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The Internet is revolutionizing the way we communicate.  It’s given birth to new methods of communication such as email, forums, chat rooms, blogs, and instant messaging.  As a result it is changing both who we communicate with and how.  When I’m online I’m almost as likely to bump into someone in Cairo, Egypt as Cairo, Illinois.  Just as the Roman road system in New Testament times enabled the rapid spread of the Gospel, so also the Internet is becoming an effective worldwide channel for evangelism.

Christians are just beginning to realize the potential of the Internet as a means for communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Yes, there are already thousands of Christian websites online, but the vast majority of those are written for a Christian audience.  The Internet Evangelism Coalition, an umbrella grouping of ministries already involved in web evangelism, has therefore initiated a worldwide focus day for Christians: Internet Evangelism Day (IED), May 7.

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Hi everyone, my name is Kurt and I’m the Director of Marketing Services at OurChurch.Com.  My job is to get websites listed in the search engines and get them to rank well for the targeted keywords.  Paul Steinbrueck and I were discussing the blog the other day and thought, “We’ve been talking about how to have a useful and effective church website, but how effective can a website be if people can’t find it?”  So we decided I should make my blogging debut with an article about how to best get people to find your church online.

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Today I’m finishing up our series on the purpose of a church website by focusing on the third purpose, a resource for spiritual growth.

A lot of Christians seem to think that spiritual growth happens only within the four walls of the church.  Whether it’s the pastor’s sermon, the music of a choir, ensemble, or soloist, the study of God’s word in Sunday school or a small group Bible study, they rely on spiritual leaders to feed them spiritually.  While sermons, worship, and group Bible study are an indispensable part of a Christian’s walk with God, our relationship with God is also a personal one.  Our personal relationship with God is dependent on personal communication to and from God.

People who are seeking God, new believers, and even veteran believers can feel distant from God at times.  We all have seasons where we struggle with doubts or have spiritual questions.  Sometimes our relationship with God can become stagnant and we need some advice on how to get out of a spiritual rut.

Why leave the people of your church to struggle with these issues on their own?  Why leave them to search for answers on Google?  The Internet is full of people, resources, and books offering a wide variety of spiritual insight, some of it good and some terribly misguided.

Every church has the ability to serve as a resource for the personal spiritual growth of its members through its website.  Here are some ways you can do that.  (And yes, if you haven’t noticed, I do like lists. )

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One of the things I’m going to try to do more regularly in the Christian Web Trends Blog is to bring to your attention good articles published on other blogs. We’ve been focusing on church websites in recent weeks, and it just so happens that Church Marketing Sucks has started a series called What Web 2.0 Means for Your Church. If you can get past the title of their site, I think you’ll find the articles insightful…

Web 2.0 is the latest rage. It’s on the cover of Newsweek and everyone is speculating if it’s the revenge of the dot com boom… What is Web 2.0? …more than just community, there’s a certain attitude that comes with web 2.0… The Web 2.0 & Church… (more).

The series continues with the following articles:

• How Your Church Can Use Flickr
• How Your Church Can Use MySpace
• How Your Church Can Use Video

What are your thoughts on Web 2.0 ideas described in these articles? Any you feel inspired to implement?

In His Service,
Paul Steinbrueck
OurChurch.Com

A few weeks back we began a series of blog articles about church websites.  It started with “What is the Purpose of a Church Website,” where I outlined the three primary purposes for a church website:

1. To help people looking for a church home.
2. To assist people already attending the church to know what ministries and activities are available for them.
3. To help people grow spiritually by providing additional resources that complement the services and ministries.

Pam explored the first purpose in her articles “How Inclusive Is Your Church Website?“, which discussed how to make the content of your website welcoming to non-members, and “The 5 C’s of Intelligent Web Design,” which touched on how to make the design and appearance of your website welcoming.  Today I’m switching gears to the second purpose, making your church website an informational resource to help people in your church get connected with others and use their gifts in service. (more…)