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As you ought to know by now (because I’ve been blogging about it all month) this past Sunday, April 27, was Internet Evangelism Day.  In addition to posting articles about Internet evangelism opportunities, I’ve been linking to every news story and blog article about IED I could find.  So, my question this week is, did anyone actually do anything for IED or is it just something people like to talk about?

Yes.  I was encouraged to find a several stories about Internet Evangelism Day activities.

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Last week I wrote about how important it is for church websites to show up near the top of the search results when people in the community search online for a church.  That’s the first step.  Once a person sees your church’s website, will they want to visit your church?

Unfortunately, most church websites seem to be created to inform the existing members of the church rather than to reach out to people in the community.  With Internet Evangelism Day only 3 days away I thought this would be a good time to remind everyone of some tips to help your website connect better with unbelievers.  This could serve as a good topic of conversation for an IED meeting of your church leaders or web team.

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Internet Evangelism Day is less than a week away.  There’s still time for your church or organization to do something for it.  Here is a list of news and blog articles about IED from the past week: 

• April 15 – The New Intellect blog mentioned IED.
• April 16 – OurChurch.Com launched Church Marketing Online to help churches better use the Internet for reaching people in their communities.
• April 16 – Sun and Shield blog mentioned IED.
• April 16 – Mobile Daily Devotions mentioned IED.
• April 16 – Karl Meachem wrote about both the church website assessment tool and the golf parable on the IED site. 
• April 17 – Heart Issues for LDS mentioned IED.
• April 18 – In the Christian Web Trends blog we posted a blog article to help churches hold a meeting to discuss and improve their website’s search engine visibility: So, your church has a website.  Great!  Can anyone find it? -
• April 19 – Pray Connecticut blog mentioned IED.
• April 19 – The Mission Link blog mentioned IED.
• April 19 – FirstNetChurch mentions the IED church website evaluation tool.
• April 21 – ShelbyLife blog of Calvary Assembly of God, Dover, DE mentioned IED.
• April 21 - Ro`iel Ministry blog mentioned IED.  While the IED article is in English, the rest of the site is not.  I’d be interested to know what language its in and in what country it’s author lives.

If you blog about IED, let us know and we’ll blog and post a link to it.  If you don’t blog, commend about IED here.

If you’re not sure, you’re not alone.  Pastors and church leaders need to know that just because their church has a website doesn’t mean it will be displayed in the search engine results when people in their community search for a church online.

As we near Internet Evangelism Day (April 27), if you pastor a church or administer a church website one of the best things you can do for IED is facilitate a meeting to discuss how to better use your church website to connect with people in your community.  A key part of that is assessing your church website’s visibility in search engines and developing a plan to improve it.

You may be saying to yourself, “Uhhh, that sounds like a good idea, but I don’t really understand search engines, I don’t know how to assess my church website’s visibility in search engines, and I wouldn’t even know where to start to improve it.�

Well you’re in luck.  This article will provide an overview, which you can use to lead that meeting and develop a great plan so your church can reach more people in your community.

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As we get closer to Internet Evangelism Day (April 27) the number of articles about IED seems to be picking up.  Not a lot of new thoughts - mostly republishing an IED press release or linking to the IED site - but it still good to see the number of articles increasing. 

• 4/8 IED mentioned by Shawn Anthony on the loftribe.com blog.
• 4/9 IED mentioned on EURweb
• 4/9 IED mentioned by SMB O’Johnson of Nigeria on the Internet Christian Center blog.
• 4/10 In case you missed it here in on the Christian Web Trends blog I posted an article explaining the bridge site concept for Internet evangelism.
• 4/10 IED press release mentioned at karlameachem.blogspot.com
• 4/11 IED mentioned on the worldmag.com site, but in a subscribers online article.
• 4/11 IED press release posted on the Candid Christian blog.
• 4/11 IED mentioned on the The Sower blog.
• 4/11 IED mentioned on the Digital Sanctuary blog.
• 4/13 IED mentioned by Greg Nilsen on If Jesus Had a Website.

If you blog about IED, let us know and we’ll blog and post a link to it.  If you don’t blog, commend about IED here.

Most Christian websites are written purely for Christians.  Only a small percentage of Christian websites are evangelistic - written primarily to address the questions and concerns of non-Christians, but even they can only help the small percentage of people who are actively seeking God.  What about the rest of the world?  One way to effectively reach unbelievers who are not spiritually seeking is through a “bridge site.�

What’s a bridge site?

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Not too many news or blog articles about Internet Evangelism Day have been published since Thursday morning, but here are a few…

• April 7th the latest IED press release was distributed.
• April 6th The Apostolic Report blogged about IED.  This blog also includes an article published Thursday reporting results of a Technology in Church survey conducted among apostolic churches.  According to the report 86% of the churches that responded have a website.  And 42% of responding churches believe that at least 40% of the people in their church use the church’s website.  Interesting.
• April 4th the Kitner’s Korner blog and Marshian Chronicles mentioned IED.

If you blog about IED, let us know and we’ll blog and post a link to it.  If you don’t blog, commend about IED here.

Sunday, April 27th is Internet Evangelism Day (IED).  IED is a day to bring focus and attention to the tremendous opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ online.  It’s also a day for Christians to educate themselves and strategize within their organizations about how they can better share their faith online throughout the year.

You don’t have to be an Internet guru, a Bible scholar, or an evangelist to point people to Christ online.  Anyone can do it.  That means you.  It also means that if you are a leader in a church, youth ministry, Bible college, or other Christian organization, everyone in your organization can point people to Christ online.  All they need is a little encouragement and instruction, which you can provide.

Today I want to take just a moment to point you towards some things you can do and tell you a little more about what OurChurch.Com is doing for IED…

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Last week I blogged about Internet Evangelism Day and the unexpected opportunity I was given to speak at my church.  So, today I’d like to share with you an article about Internet evangelism, a little about my talk, and some thoughts spurred by some of the comments posted to last week’s IED blog article.  This also fits nicely with our theme of Church Website Innovation Month as one of the most important improvements you can make to your church website is to make it friendly for spiritual seekers who are looking for a church.
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Sunday, April 29th is Internet Evangelism Day (IED).  If you’re not familiar with IED, it is a day to bring focus and attention to the vast opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ online.  It’s also a day for Christians to educate themselves and strategize within their organizations about how they can better share their faith online throughout the year.

You don’t have to be an Internet guru, a Bible scholar, or an evangelist to point people to Christ online.  Anyone can do it.  That means you.  It also means that if you are a leader in a church, youth ministry, Bible college, or other Christian organization, everyone in your organization can point people to Christ online.  All they need is a little encouragement and instruction, which you can provide.

Today I want to take just a moment to point you towards some suggested things you can do and tell you what I’ll be doing for IED.
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