinds seems to useTwitter primarily to engage the members of their brick and mortar congregationduring services (with over 600 followers), Mars Hill has nearly 37,000 followersfrom all over the world. It appears that Mars Hill is also engaging the members oftheir 14 physical churches while simultaneously attracting followers exclusively

online. Rochman made reference to another church called Trinity Church. When Iattempted to locate this church on Twitter, I was met with the results that you seeillustrated to the right in Figure 1. The image is not meant to be legible, but toillustrate how many churches with a name very similar to Trinity Church thathave accounts on Twitter. As declared in this sections heading, there was a sea ofexamples.

The Chapel, a church in Libertyville, Illinois, was one of another seeminglyendless list of churchesthis list representing churches with Fan Pages onFacebook. According to Persinger (2009), The Chapel was using Facebook toshare updated news feeds, videos, event notifications and more (para. 10).

Many of these examples provide compelling evidence that churches cancommunicate using social media and can engage their congregants onlinefostering a stronger sense of community among their members. They could evenbe helpful in crafting a plan for howa church can engage their congregationonline in order to achieve a more cohesive community.

Quality of Literature

In reporting on the quality of literature, I have first detailed the parameters that Iset for my literature search and, secondly, discuss the quality of several sources

and their research methods.

Parameters for Literature SearchAs recommended by Koshy (2010), I worked to get a balance of books andpapers (p. 51). I also focused only on literature published within seven to ten

years ago (p. 51). I followed Koshys guidance to include refereed papers(2010, p. 51) and looked for primary sources (Thomas, 2009, p. 30).


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The breakdown of sources as they relate to the quality parameters that I set for myresearch is presented in Table 2 below.

Table 2. Quality of Sources

Source Type Publish

Date

Refereed Primary

The Question of Christian Community Online:The Case of the Artist World Network

Journal Article 2007 X X

The Internet Highway and ReligiousCommunities: Mapping and Contesting Spacesin Religion-Online

Journal Article 2009 X X

The reason your church must Twitter eBook 2009

SimChurch: Being the Church in the VirtualWorld

eBook 2009

Creating Church Online: A Case-StudyApproach to Religious Experience

Journal Article 2007 X

A Church Without Walls: Finding Community inCentral Christian Churchs Online Campus

Masters Thesis 2009 X X

Facebook, social media can bring church backto its roots

Blog 2011

Action research for improving educationalpractice

Book 2010

Online Church: A Biblical Community DoctoralDissertation

2011 X X

RSS-Powerful Potential for Ministries Journal Article 2006 X

In Their Own Image? Journal Article 2011 X X

Dont wait! Introduce new technology to your

congregationBlog 2009 X

Twittering in Church, with the Pastor's O.K Article 2009 X

Dialogue on Facebook Blog 2009 X

How to do Your Research Project: A Guide for

Students in Education and Applied SocialSciences

eBook 2009

As shown in the table above, all sources were 6 years old or newer at the time of inquiry. Iincluded five journal articles, a Masters Thesis and a Doctoral Dissertation. Six of the

sources (perhaps more) were peer reviewed or refereed. Several sources, while notrefereed, are primary sourcesin other words, written by individuals with first-handexperience of the claims and results described in their literature.
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1467&context=doctoralhttp://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1467&context=doctoral


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Critique of Research MethodsOf course, the blogs, books and other sources that are not examples of peer reviewed workdo not substantiate their conclusions as convincingly as those where more formal researchwas performed. In the more formal studies, a number of participants were measured by arange of data collection methods, giving the findings more credence. Still, these less formal

sources tended to provide examples and guidance that is directionally more similar to thehow to assistance sought by ICHTHUS Ministries.

With regard to the peer reviewed works, the following section examines the methods ofresearch associated with several sources referenced in the literature review.

In their qualitative study, Campbell and Calderon (2007) performed an in-depth contentanalysis of the threads shared on the discussion board that they monitored. I found theirresearch to be thorough and well informed as they observed and considered a large sampleof threads over a significant span of time. The large sample helps to establish the validity oftheir research. However, because they focused their research on one discussion board, the

reliability of their research could have been in question. Might the results be skewed due tothe similarities of participants attracted to this particular discussion board? By relating theconclusions of this study to those established from previous studies (Campbell & Calderon,2007, p. 264), the researchers addressed the question of reliability. I also noted thatCampbell has performed a great deal of research that has been acknowledged andpublished prior to this study (Campbell & Calderon, 2007, p. 277).

I found the work performed by Cheong, Poon, Huang, and Casas (2009) to be interestingand compelling. While many researchers commonly rely on surveys or interviews as theirinstruments for collecting data, this research primarily rests on the use of geographicinformation systems (GIS) and associated data to empirically[examine] religion-online in

order to understand how online technologies are employed for religious communitybuilding (p. 292). This research yielded strong quantitative results over a large sample set.Next, they added to the validity of their study by approaching the research questions fromadditional viewpoints with the use of surveys and in-depth interviews. Hence, theycollected qualitative data for further analysis as a part of their methodology. This researchhappens to reference Campbells work, as well as demonstrate the breadth of experience

that these authors have in performing such research. Authors Cheong and Poon havemultiple refereed works published in their names.

