Linked Data Explorer
Social networking and the church : evaluating the electronic media program of Wildwood Community Church
- "The thesis of this dissertation is that there is a positive relationship between participation in the electronic media program of Wildwood Community Church (including reading blogs, listening to podcasts, participating in the church Facebook group, and following the church on Twitter) and sermon retention and application, experience of group life, and involvement in serving. The world today is ever changing and increasing dependent upon technology. Churches have begun to use social networking tools without stopping to evaluate why they would use them or what the impact might be. In the name of relevance, church leaders are moving online, but should they be? This dissertation shows how one church in Norman, Oklahoma intentionally developed a strategy to leverage electronic media resources in an attempt to further their chief discipleship goals related to helping people worship, connect, and serve. A literature review was conducted to show why three hypotheses were anticipated. The hypotheses anticipated that participation in the electronic media program would reveal a positive relationship in sermon retention and application, experience of group life, and involvement in service. In order to determine the validity of these hypotheses, a pre-test/post-test was designed to evaluate the change in sixty demographically diverse participants after a one month period in the electronic media program in July 2010. After the survey was administered, the survey data was analyzed to see what the relationship was between participation in the electronic media program and growth in the before-mentioned areas. After the results of the survey were examined, it was determined that there was only a slightly positive increase in the relationship between sermon retention and application and participation in reading the blog and listening to the podcast. There was a mostly neutral relationship between participating in Wildwood?s Facebook group and a greater experience of group life. There was a slightly positive relationship between following Wildwood on Twitter and an increasing involvement in serving."
- "Social networking and the church : evaluating the electronic media program of Wildwood Community Church"