This past year, Rick Warren dipped his toe into the depths of the magazine publishing.

It’s definitely a hard business to survive and thrive in for sure. Only a few survive — like Oprah, Martha and Rachel Ray, all who have figured out their own niche on paper it seems.

But Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Connection magazine has completed their 2009 year in print. . . and basically figured out that their publishing ministry needs to incorporate more social media driven purpose itself — to the point where the magazine is going all-digital in 2010.

Purpose Driven Connection magazine has issued refunds to all current subscribers and told them that they’ll get free access to the PDC website that is going to be re-purposed in 2010. Rick Warren’s letter to subscribers lists several reasons why becoming social media driven makes sense.

Before you poo-pooh this as spinning the folding of a traditional magazine, take a look at the numbers — such as the 300,000+ subscribers to the daily devotional emails available through the beta website for Purpose Driven Connection

In order to make it work online, I think there are a couple of key things that the Purpose Driven team should consider:

• More of Pator Rick talking to you and me – Videos, videos, videos. People didn’t *read* the magazine for a reason. Hopefully the PDC folks won’t think about the website just as a cheaper way to push more *print* content out to the community. We want to hear Rick Warren himself, and often.
• Real Connections For PDL Churches – Thousands of churches have taken on the 40 Days of Purpose campaigns and beyond. There’s so much to learn and share about how the Purpose Driven platform is being used to grow churches, deepen faith walks and plain old bring the church together. The internet is the perfect medium to allow churches to connect and share experiences. What about hooking up churches in mentoring relationships so that the wisdom can be transferred in meaningful ways?
• Watch-worthy Interviews and webcasts – Stream live worship, interviews, and ministry webcasts teaching the audience how Saddleback approaches the tactical, practical nitty gritty of ministry. We want real life case studies from Rock Warren’s own ministry — and beyond.
• Community rally / cause projects – Figure out a way to mobilize the thousands of people online just waiting to get involved in ministry online. What about a massive blogging collbaoration project? Or a testimonial filmhouse? Or crowdsource the community to help write a book.
• Local PD Meet-ups. Let’s connect churches and Christians together (both seekers and believers) in offline events. Do something like www.saltexchange.com on a national scale with like-mided, purpose-driven ministries and individuals.

What else can you think of that would make the new 2010 Purpose Driven Connection website meaningful instead of just another pretty magazine website with glossy photos, and static content? Leave a comment below and share your vision and hopes.