By Sondra Washington
Matthew 28:19–20 (KJV) states, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
As God’s Word is spread around the world through every form of communication; it should be no surprise that churches are finding new ways to reach non-Christians.
Many of these outreach efforts are directed toward Web sites that are used to support in-house ministries.
“The church is taking advantage of a growing communications medium that reaches a global arena,” said Dustin Britt, an Alabama expert in Web site design. “As more and more people begin to access the Internet from their homes, jobs and schools, the Church has a greater opportunity to share the message of Christ with this technological world.”
According to a study by Barna Research Group, one out of three Protestant churches has a Web site.
“Christ took His message to the people, where they were, and many of today’s churches feel led to do the same over the Internet,” said David Curry, former manager of an Alabama Web site design company.
“Folks are flocking to the Web by the millions. Churches have a desire and need to get into that mix. We need to be ‘in the world‚’ out there offering an online alternative to the many temptations of the Web.”
Churches also gain speed in communicating through the Internet where data can be found or transferred very easily at any time. “It offers the fastest dissemination of information available short of having a full-time television or radio station,” said Dale Gorham, president of Net-to-Net and member of Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills.
“Churches can use e-mail to quickly notify members in a prayer chain, note last-minute changes in the church calendar, send out a request for urgent needs and receive immediate feedback on all of these requests from the members,” he said.
Not only has the Internet been a useful communication tool and a helpful educational resource for Alabama Baptist churches, it has proved to be a good return on investment.
Good results
“Churches are finding that many people are using their Web sites to increase communication and facilitate learning,” Britt said. “Users are posting prayer requests, listening to messages, purchasing needed resources and visiting the church’s Web site to learn more about the philosophy and theology behind the church.”
In April, First Baptist Church, Tallassee, reported “around 853 page views by 413 different visitors per day,” said Pastor Derek Gentle. “We are averaging 310 in Sunday School.”
According to Curry, this type of success is achieved from a combination of today’s Web design systems, which can be operated and updated with ease by any staff member and diligent updates and improvements.
“They don’t have to know how to write computer code; they can simply use the editors built into the tool,” he said. “Yet, as with anything, you only get out of a system what you put in. Those customers who maintain their sites, update events and information, are experiencing a tremendous response from their congregations.”
One way to improve church Web pages is to make them more interactive. “Most of the Web sites that I have seen start out as a Web copy of their bulletin,” said Mickey Crawford, Alabama State Board of Missions statistical consultant.
“I think they need to have that interactivity that the Web offers. I don’t think most churches are taking advantage of the ability to get feedback from people out there.”
Crawford suggests churches start a discussion group or chat room about sermon topics to see how the information is being received.
“He (the pastor) has to be willing to take whatever he gets,” Crawford said. “If you’re willing to take the chance of getting negative feedback that’s undeserved just for the few nuggets, that type of interaction would be worth it.”
As technology advances, churches may be able to offer live feeds of sermons and events and online training with customized profiles of their members.
Profiling
“The ability to customize who information is delivered to based on profiles, is just a very powerful tool that has yet to even come close to its full potential over the Web,” Curry said. “I think we’ll see more and more church sites offering audio commercials.”
He believes one day Web surfers will be able to log on to a church Web site and hear the pastor say, “Welcome. Thank you for visiting XYZ Baptist Church. I’d like to invite you to visit our sermon area.”
“Churches will gradually realize the incredible potential the Internet can play in ministry, outreach, organization, missions, giving, proclamation, fellowship, everything,” Britt said. “The Internet will become the medium of choice for communicating internally, for managing effective ministry and for building community.”
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