At first glance, Hutchings research might not seem valid or reliable because he onlyexamined three participants or institutions in his study. How can the findings of a study

based on three subjects be generalized to other like institutions? What gives Hutchings

research credibility is the fact that each of his three participants is actually an institution atthe center of a case study. Case study findings do lend themselves to generalization becausethey provide such detailed descriptions of cases (Koshy, 2010, p. 99) providing the readera detailed account of reality that can then be related to the readers own experience(Koshy, 2010, p. 99). Koshy indicates that case studies can certainly be focused on a singlecase, but Hutchings work and findings are based on three cases, adding to the reliability of


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his results. Also, note that two of the three institutions studied by Hutchings conductedsurveys, adding quantitative support to the qualitative work of his case study. Hutchingsalso performed interviews across all cases and performed direct observation. The use ofmultiple data collection instruments added validity to Hutchings research and findings.

Gap in LiteratureConsider my analogy to recreating a masterfully prepared meal as I work to frame a cleardepiction of the gap in the literature.

Think of a time when you have eaten at an excellent restaurant. Imagine that you enjoyed

something like plank grilled salmon with a New Orleans inspired remoulade sauce. If you

wanted to recreate the dish, how would you go about reaching this goal? More than likely you

would look for a recipe. What tools do you need? What ingredients do you need? Do you need

to be concerned with the height of the flame and the time on the grill? Do you prepare the

sauce in advance? What steps must you take to prepare the salmon? Without some pretty

clear guidance on exactly how the chef prepared her masterpiece, you might be able to create

a meal that is similar, but probably not the same as what you experienced and are seeking.

This is, relatively speaking, the same scenario that I encountered in my Literature Review.ICHTHUS Ministries is seeking a more cohesive community by way of improvedcommunications using online tools. How do they arrive at this goal?

There is a great deal of literature that promotes generalities with regard to social media. Itis clear that Facebook and Twitter are the media of choice for most religious organizations.From observation, it seems that the institutions are enjoying varying degrees of effectivecommunication and have very diverse goals or purposes driving their engagement withthese forms of media. This is the equivalent of observing that there are dozens of differentways to prepare salmon.

What's more, it is not difficult to uncover materials that advise on the use of specific tools.For example, I came across a source with seemingly valuable advice for managing aFacebook page (Smith, 2011), and another excellent source demonstrating various usesand practical application of Twitter (Coppedge, 2009). I even came across a helpful guidefor funneling useful materials to and from your church via RSS Feeds (Nicholaou, 2006). Inkeeping with my analogy, all of these guides are similar to finding resources on how tomake a cream sauce or which type of wood you might choose for plank grilling. They arevery helpful, but they are not answering the principal question. They are not providing the

recipe.

I did not locate a single source that provides guidance for a religious institution on how toembark on the adoption of the internet or social media for ones communication goals. I didnot see anything that helped to determine what tools are needed and in what combinationthey should be applied to achieve the desired end result. As such, religious institutions areleft with having to estimate which tools they should employ. Without step by step guidance,churches might move forward with the implementation of internet communication tools,


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social media or other technology without a pre-defined strategy. Some of these ill-plannedimplementations will bear fruit, while others will result in a dismal waste of time and effortthat risks alienating the community rather than bringing them closer together.

The target for this research was to provide ICHTHUS Ministries, and possibly other

religious institutions, with a recipe for successful implementation. Combining the learningfrom observing numerous examples with the Literature Review findings and conclusionsdrawn from other sources, I sought to unveil the patterns that serve to improvecommunication and community for the church. Based on these findings, we planned toapproach the selection of tools with the objectives in mind and to choose media applicableto the goal, therefore increasing the likelihood of achieving the desired end results.

Literature Review SummaryThe literature certainly confirmed that online tools and social media have become themainstay of communication. Theres no shortage of encouragement for religious

institutions to take up technology and to work to leverage it for their missions.Furthermore, there is evidence that "community" can unequivocally be built andestablished online and that religious institutions are not exempt from this opportunity.Plus, most of the relevant resources confirmed the possibility for the church to improvecommunications with their membership using tools online.

The Literature Review revealed countless examples of religious institutions doing justthattaking up technology and working to improve communications. This revelationfurther shaped the research, as it was plain to see that the vast number and variety ofexamples provided another data set for observation and learning.

The prominent gap exposed by the Literature Review was the absence of research thataddresses the question how? This was the central question that I had come to learn was(and likely still is) paramount for church leaders everywhere. "The number one questionthat churches struggle to answer is, howdo we improve communication?" (Anonymous,personal communication, February 9, 2012).

This research aspired to answer that question. Through this work, my plan was toprovidethe recipe or to map out guidance regarding what questions to ask, setting the goal, whattools are needed, what options exist and recommended implementation steps.

MethodsThrough the data collection and analysis portion of our community action research, ouraim was to identify potential vehicles for online communication and to determine thetoolor toolsdeemed appropriate for fostering a more cohesive community at ICHTHUSMinistries. Furthermore, we sought to gather perceptions of the then current environmentwith regard to communication and community so as to establish a baseline for latercomparison.


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Site Selection and SamplingAs mentioned previously, the timing of this community project aligned perfectly with theonset of my Research in Information and Learning Technologies graduate course. I chose touse this project as the focus of my research in hopes that the discipline reinforced by theprogram would serve to provide structure, intermediate milestones, a timeline, and an

invaluable pool of resources in the form of professional and peer reviews of the research.Once I considered the need of the church and their expressed interest to embark on thisproject, I determined that it was a good fit and did align with the requirements of theResearch in Information and Learning Technologies requirements.

