Church Photography Is Church Development
The fastest growing congregations in the Diocese of Georgia are also those with a system in place to post photos of their events online. I am aware that there is no direct cause and effect relationship between photography and church attendance and yet there is something more here than a mere coincidence.
My Professional Bias
First, I must admit my professional bias. I worked professionally as a newspaper photographer in my first years out of college first for the Warner Robins Daily Sun and then for the Rome News-Tribune and during that time served as an Associated Press photographer for those areas of the state (my photo of a firefighter entering a house fire is at left).
But I think my seeing this connection between photography and church growth comes more from serving as a church planter than from my work as a photojournalist. I found that posting photos the night of an event did more to build excitement than any other thing I did for the little time and energy needed to make that happen. Now with the ease of Facebook and Google’s Picasaweb albums, no special skill in website programming is needed.
Who’s Stalking Your Website
“I’ve been stalking your website for weeks.” 
This comment was made to the Rev. Joshua Varner, Vicar of St. Patrick’s, Pooler, by a first-time visitor on the Sunday after Easter. Whether they say it or not, nearly every single first time visitor will have looked for a website for your congregation before crossing the threshold of your church. Photos of events are the easiest way to help someone get a feel for what it will be like to worship with you. See what that visitor saw first by going to www.stpatrickspooler.org
Recently, the Rev. Rick Buechner preached at Christ Church Savannah (pictured at left). That liturgy was the first time he had ever been photographed preaching in his thirty years of ministry. In those three decades, we have become an increasingly visual culture. At the same time, technology advanced so that good quality photos can be taken without a flash. Make no mistake, worship is about worship and photography should never dominate any liturgy whether is be a wedding or a baptism. But as each week’s From the Field demonstrates, great photos can be taken without taking away from the sacredness of worship.
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Timeliness
The main thing is to get good, clear photos and to share them as soon as possible after the event. We see the statistics here with From the Field and interest drops significantly a week later. Many of you will go see the Holy Week Album on Tuesday in Easter Week, but when offered a week later, only those with pictures in the album follow the link. Timeliness is key.
Photo Evangelism
What I am advocating is sharing photographs of your church’s worship and events online in order to make it easier for someone to decide to visit your church. The Holy Spirit can use the photos when speaking to someone’s heart about attending church once more. This is no small thing and beyond the power of the photos in themselves, but they do help. Every photo or album that members of your congregation “like” and “share” will be seen by others in their Facebook timeline and so may reach the eyes of friends and neighbors looking to get connected to God through a church home. Don’t miss out on benefitting from this important tool.
But there are a few more things you can do to get more out of your photography. Next week, I will continue with some specific advice on getting betting photos of your congregational life without making any event be about taking pictures.
The Rev. Frank Logue
Canon to the Ordinary
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