Roger, thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to dialogue with me via e-mail. Before getting starting, could you please share a little about yourself and what encouraged you to begin blogging? 

I’m an on-off student at Talbot School of Theology, currently working at a coin shop. I began blogging just over five years ago as a platform to voice my opinions and work out my ideas. I discovered that I think and learn best through writing, so blogging was a natural fit for me. Blogging has opened a number of doors for me, including editing The New Media Frontier for Crossway and God and Governing for Wipf & Stock.

In your personal contributions in The New Media Frontier, you provided some examples of new media evangelism in action (pgs. 157-159).  For those that are interested in beginning their own evangelistic/apologetic blog, what advice would you offer them in getting started? 

Whenever folks ask for advice in new media, regardless of their topic, I start with character. The Internet can easily be a hostile environment where tempers can flare and people attack from behind virtual anonymity. If we’re going to represent Christ in this medium, we must pay careful attention to our attitudes, presentation style, and how we go about criticizing others.

Especially in apologetics, it’s important to know what you’re talking about. With the Internet at our finger tips we have endless resources available to us so we can get our facts straight and back up our arguments with evidence.

Finally, you want your approach to be invitational. By that I mean that you should ask questions of your readers. Make them feel comfortable about joining in the conversation and make it easy for them to do so. People feel respected when you ask for their input, and this is a good way to open doors for sharing the gospel.

Apart from your own blog, are there others you’re willing to recommend as good examples in evangelistic blogging? 

One of the better apologetics blogs out there is Stand to Reason’s blog (http://str.typepad.com/).

On page 159 you said, “Most churches today have static web sites that provide information about the church’s ministries.  The next step is to make the web sites dynamic and interactive through blogs and message boards that foster and encourage more relationships through community.”  Since the publication of this book, are you aware of any churches that have heeded this call and created a more interactive online presence?  Moreover, what have you found to be the biggest obstacle for churches beginning such an endeavor? 

Thankfully, there are churches taking the plunge into online community. One of the primary reasons is that the number of options is growing. My church recently launched an online network through Church Community Builder (http://www.churchcommunitybuilder.com/). Another excellent one is Cobblestone Community Network (http://www.cobblestonecn.com/). These platforms are utilizing the latest new media tools for the benefit of the church by strengthening and expanding their current ministries. While there is still room to grow, especially in using these tools for more evangelistic purposes, much progress has been made.

The biggest obstacle is likely ignorance. Many churches aren’t aware of the opportunities available to them through these platforms, and some of those that are don’t fully understand the benefits.

In beginning an evangelistic blog, have you found certain designs to be better suited than others?  Are there certain features that are non-negotiable in developing an evangelistic blog? 

The most non-negotiable feature is comments. I’ve seen a few attempts at blogging without comments and, frankly, I’m not sure that even qualifies as blogging. If you really want to make a difference in people’s lives, you need to build relationships with them. Obviously online relationships are necessarily limited, but conversations are also obviously better than no personal interaction whatsoever.
I’m not sure if this falls under “design” per se, but I believe group blogs make the best apologetics blogs. None of us can cover every topic well. We either know a little about a lot of things, or a lot about very few things. It’s very helpful to round out an apologetics blog with writers who have different areas of knowledge and strengths.

What have you found to be successful, and not so successful, in writing evangelistic posts?  Have you found that a particular style of writing is better received than others?   What advice would you give a person in writing an evangelist post?

Posts that think through topics will be better received than posts that simply going about condemning opposing views left and right. It’s easy to write a post citing the very reasons why it’s likely the case that Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of Mormonism, lied about very important events. Such a post will tick of readers who disagree (if they bother reading it) and not likely lead to any fruitful conversations. A better post is one that takes an inconsistency and raises a question- it may even look to possible responses to the question. Given the various conflicting accounts of Smith’s “First Vision,” which one should we believe? Do we have good reason to trust that the canonized version is the most faithful to what actually occurred? This process will invite readers (as I suggested earlier) to think through the issue with you and voice their own opinions.

How can a beginning blogger – like myself – go about connecting with a self-identified non-Christian audience? 

The easiest way is SEO- Search Engine Optimization. Make sure your blog is plugged in to Google Analytics and that you utilize your blogs category, keyword, or tagging options. If you have any readership, SEO will drive at least some traffic to your site with little effort.
 
The more effective way is to go out and make your blog known on self-identified non-Christian sites. Find atheist, Mormon, or pagan blogs and begin to interact with them there. If you do so thoughtfully (and of course linking back to your own material), their readers and writers will want to see what you’re all about. You can write posts in response to their posts and trackback. Don’t beg for visitors, but make what you write interesting enough that readers will want to read more.

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Tags: blogging and evangelism, new media frontier, roger overton