This post on the possible spiritual benefits of blogging got me to thinking about the possibility of using this web 2.0  phenomenon for the good of a  local congregation's outreach.

(Before I go any farther, let me be quick to add, that there are serious risks in blogging, just as there is in any communication.  What James said about the tongue can be  extrapolated to one's typing fingers.  Here is a post on the dangers of blogging, and a follow-up on  breeding contentions--something that is all too easy to do with the web 2.0.  The whole occasion for the post on blogging's spiritual benefits was this handy list of diagnostic questions aimed at helping Christians blog Christianly.)

Despite the obvious and more subtle pitfalls, one growing phenomenon is that corporations and organizations are sometimes encouraging their members or employees to blog.  Even Christian organizations are doing this.  They see it as a way of promoting themselves and spreading good will.

For example, consider these corporate blogging guidelines. It seems to me that these might be used by a church for roughly the same reasons.  It would be important to encourage bloggers to emphasize local interest, since a congregation is a local entity.  Bear in mind, statistically, the more people a person knows from a congregation, the more likely it is that the person will visit the congregation.  I have no idea if anyone has done studies about web-started relationships, but it seems to me that it ought to be comparable.  If someone starts regularly reading the blog of a local person, and finds him or her worth reading, and then finds more such bloggers through his or her links, then that person is more likely to get interested in the church.

One of the side benefits, I think, would be to help Christian bloggers be more aware and expect more accountability in how they blog.  Connect Our People's community-building system could even be used to help people give each other private feedback and counse.