The stakeholder groups for this research included:

The project champion and primary point of contact at ICHTHUS Ministries The Management Team at ICHTHUS Ministries The Congregation of ICHTHUS Ministries

Data Collection

The data collection instruments for this research included a survey and an interview. Theintended application of these instruments in service to the research questions is presentedin Table 3, below.

Table 3. Data Collection Instruments Listed by Research Question

Research Question Primary

Source

Secondary

Source

How can ICHTHUS Ministries shape their online presence

to create 1) a public face for the ministry and 2) an on-linecommunity for the attendees for the free exchange ofinformation and stories within the larger community ofICHTHUS Ministries and within smaller, satellitecommunities (sub-communities) within the larger body?

Congregation

Survey

Subject Matter

ExpertInterview

How can ICHTHUS Ministries improve onlinecommunication with and among the current membership?

CongregationSurvey

Subject MatterExpertInterview

How can ICHTHUS Ministries online communication help

to build a more cohesive community among members?

Congregation

Survey

Subject Matter

ExpertInterview

Which existing online vehicle(s) is best suited to assist theorganization in improving communication with and amongtheir current membership?

CongregationSurvey

Subject MatterExpertInterview


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There were three primary goals of the data collection portion of this research:

1. To establish a baseline regarding perceptions of engagement in the churchcommunity.

2.

To establish a baseline regarding perceptions of communication.3. To identify potential vehicles for online communication to determine the toolor

toolsdeemed appropriate for the stated goal.

In other words, the survey for the Management Team and congregation was designed toestablish a baseline regarding participants perceptions, level of interest, and preferencesregarding the church community, communication and online media. With a meet them

where theyre at approach in mind, the survey was also intended to determine whichonline media might be more readily accepted and adopted by the congregation.

The survey was initially piloted to the ICHTHUS Ministries Management Team on February

27, 2012. The Management Team completed the online version of the survey which wasadministered using Google Forms. Since the Management Team was an integral part ofdeveloping the plan and the survey, I encouraged them to share their feedback and to makerecommendations regarding the survey that I would consider for implementation prior todistributing the survey to the congregation.

We then launched the survey to additional church staff and the congregation online fromMarch 2, 2012 through March 25, 2012 (see final version of the survey in Appendix C).Announcement of the survey was made via email on March 2nd. Fifty four respondentscompleted the online survey. The survey was delivered in hard-copy format to theattendees of ICHTHUS Ministries Town Hall Meeting on March 4, 2012. Sixty completed

surveys were collected at the Town Hall Meeting. Finally, a hard-copy version of the surveywas also included in the weekly bulletin distributed during church services on March 11and March 25, 2012. Forty additional surveys were collected following distribution duringchurch services. Together, this totals 154 surveys collected.

Additionally, I conducted one interview with an expert in the field of social media: aFacebook employee assigned to work directly with business clients of the socialnetworking giant. The interview was intended to gather information regarding thecapabilities and potential fit of Facebook with the objectives of the church and this project.For this interview, I employed a semi-structured format and included open-endedquestions (see interview questions and notes on responses in Appendix C). The 30 minute

interview was conducted by telephone on March 3, 2012.

Data Analysis Procedures

The survey instrument yielded mostly quantitative results. While no open-ended questionswere asked, some questions did include an Other option with a space to write in

alternative responses. Conversely, the interview yielded qualitative data for examinationand consideration.


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Quantitative Analysis

To analyze the quantitative data collected via the survey, I moved the data from a Googlespreadsheet to Microsoft Excel. As recommended by Koshy (2010), on a separate sheetfrom the raw data, I created a table for each question where I could record the frequency of

the various responses (p. 108). When the question called for one choice, I used sort andcount functions in Excel to quantify the results. I also used the auto-sum function to double-check my work and ensure that I had accounted for responses from all 154 respondents (insome cases, the response was Not Selected).

I want to note that the demographic data was not required in the online format, but all

remaining questions were required. Because most of the surveys were completed in hard-copy, respondents were able to skip questions. This resulted in 30 surveys that did notselect a response for questions that were intended to be required. I decided to include

these responses for analysis for two reasons. First, 30 surveys makes up nearly 20% of thetotal number collected. This seemed like too large a portion to disregard. Second, theManagement Team values every single response for each question and I wanted to be sureto account for each one.

When multiple selections were possible, I used the Excel filter to quantify all cells in thequestions response column that contained text representative of each choice. Next, I also

looked at each response to identify any answers that were written in or added in theOther fields. Since the Other fields were the last choice for each of the multi-selectquestions, the responses that were added were easy to spot by sorting the responsecolumn in alphabetical order and then visually inspecting the data.

Qualitative AnalysisMaking use of the Interview results required qualitative analysis. I started by reading myinterview notes to get a sense of the data and how it related to my research (Koshy, 2010,p. 112). Upon reading my notes from the telephone interview, I felt that the data could becategorized as closely related to communication or to community or both. Additionally,

during my first glance at the data, I felt that some comments were positive and some werenegative. That is to say some comments indicated this might be a good tool choice forICHTHUS Ministries while other comments indicated that this might not be a good toolchoice for ICHTHUS Ministries.

Per Koshy (2010), I constructed a table that would allow me to track my assessment of the

comments (p. 112). I put each of the comments in the left side of the table. To the right ofeach comment I typed Communication and/or Community and I noted (+), (-), or(+, -).

Next, I pasted the data into an Excel spreadsheet where I could filter the comments andlook at the various combinations of Communication, Community, (+), (-), or (+, -).


