A blog is where the writing that is not a sermon goes: a pastor's note, a missions update, what happened at camp.
More than one
You can run several, each with its own name, address and audience. A church typically ends up with two or three: a main news blog, perhaps a pastor's column, perhaps one per major ministry.
Open Blog and click New Blog, give it a name and an optional description, and click Create Blog. Open it and use Settings to change its name, its web address (URL Slug) and its Visibility:
- Public, visible to everyone: on your website, readable by anyone
- Members only: kept off your public website. Only the Public blogs are listed and readable there
There is also a Group only level in the data (a blog attached to one group, readable only by that group's members), and the lists label such a blog "Group only". But the New Blog and Settings screens do not offer it yet, and the unified group page has no blog tab, so you cannot set one up from the app today.
Start with one
Do not create five blogs on day one. An empty blog is worse than no blog: it tells a visitor your church started something and abandoned it.
One blog, posted to when there is genuinely something to say, beats four categories with a single post each.
Posting
Open a blog and click New Post. Posts show as Draft, Scheduled or Published, and a draft is safe to leave half-written.
Two things worth doing every time:
A real title. "October Update" tells nobody anything. "What we saw on the Guatemala trip" gets read.
An image. Posts with one get clicked; posts without look like a document.
Comments
Comments are not part of blog posts today. Members can comment on events (on the public event page) and on posts in a group's feed. See Comments on your site for how those work.
The honest question first
Before starting a blog, ask who is going to write it, how often, and what happens when they are busy for a month.
The most common outcome for a church blog is three posts in the first fortnight and nothing for a year, which looks worse on your website than never having started. A blog that gets one good post a month for two years is a genuine asset. Decide which you are committing to.