The goal of many Alabama Baptist churches to make every member a minister is being met as Christians begin to apply their various talents to reaching the unsaved.
As congregations become more diverse, many churches are calling on members with technical backgrounds to help them develop Web pages in order to minister to their members and the unchurched through the Internet.
“It is the most effective way to reach the greatest amount of people for the least amount of money,” said Zach Terry, president of Zach Terry Evangelistic Association and Essential Outreach. “I believe if Paul or Jesus were alive today, they would have a Web site.”
After graduating from college, the now 28-year-old Terry planned to work in the entertainment and music industry, but God had a different plan. After becoming a Christian in 1995, he began using the skills he learned in school to help churches develop Internet and radio ministries.
When he was youth pastor at Okolona Baptist Church, Hatton, Terry started using e-mail to reach students instead of weekly mail-outs, and in four months middle and high school student attendance rose from eight to 70. At that point, he set out to help other churches achieve the same success.
“As the generations have changed, we’ve got kind of an attention deficit in a lot of the youth that we work with, so we’re trying to take the same message in a different way,” Terry said. “We try to partner with the churches that we go into and help them use technology to reach the lost people of their area.”
When the demand to help other churches became too much, Terry became a staff evangelist at Clements Baptist Church, Athens, to support their technical needs as well as the needs of other churches throughout the Southeast. “Clements lets us travel to do anything that we need to do, and it’s really helped us reach a lot of people,” Terry said. “We’re trying to take some of the technology that God has blessed us with and help those churches to apply it to their congregations.”
Keith Hinson, Webmaster for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), helps churches and associations with their Web sites as part of his ministry responsibilities. “As a state missionary, I provide training for churches and associations in how to set up Web sites and how to use the Internet more effectively,” he said. “This service is provided at no cost, thanks to the Cooperative Program.”
While many church members offer Web design services as part of their daily work, others are answering the call of ministry in Web design on a volunteer basis.
“Designing Web pages is one of the gifts that God has blessed me with, and I have had opportunities to use my gift to help those who may not know how to take advantage of what the Web has to offer,” said Kendrick Washington, a member of Valleydale Baptist Church, Birmingham, who works in the field of technology.
Following God’s leadership, he has created Web pages for churches and other ministries.
According to Washington, Web design gives him the opportunity to do something that he loves to do and help others at the same time.
Washington, Hinson and Terry believe churches should look into using a Web site as a tool to communicate with members and the unchurched.
“What television is now, the Internet will be in five years,” Terry said. “Every church can’t get on TV, but practically any church can put together enough money to create a dynamic Web site … and take their Sunday morning message over the Internet.”
As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:22, Terry encourages churches to become all things to all men, “to not ask people to come where we are but to take the gospel where they are.”
To find out more about the SBOM’s Web services, call 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 289.
Before building your church Web site, follow these four steps:
Getting Started
1. Decide who your target audience is. Who are you trying to reach?
2. Define what you are going to communicate. What should your audience’s reaction be?
3. Identify your sources of content. Who is going to help you with site resources?
4. Set specific goals for your site. How do you know if you are on track?
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