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Ethical Procedures

In an effort to address potential ethical issues:

I de-identified all participants and the organization throughout researchdocumentation

I kept identities of all participants and the organization confidential. I put careful consideration into the methods of collecting and storing data. I incorporated procedures ensuring the accuracy, trustworthiness and relevance of

the information collected and the results.

I also incorporated Research and Survey Permission Forms (see Appendices).(Koshy, 2010, p.82)

Impact

ICHTHUS Ministries was expected to emerge with an implemented strategy for establishingtheir online presence in a way that improves communication with and among thecongregation to further their engagement in the church community.

This research and the subsequent implementation at the church certainly caused someparticipants to push the boundaries of their comfort zonesor even to break them. Somemembers of the Management Team expressed reservations from early on in the project.Among the notions expressed were:

whether the congregation would be interested in adopting the new technology,

whether we could successfully train them and engage them in the new forms ofcommunication,

whether existing forms of communication would become obsolete, whether any change at all is even necessary and whether the investment of time and effort would prove to be valuable.

The Management Team continued to consider and discuss their concerns throughout thecourse of the project and research.

As discussed more in the Findings section below, the data analysis portion of this researchyielded inconclusive results (we were not able to clearly identify a tool or combination oftools that are both a great fit for the communication needs outlined by the ProjectChampion and tools that will be embraced by the majority of the congregation). In theabsence of a conclusive result, the first phase of the project may have been perceived bysome of the participants as a failure. Considering some of the reservations of theManagement Team going into the first cycle of the research, some might also have beenrelieved that the results were inconclusive.


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I saw it as a single action research cycle and a tremendous learning experience that couldlead to a more refined process for data collection in the second round of research.Discussions on the results of the data analysis led the Management Team to consider howsurveys could be administered better in the future. Together we also discussed the positiveoutcome of having some demographic data on the congregation that did not previously

exist. The follow-up discussions also led the team to share individual perceptions regardingthe potential uses and benefits of moving forward with different online vehicles forcommunication and community building. While informal, these discussions certainlyresembled the valuable and informative focus group data collection instrument.

My thought following these discussions was that the conversation and work to establish athoughtful strategy for establishing ICHTHUS Ministries online presence was certainly notover. In fact, the next steps were discussed almost immediately and the work continuedinto a next phase of planning.

Checks for Rigor

I worked, throughout the research and community development project, to establish trust.I met face to face with the participants as much as possible over a prolonged period of time(Stringer, 2007, p.57) to get to know them and to establish a neutral position with regardto the research. In these meetings, I involved the Management Team in the planning andexecution of the research. I continually shared results and discussed observations(Stringer, 2007, p.58). In addition to performing a broad literature review, we sought theinput of the Management Team, the congregation and third parties who are not affiliatedwith the church. To ensure representative sampling, we planned to promote and campaignfor diverse participation in the survey ((Stringer, 2007, p.58). Despite these efforts, welearned that there were additional steps that we could have taken in the final execution ofthe survey which might have yielded more reliable data. More about this is presented in the

Findings section.

I documented and distributed details of the schedule, tasks, events, decisions, plans, andprocedures throughout the research cycle so that the Management Team was privy to thesame information as me, the researcher (Stringer, 2007, p.59). I regularly referenced actualresults and terminology, (keeping ethical considerations at the forefront), to furtherconfirm that the research took place as documented. I retained raw data, project notes, andall other materials associated with the research as a part of the studys audit trail for futurereference (Stringer, 2007, p.59).

Summarily, the strategy that I employed to ensure credibility, transferability, dependabilityand confirmability (Stringer, 2007, p.57) was to capture and share with the participants asmuch detail as possible throughout the research segment of the project, onward into thefinal report and beyond the report throughout implementation.

I believe that these efforts were successful in creating a partnership and in gaining trust. Allof the measures taken and shared with the Management Team served to establish anenvironment of full transparency and, therefore, learning that could be shared by all. The


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Management Team did ask that I continue to work with them to further study and decideon the next course of action through the implementation of their plan.

ScheduleAgain, this work represented the marriage of an academic action research project and a

community development project. In practical application, I worked from onecomprehensive schedule. Below, the schedule is presented in two parts (see Table 4 andTable 5) to allow for more simplified review and to clearly present the separate milestonesand areas of focus. I used different colors to easily distinguish between months anddifferent shades of the same color to distinguish between weeks.

Table 4. Action Research Schedule

Week Study Focus Project Milestones

3 Identifying and Issue or Problem Three Potential Areas of Inquiry

4 Developing your Action Plan

5Writing an Action ResearchProposal

Due 2/15: Draft Action ResearchProposalDue 2/17: FeedbackDue 2/19: Action Research Proposal

6 Data Collection

7 Organizing a Literature Review

8 Writing a Literature ReviewDue 3/6: Draft Literature ReviewDue 3/8: FeedbackDue 3/10: Literature Review

9 Issues and Challenges in Research

10 University BreakSocial Media Governance PractitionerCertification

11 Data and Evidence

12Testing and Critiquing YourKnowledge

13Building a Reliable and Valid FinalAction Research Project

Due 4/10: Draft Data Analysis SectionDue 4/12: Feedback

14Organizing Your Final ActionResearch Project

15Completing Your Final ResearchProject

Due 4/24: Draft Final Action ResearchReportDue 4/26: FeedbackDue 4/28: Final Action Research Report

16 Reflections Reflection

17 Conclusion


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In Table 4 (above), I have presented a schedule documenting the research and the keymilestones of the project. The primary audience for this schedule was me, as theresearcher. This schedule was dictated by course requirements. Any deviation from theoriginal schedule was minimal.

