Just as The Alabama Baptist strives to be the best source Baptists in the state have for denominational and other news, its new Web site (www.thealabamabaptist.org) is aimed at being Baptists’ best source for daily practical help, said Bob Terry, editor of The Alabama Baptist.
“We have committed to help Alabama Baptists live out the biblical concepts of Christian discipleship in their personal lives, their professional lives and their lives within the community of faith,” Terry said. “Though we were very proud of our first effort at a Web site, the site was not organized in a way most helpful to readers.”
The Alabama Baptist Online recently traded its previous format to become a site containing a variety of resources divided by age group and topic. New pull-down menus and word search options provide readers with easy access to information applicable to their daily lives, Terry said. Church staffs, volunteer leaders (such as Sunday School teachers and deacons), grandparents, youth and families with children can peruse their own sections of the site for resources relevant to their specific needs.
He said the goal is to build a Web site that can provide help for readers without their “having to thumb through six weeks’ worth of The Alabama Baptist to find it.”
Of course, the Web site is a work in progress and is not finalized, but it is ready to be used as a resource, Terry said. The site won’t compete with the readership of the print version, he added, because The Alabama Baptist Online is a topical resource to help readers when they need more specialized information than just up-to-date news. Partnering with The Alabama Baptist to make the online edition possible is Mark Boland, president of Internet marketing company IndustPort LLC.
Boland said he sees a tremendous number of training opportunities available on the Web and supports The Alabama Baptist’s new use of information technology in the service of the Kingdom.
“As we move to a generation of Baptists who are looking to the internet for help, we need to ask how we can serve this new group,” he said.
“The Alabama Baptist has thought of itself as being in the ‘newspaper business’ when it really is in the information business.”
Boland said with this new focus on its core function, The Alabama Baptist is on its way to becoming a true information supplier in print and digital media. “Because we see the service opportunities available for The Alabama Baptist, our partnership is fulfilling to me as a Christian and as a Baptist,” Boland said.
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