The blog of the Los Angeles Fire Department models the possibilities for using a blog to promote and communicate the values and activities of your organization. It’s an especially good example for a church.

Written by the LAFD’s public relations department, the blog features a link to their home page, a photo gallery and news items like recent fires in the L.A. area.

The blog is simple, with a relatively low number of bells and whistles, and includes short articles filled with links (all good promotional points for blogs).

A pastor, staff member or trusted volunteer could keep a church blog similar to the LAFD’s by setting a regular schedule for posting (try once a week at first) and including photos of recent events (check out Flickr) and upcoming items of interest (for instance, links to resources for the ‘Da Vinci Code’ Hollywood movie or Bible study tools).

And it’s free — through Google’s Blogger service, which I use.

With the upcoming release of the Hollywood movie “The Da Vinci Code,” based on author Dan Brown’s best-selling book that claims among others that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, churches have an opportunity to turn an outright attack on the historic Christian faith into an opportunity for fruitful evangelism.

Numerous Christian churches, ministries and seminaries have posted resources online for dealing with the movie (see below). Churches and pastors can use these resources to preach a sermon series for seekers, offer small groups classes, and equip their teachers and leaders.

One noteworthy tool is offered by Christian apologist Josh McDowell, who has recently released his own 128-page novel depicting a trio of honest seekers named Chris, Matt and Andrea who follow the ‘Code’ trail to inspect the evidence for themselves.

The book, titled “The Da Vinci Code: A Quest for Answers,” was written in response to the upcoming movie and follows the conversations – based on real-life discussions – of three college students as they discover the truth behind the “Code.”

McDowell sends the trio on a hunt for truth from conspiracy theory to conspiracy theory, researching and discussing everything from the Priory of Sion, Opus Dei and the Knights Templar to the Gnostic Gospels, the canonization of Scripture, whether or not Jesus was married, and evidence for the resurrection.

Each chapter includes extensive bibliographic references to document all the counter-claims.

The “Quest” book also comes with a free, 30-page study guide that can be used in one-on-one discussions or as part of a small group seeker study.

OUTREACH IDEA USING ‘QUEST’ BOOK: Churches can purchase the “Quest” book in bulk for as low as $1.50 and offer the book to seekers on their Web sites, through special direct-mail pieces, in advertisements, or in their services. (Click here to read “The Value and Importance of a Free Offer.”)

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Here is a list of resources available online to equip your congregation and answering questions from seekers and skeptics:

:: Midwestern Baptist Seminary – 10 audio sessions from the ‘Da Vinci Code’ workshop, plus white paper resources “Da Vinci Code Inaccuracies” and “Was Jesus Married?”

:: Josh McDowell – countless pages of research notes and helps from this widely-known Christian apologist, including charts

Cory Miller Media is now offering a one-hour phone coaching session for $50.

Are you working through your web site strategy, want ideas for submitting stories to news media, or need practical help with designing publications?

Schedule your one-hour phone consultation today with veteran church communication coach Cory Miller by emailing cory@corymiller.com.

Pastors, get the advice you need for your church’s communication strategies — from web site, public relations, publication design, email newsletters, direct-mail marketing, and more.

What if you go to all the trouble and expense of designing and publishing a professional church web site and nobody comes to visit?

Here are some ideas for driving traffic to your web site:

1. Special web biz cards – Print a couple thousand specially-designed business cards for your web site and give them to members to share with family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers.

2. Post the site address everywhere – Stamp every printed piece your church produces with your web site address. Make it prominent also. One church posted their site address on the top of the church building – which was conveniently located near an airport.

3. Using specially-themed sites – One church bought a special domain address (http://www.mylamesexlife.com) for a sermon series and included the site address in targeted billboards and other mediums. The one-time address can be forwarded to your church site, or be a temporary site with the sermon series information.

4. Integrate event registration – Several services are available that handle web site event registration, such as http://www.signusup.com.

5. Start a community forum – Using free Bulletin Board software on your site, you can build an online community by posting categories for prayer requests, church questions, surveys and more.

6. Ask for input – Put a simple survey in your bulletin asking the congregation to list ideas for new content to the site.

7. Submit your site to the search engines – Don’t overlook the search engines, like Google, Yahoo! and MSN, among others. Find their links for submitting a web site to their search directories so millions of others can find you easily. Also, don’t overlook your denominational sites and community’s Internet portals.

8. Start a blog – Free services like Google’s Blogger.com allow you instant publishing access to the vast audience of the Internet. Special idea to pastors: Take today’s hottest news — whether’s it’s famous divorces, or earthquakes and other natural disasters — and blog on them by addressing them with a biblical worldview. This both helps in search engines rankings, but also in being relevant to the culture.

Christian Book Publishers: I will write short blog posts and reviews on books about Christian ministry, living, etc.

Email me today to get the address where to send them …

I am a freelance writer, and write regularly for Purpose Driven Ministries and Pastors.com, along with other denominational newspapers and outlets.

Here’s my Amazon Wish List, although not complete or comprehensive …

[Reading between the lines here: I really, really, REALLY miss my seminary library that was 150 feet from our apartment in Kansas City!]