Table 5. Participants Schedule

Week of Research Site Activities

30-Jan Establish Project: Strategy for Establishing ""Digitial Presence" for Church

6-Feb Identify Pilot Area and Primary Goal for Research Project

13-Feb2/13: On-site MeetingPresent plan and schedule to Management Team for feedback

20-Feb

2/20: On-site MeetingDiscuss "data collection" (surveys, interviews) with Management TeamIncorporate Feedback into Data InstrumentsDiscuss Communication Plan

27-Feb Begin collecting data (surveys, interviews)Organize Literature Review

5-Mar3/6: On-site MeetingAnalyze Literature, Draw Conclusions, Write up Literature Review

12-Mar3/13: On-site MeetingClose data collection activities,Initiate Social Media Policy

19-MarContinue refining Social Media Policy,Begin thinking about who would like to actively add content online

26-MarReceive Management Team's Draft Social Media Policy, review, providefeedback

2-Apr4/3: On-site MeetingFinalize Social Media Policy,Present first look at Research Highlights

9-Apr No planned activities

16-Apr

4/17: On-site MeetingFollowing Program Test/Critique, share conclusions with ManagementTeam,Initiate transition to Implementation

23-AprTransition to implementation,Management Team and others involved begin interacting and adding

content online as prescribed30-Apr Touch base, share ideas, give limited feedback

7-May Touch base, share ideas, give limited feedback

14-May5/15: On-site MeetingObservation/Evaluation - Are we seeing changes? What's working? What'snot working? Adjust the plan?


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Table 5 (above), represents the original schedule most relevant for the participantsspecifically, the Management Team of ICHTHUS Ministries. Notice that I met several timeswith the Management Team (indicated in red type). While regular status updates and re-alignment with the plan are common in project management discipline, these face to facemeetings were also intended to serve another purpose. I sought to position myself with the

Management Team and the congregation at ICHTHUS Ministries in such a way that theyrecognized me as a neutral partner working to help them achieve their ultimate goal of amore cohesive community (Stringer, 2007, p.49 51).

There were some adjustments to the project Participants Schedule (see final schedule in

Appendix B). Here is a summary of the changes reflected in the final schedule:

The survey was distributed at ICHTHUS Ministries Town Hall Meeting on March 4th;it was not accessible to the congregation until March 11th.

The survey was then distributed, again, to the congregation on March 25th. The development of the Social Media Guidelines was not a part of the research

project, but was an important task required for the organization. The schedule andplan for the development of the Social Media Guidelines was adjusted several times.

The final schedule also includes changes reflecting the fact that the ManagementTeam had to go beyond the original schedule to further consider their goal(s) forsocial media and their online presence.

These changes pushed the implementation, communication and training milestonesout later. While the implementation milestones were not required for the course,they are critical for the successful completion of any project and were managedfollowing the close of the formal research window.

Methods SummaryThe Management Team at ICHTHUS Ministries managed to pull together their team and toagree to a goal, schedule and plan. They set out to assess their congregations engagement

in community, the members perceptions of church-related communications and whichonline tools seemed most prevalently used among their congregants. Extensive planningwent into the development of the survey and into the research overall. Several checks forrigor were discussed and in place and the broad schedule allowed for ample opportunity tocollect data that would meet those checks for rigor. Still, there was one considerationregarding the administration or execution of the survey that was not discussed in detail,which had a significant impact on the outcome of the data collection for this research. Thecongregation was not granted time within the service to complete the survey. More abouthow this data collection step impacted the outcome is discussed in the Findings section,below.

FindingsWith data collection focused primarily on a survey of church members, this portion of theresearch did not yield significant or actionable results. When the research was conducted,


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ICHTHUS Ministries did not have accurate data regarding the congregations make-up as itrelates to age, education, race, household income and so on. Even still, it would appear thatthe sample of survey respondents was skewed toward an older demographic (see Figure 2,below).

This was the most dramatic findingrelated to this research with 85% ofrespondents over 40 years old. Thereason that this may be relevant isthat the younger categories havebeen shown to use social mediamore than older adults (Chou, Hunt,Beckjord, Moser & Hesse, 2009,para. 4). This result is more relevantstill if, in fact, the surveydemographics were notan accurate

representation of the congregation.While ICHTHUS Ministries does nothave complete demographic data,there are a number of reasons why I suspect that this was not a representative sample.First, I had simply observed a lot of young families. The church has an active childrensministry, youth ministry, and young adult ministry. Secondly, the demographic statisticsthat the church had collected from the Sunday morning sign-in sheets indicated 592children 17 years of age and younger and 616 households represented in the congregation.Assuming the parents of those children had their children at an average age and that theyhad an average 2 children per household, roughly half of the households would be made upof parents 44 years of age and younger.

Demographics of respondents

There was a near even mix of males versus female respondents with 63 males respondingto the survey and 88 females. Of the 154 respondents, 131 were 41 years of age or older.The population that responded to the survey was made up mostly of college educatedindividuals with 134 indicating completion of at least Some College and 92 of the

respondents noting completion of a 4-year degree or more.

The income distribution covered a wide spectrum from less than $10,000 annually to$150,000 or more. Seven of the respondents reported a household income of less than$30,000. Forty three respondents fell between $30,000 and $59,999. Twenty ninerespondents indicated a household income of $60,000 to $89,999 and 53 respondentsreported incomes greater than $90,000.

