By Carrie Brown McWhorter
Whether they log on at home, work or a local library, 73 percent of Americans — about 147 million people — use the Internet regularly to send e-mail, find information about hobbies and get the latest news, according to research done in April by the Pew Internet and American Life Research Project. The project, sponsored by the Pew Research Center, found that 32 percent of those are Americans ages 65 and older.
The Pew Internet Project also found that as of 2005, 82 million Americans age 18 and older have used the Internet for religious and spiritual purposes. Many Alabama Baptist churches are working to reach these online seekers, and senior adults are active both in preparing content for Web resources and utilizing these resources.
Tim Sattler, 64, has been the webmaster for Hill Crest Baptist Church, Anniston, in Calhoun Baptist Association since March 2003. Though familiar with computers and the Internet, the retired Air Force master sergeant had no experience with Web publishing and taught himself most of what he needed to know to get the church’s Web site updated.
The site includes information on the church’s ministries and a calendar of events. Sattler updates the site weekly and estimates that he spends about 10 hours each month keeping it current. “[W]e get a lot of hits from all over the world, and at least one or two people have visited the church after finding information online,” he said.
Donald Wright, president of the Alabama Baptist Association of Web Ministers and associate pastor for education and family life and webmaster at Moulton Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals Baptist Association, said that in designing a Web site, a church has to first determine the target audience.
“What we try to do [with our church Web site] is to communicate with our members — to get information to them and keep it current,” he said. He includes electronic versions of the church’s weekly newsletter, prayer requests, a calendar of events and links to Bible study aids.
One of the most popular features of the site is the Sunday School page, where Wright makes a special effort to provide resources for teachers. “We usually get several hits on that page each week, and many of our older teachers really depend on it to help them better prepare to teach their classes,” he said.
Other senior adult Bible study teachers also look to the Internet for resources to help them in their teaching, including online tools that allow users to search for and view a Scripture text in several translations.
John Green, 73, teaches the senior adult men’s class at First Baptist Church, Green Hill, in Killen, in Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association. He uses LifeWay: Extra!, which provides teaching plans and handouts for each week’s lesson. He also uses online encyclopedias and dictionaries.
Green also receives prayer list updates via e-mail from his pastor, Gregg Woodard, who said the list is an easy way to get those requests to members.
John Marks, director of missions for Central Baptist Association and the association’s webmaster, believes Web sites are valuable outreach tools. Because people go to the Internet when they are looking for information, it makes sense that they would look for church information online.
He also believes most churches can find someone to design a Web site within their own congregation. “I encourage pastors to find a person in the church … who is computer savvy,” Marks said. “Give them the position of webmaster, and let them go with it. You’ll be amazed at what they can do.”
Because content supervision is also important, he sees Web site design as needing participation from older and younger members. “Older people have the wisdom and expertise to know what needs to go on the site, and sometimes younger people are the ones with the expertise to design it,” he said. “The important thing is that churches use the tools available to reach the local community.”
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