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| January 2006 |
IEC Newsletter
Stimulating and accelerating web evangelism within the worldwide Body of Christ
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Internet Evangelism Day - May 7, 2006 |
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Churches Not Making Full Use of Internet |
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Research results released in the January/February edition of Facts & Trends magazine show one out of every four Protestant churches in the United States has virtually no involvement with the World Wide Web.
The study, conducted by Ellison Research, among a representative sample of 871 Protestant church ministers nationwide, explored how churches use Web technology. It shows 27% of all churches have no connectivity at all – no staff email, no Web site, and no Internet connection.
While the research shows 58% of all churches provide Internet access for their staff, a similar study conducted in 2004 by Ellison Research showed 91% of all ministers have access to the Internet. The current study demonstrates that in many cases, ministers have personal access but not access through their church.
Only half of all churches provide staff with email, and just under half maintain a Web site. The proportion with an active Internet site has not changed significantly over the past year.
Relatively few Protestant churches use email prayer chains (23%), have an email church newsletter (18%), or have an online member directory (4%). Among content less likely to appear on a church Web site are Bible study material or helps (19%), sermon transcripts (16%), upcoming sermon titles or topics (14%), sermons available in streaming audio (13%), a bulletin board, forum, or chat room (12%), sermons in streaming video (4%), testimonies (4%), and a way to donate online (2%).
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8 Questions to Answer with Your Website |
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In planning and designing, or redesigning, your church’s website, it is important to answer common questions that guests will be asking before they walk through your church doors. Church Central offers tips on how to answer the questions of online visitors including: “Who is Jesus?”
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Online Ministry and Missions - A Personal Story |
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| By Dave Koenig |
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Missionaries give their lives to the gospel and sacrifice all the other dreams they may have had, so how on earth could I not sacrifice a few months and use my abilities as a web programmer to help contribute to the global missions effort? This past fall I was in the planning stages of a mission trip to Thailand with my wife, and was looking for creative ways to fundraise. The idea of a website came as a no-brainer. A website would be the perfect way to tell everyone I knew about our trip without having to pay a fortune in mailing all of those people a letter. Not only was it more affordable, it would provide the means to inform more people than the traditional methods, and give more complete information, with pictures and text I could update instantly. They could get updates on the progress of my fundraising, and learn how to best pray for my trip, based on the events that were taking place. I couldn't think of a better way within my means to raise support.
Then I felt compelled to share this ability with everyone else furthering Jesus’ name. Why not give other people the opportunity that I had? So I put some extra effort in and came up with version 1 of what I hope to be a long lasting service, The 417 Project. I gave a presentation to a group of potential missionaries at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and was asked why I didn’t charge anything for this service. Actually, I was asked several times.
Besides the fact that I could not live with myself knowing that I was charging missionaries for a service that is basically free for me to provide, the fact is that my primary goal for this website is to help missionaries raise money, and charging them for the service seemed to be counterproductive. It costs more for me to go watch a movie and get some popcorn than it does to host 1000 missionary mini- sites for a month. Maybe if I begin hosting thousands and thousands of missionaries I will need to start looking for some support, as I am a poor seminary student, but I do not expect that to be happening anytime soon!
CREATING A TOOL FOR MISSIONARIES
"417" is from Philippians 4:17, which says "Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account." (NIV) The 417 Project is meant to be a tool to help missionaries raise support. A missionary is able to upload pictures and change text in their five page mini-site through an easy to use online form, and see the results of those changes instantly. On top of that, if the missionary is looking to post more information than their mini-site can handle, they are able to link to their own blog (an online journal) that is hosted elsewhere, and use their 417 site as their ministry in a nutshell. Finally, if their missions organization allows it, they are able to accept donations online. Both Paypal and Amazon (and I'm sure others) provide a means to accept online donations through credit card, and if nothing else, the missionary can post the address/addressee to whom checks may be sent.
The 417 Project is just beginning. I have no idea where God may take it, so I am going on one step at a time. My first goal is to get enough missionaries trying it out to give me feedback, and from there I will continue to tailor it to meet the needs of God's front men and women, the ones who are really out there making a difference in this world. I am so blessed that I am able to play a part in global evangelization, even though it may be a small one. I hope that my testimony will encourage you to think of how you can help spread the gospel, and to use the talents that God has given you.
If you have any questions/comments, would like to start your own 417 mini-site, or want someone to help you find a way to use your gifts for the gospel, feel free to contact me at dave@the417project.org.
Main website: http://the417project .org
Example of a missionary site: http://the417project.org/demo
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Poker Craze |
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The American Tract Society has developed an outreach website based on the recent poker craze. Check out www.Biggest-Bet.com.
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Internet and Culture News & Trends |
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Internet Evangelism Coalition | Billy Graham Center | Wheaton | IL | 60187 |
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