The church members who responded to the survey were mostly white, married individualswith 143 selecting either White or White, non-Hispanic and 120 individuals indicatingthey are married.


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Measurement of engagement in communityWe sought to establish a baseline metric for members level of engagement in the churchcommunity. In doing so, they could potentially implement a communication plan andconduct a follow-up survey to see if more members report being engaged in the churchcommunity following the implementation.

To measure members engagement in the church community, the Management Team

included questions in the survey inspired by the Gallup (2012) organizations FaithMember Engagement studies. The two questions in this vein were: Outside of your familymembers, is there someone at church that you feel cares about you as a person? andOutside of your family members, is there someone at church that you care about as aperson? Of the 154 respondents, 149 and 148 responded yes, respectively.

Additionally, 112 respondents indicated routine participation in a committee, small group,class or specific ministry and 117 members reported that they attend church servicesoffered by ICHTHUS Ministries every week. Because the vast majority of respondents

indicated that they are engaged in the church community, the results of the survey mightprove to not be very useful. If they previously selected answers indicating significantengagement, it would be very difficult to measure improvement in engagement with asimilar tool in follow up studies.

Measurement of communication perceptions and preferences

Because improving communication (online) is one of ICHTHUS Ministries objectives forthis project, the survey included questions related to members assessment of current

communications at ICHTHUS Ministries, questions related to preferred methods ofcommunication and questions regarding specific types of communication.

The majority ofrespondents (109)expressed overallsatisfaction (Satisfiedor Very Satisfied) withcommunicationsrelated to the church.Most also indicatedthat the church keepsmembers informed

with 133 selectingchoices ranging fromadequately to fullyinformed (see Figure 3,right).


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The pie chart, above, also shows that a nearly equal number of respondents believed thechurch over-communicates as those who indicated that the church does not communicateenough.

With regard to types of communication, members who responded indicated that

communications related to Church Events, Members prayers and praises, and Ministriesare most important to them (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Important Communication Items

The survey results indicated 123, 102, and 100 selections for Church Events, Membersprayers and praises, and Ministries, respectively. In presenting this data to ICHTHUSMinistries, I suggested that this may prove useful as they implement the tool, or tools, thatare selected as a result of this research. Focusing on communications in these areas mightprove to be more engaging for church members.

Measurement of preferences for online media and communication tools

To help ICHTHUS Ministries select the appropriate tool(s) for engaging in onlinecommunications, we asked questions in the survey regarding members current use ofonline sources and their preferences of online sources for locating and sharing morechurch related information.

If the 154 respondents of the survey were an accurate representation of the totalpopulation at ICHTHUS Ministries, the church would have to communicate via email in


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order to meet them where they are at. Notice the survey results for this question inFigure 5.

Figure 5. Select the online sources that you use regularly (total sample)

At the time of the survey, most respondents (132) indicated that they use email regularly,with just 48 respondents indicating use of Facebook and only 9 using Twitter.

Email was, again, the most preferred medium for receiving more information if it were tobe shared online. Next to email, Church Website, Facebook, Church Affiliated Blog, and,finally, Twitter (109, 59, 21, 11, and 4 respondents, respectively) were also indicated aspossible avenues for receiving more information in the future.

A dramatic difference between the age groups preference for social media is clear to see

visually by comparing Figure 6a to Figure 6b, below.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Email Surfing on

the Internet

Facebook Twitter I do not use

the internet

Information

Sites

Contains

"phone"

Not Selected

Select the online sources that you use regularly:

Figure 6a. Preference for Finding Online Information(Population Older than 40)

Figure 6b. Preference for Finding Online Information(Population 40 and Younger)


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In figures 6a and 6b, it is shown that more than half of respondents 40 years of age andyounger (11/21) chose Facebook or Twitter as their preferred platform for receivingchurch related information in the future. The same number of respondents (11) over 40years of age indicated as much; however 131 respondents reported being 41 years of ageor older. This means that only 8% of respondents over 40 years old preferred these social

media forms compared to 52% of respondents 40 and under.

Subject Matter Expert InterviewThe tendency for online communication and social media to have greater appeal to ayounger demographic was also reflected in the results of the interview with the subjectmatter expert. Without knowing anything about the demographics of the churchpopulation or the statistics that had not yet been uncovered for this cycle of research, sheasked if the church might consider Facebook as a touch point for [the] younger audience(anonymous communication, March 3, 2012).

Also without being able to see survey results, she suggested that Facebook would be thebest option for a tool if we want to meet them where theyre at. From her experience and

in her circles, everyone has a Facebook page!

The expert also provided some suggestions for the use of Facebook administration thatapplies to virtually any organization and many other forms of social media:

Know your message. [Recognize that] Facebook could be driver to existing communication (podcast on

web).

Facebook could be a place to generate a conversation or interaction. Dont over- intellectualize social media! Standard rule of thumb: 90 characters, ask questions, include pictures! Tell a very clear story over a very long time. Its brand marketingbuild your

brand!

This guidance from the expert was very helpful. Perhaps the most outstanding bit of advicethat she provided was the point regarding not over-intellectualizing social media. Sheencouraged us to get started and let the audience define how the tool would be useful tothem. She reminded us that Facebook and social media, in general, allow users to build arelationship over time. She encouraged us to use the medium for lightweight

conversation.

Reliability and ValidityStringer (2007) reminds researchers that the first cycles of an action research process

enable researchers to refine their focus of investigation and to understand the ways inwhich primary stakeholders experience and interpret emerging issues (p. 106). Issues did

emerge through data collection contributing to questions regarding the reliability andvalidity of this first phase of research.


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First, while 17% of the adult population (151 of 872 members older than 17 years of age)responded, the institution was lacking complete demographic data on the congregation, soI could not confidently say that the sample was representative of the population. I indicatedpreviously that 131 of 154 respondents were over 40 years of age. Whats more, 64% of the

adults (97 of 151 adults) reported being 51 or older. Without reaching a representativedemographic, especially in studies related to the use of social media, this study lacksdiverse case analysis which is necessary to build credibility (Stringer, 2007, p. 58).Stringer states that it is important to ensure that perspectives of all stakeholding groupsare incorporated into the study (Stringer, 2007, p. 58), which did not happen in this firstphase of research.

Additionally, of the four questions designed to aid in the selection of an online tool, therewere no questions directly related to members communicating with one another, as youwould expect in an online community. Instead, only two questions that would yield validdata for selecting an online tool were included: one that asked what online sources are

used regularly and another questioning through which platforms the respondent would bewilling to deliver thoughts, ideas, questions, requests and celebrations.

Given the suspect validity of the data collected, the reliability would also be at risk. Moreplanning around the execution of such a survey would yield a more transferable study.Specifically, drafting detailed procedures that carefully explore the possibility that theoutcomes of an action research study may be relevant elsewhere (Stringer, 2007, p. 59),

and greater focus on producing evidence that measures how members might engage withone another online would more likely result in a more valid and reliable study.

The information gleaned from the interview was certainly valuable for this study and was

applicable to other studies and organizations considering using Facebook as a tool forcommunication and engaging members in community. A measure that would improve bothvalidity and reliability for future like studies would be the incorporation of moreinterviews including experts representing a range of online tools.

Comparison of Research to the Literature ReviewThe Literature Review showed that religious institutions are communicating online.Churches, like all organizations, are strongly encouraged to assess their social mediastrategies and to engage with their members and would-be members online. This findingwas not definitively echoed in the data analysis portion of this research. While ICHTHUS

Ministries did have a website and blog, they did not have an established plan with regard tosocial media. If the decision to engage in social media rested solely on the data collectedfrom the survey, the organization might have chosen notto engage.

Contrary to the beliefs of some religious leaders, the literature also gave proof thatcommunity can be encouraged, established and fostered online. Again, this finding in theliterature was not clearly related to the picture painted by the data gathered. The survey


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showed that respondents were, by and large, engaged in the church community and thatthey did not have a significant preference for social media.

There was one area where the survey results complemented the literature review. In theirstudy, Campbell and Calderon (2007) noted that among the discussion board topics

observed, fifty-two threads contained theprayer and encouragementtheme, whichconsists of voluntary sharing related to personal aspects of members lives in order to

solicit prayer (p. 172). This was also the case in the survey results. When asked, Forwhich information items do you believe it is very important that you receivecommunications?, 102 respondents at ICHTHUS Ministries chose Members Prayers andPraises (66% of respondents). As mentioned previously, this data point is certainly helpful

to a religious organization looking to engage parishioners online.

The interview did more closely reflect the findings of the Literature Review. Both thesubject matter expert and the literature indicated that the church should be communicatingonline and that it is possible to create community online. Of the community related

comments that the expert made, here are three: People can share with others Your relationship becomes more personal. Its about building a relationship over time!

Hearing her confidence in this regard reminded me of Estes remark. He might as well havesaid, [Facebook]doesnt hold the answer; people doIts not the technology that createscommunity; its the people" (p. 57).

Limitations

Three limitations stood out in the data collection process: management of the communityproject, awareness of data collection instruments and survey development expertise. Thelimitation of time also played a part in each of the above limitations. As I discuss each, Illalso address how time was a factor in the outcome.

Management of the Community ProjectThe survey was intended, primarily, to help determine where the congregation is at with

regard to online or social media. This determination was intended to aid in the selection ofa tool for furthering the religious institutions communications goals. The survey was theprimary data collection method implemented and it did not provide results that could, with

confidence, aid in the selection of a tool or tools. Had the survey reached a greater portionof the population and one that was statistically representative of the population, the resultsmight have been different. While hearing from a representative sample, demographicallyand otherwise, was important, we expected that we were reaching a representative sampleby distributing the survey during the regular church services. As it was, the greatestopportunity to collect responses from a representative sample yielded the fewest results(40 surveys were completed by members who received the survey during the service).


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This research took place in the spring of 2012. ICHTHUS Ministries was in the midst of anextremely busy season for the church working to wrap up a sermon series while preparingfor the Easter Holy Week and hosting a number of other activities simultaneously. Theschedule of the church together with the timeline of the project left little time for a greatdeal of planning regarding the survey. This also contributed to the time constraints within

the services during which the survey was distributed. The members were not given time torespond to the survey during the scheduled time of the service. I suspect this was theprimary reason for receiving such a small return on the survey. While the services do caterto a wide audience, we could have possibly administered the survey in the smaller youthministry had we anticipated that it would be critical to target a younger demographic.

In an ideal setting, I would have more closely managed the administration of the survey,considered the various meeting places of the different age groups, and allotted time forcompletion of the survey during the regular meeting times.

Awareness of Data Collection Instruments

If there were an opportunity for a follow-up (or a do-over), I might rather have engaged amore qualitative measure as the primary data collection instrument. Asking members whatrole they see social media playing in the establishment of online community at ICHTHUSMinistries might have yielded more actionable results when coupled with a well-executedsurvey. I hadnt considered this approach until well into the data collection process when Iwas exposed to this instrument option in my ongoing studies. With the luxury of time, Imight have investigated several more data collection instruments and made selections thatwould have yielded more actionable and informative results.

Survey Development Expertise

In the event that another survey might be employed, I would more directly ask questionsthat tie online communication between members of the congregation and communitytogether. I would not have included questions that addressed communications related tochurch leadership. Those questions provided interesting information, but were really notrelevant for the objectives that this research aimed to achieve. And while it was importantto us that we establish a baseline regarding community engagement and communication, itis almost certainly possible that we could have asked different questions that would haveyielded a more reliable measure of the congregations level of engagement and perceptions

of communication. I worked to incorporate the guidance of Koshy and performed someresearch on survey development; still, this is not a task to take lightly. I might ask an expertin research and survey development to, at minimum, oversee and provide guidance on the

development of surveys in future action research projects.

The Study is Still Valuable

The discussion and planning that followed the conclusion of the data analysis is partly whatmade this research valuable. We determined that the survey validated the importance ofreligious communities connecting over their specific prayer needs. The interview andLiterature Review showed that community has been enjoyed in various forms online. The


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study also yielded some demographic data to ICHTHUS Ministries that they did notpreviously have.

Implications for Practice

My overall findings included a mixture of evidence. The Literature Review showed that thechurch needs to get online and that there are numerous benefits of creating an onlinepresence and engaging with the congregation (and with newcomers) online. The dataanalysis findings did not provide conclusive evidence that ICHTHUS Ministries shouldmove forward with establishing additional online media outlets for engaging with thecongregation. Recall that there was one bit of information found in both the LiteratureReview and in the Data Analysis: there was evidence in both that the topic of "memberprayers and praises" is very important to faith organization members. For ICHTHUSMinistries and others, if engaging online in a faith-based environment (like a Facebookpage or a discussion board for a church), this is a good topic to focus on. There is evidencethat it will be considered valuable and may attract further engagement from the members.

The research was really intended to answer "how" the institution would engage online tofoster community through online communication, and the answer to the question of howis still unclear. However, I do believe changes should still be made to the practice atICHTHUS Ministries. The answer to whether or not the church shouldengage withmembers online (at least those who have interest) is yes. This was found in the literaturereview and also became clear while informally observing the behavior and results ofICHTHUS Ministries members throughout the course of the research period. Additional

social media accounts were, in fact, established, launched and rolled out to thecongregation. With that, the Management Team could certainly see that the interest existedand that they should pursue the topic of establishing their online presence further. It also

showed them that they need to take care to communicate with members about theimportance of adherence to a social media strategy and guidelines for protecting themembers and the organization.

There certainly is room for additional research. What are the demographics of thecongregation? This is really needed to more confidently know if the samples used for futureresearch are representative of the greater church population or not. How does the churchtruly measure engagement in the (church's) community? While we attempted to addressthis minimally in our survey, much more can be done to ensure that we are executing avalid and reliable measure of engagement. More research could be done to gatherperceptions of opportunities to engage with other members of the congregation online

(more relative measures of communication as it relates to the church's online presencegoal). Another possible avenue is taking a narrative approach to research. In other words,the researcher could ask members what they think! For those interested in engaging onlineor who have experience online, how do they think specific media can be applied? Theresearcher could ask members directly what media they would like to use and for whatpurpose they think it would be useful.


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ConclusionWhile the data collected via the survey did not provide evidence that convincingly helpedICHTHUS Ministries to determine the online tool best suited to assist the organization inimproving communication with their current membership, the study did help them to seethat this is a worthwhile pursuit. If watching their members employ online tools to share

information and engage in community-building on their own was not evidence enough, thestudy certainly gave proof via the Literature Review and the Subject Matter Expertinterview that many religious institutions have gone before them to achieve a range ofsuccesses. Many religious organizations have websites, blogs, Twitter accounts andFacebook pages. Even ICHTHUS Ministries has established many of these online vehiclesapart from the Management Teams efforts. Their involvement in this research helped

members to see the potential for connecting with one another, and also to see that onlinecommunication is not necessarily going to replace other forms of communication, but maybe used to reach a younger demographic.

ICHTHUS Ministries learned that a segment of their population feels highly engaged and

largely appreciates the volume and avenues of existing communication. They also learnedthatmembers prayers and praises is among the most important topics to at least aportion of their congregation and that endeavors to facilitate such sharing would likely bewell-received.

Stringer (2007) notes that in following cycles [of research] other information is

incorporated that further clarifies or extends participants understandings by addinginformation from other stakeholders and data sources (p. 106). While the courserequirements for the action research project ended with the first action research cycle, thecommunitys work is ongoing. The use of additional qualitative measures could certainlyhelp ICHTHUS Ministries decide which tools would be most helpful for improving onlinecommunication and how to engage those tools for the betterment of the church community.Follow-up surveys could be used to better measure engagement and demographics atICHTHUS Ministries. Even the administration of the existing survey in such a way that amore representative sample could be achieved is a possible next step for the organization.

In any case, this first cycle of research provides

Documents

120428 Buehrle Final Action Research Report