Outside The Box Ministry

Summary
New online self-assessment tool from Internet Evangelism Day team enables churches to develop and improve their websites. And this year’s web evangelism focus day is set for 29 April 2007.

“Does your church’s website communicate to outsiders as well as to the members?” asks a new web resource. A church site is the congregation’s ‘shop window’ to its community. To fulfill this function well, it must be enticing, people-centered and easily understood by outsiders. Unfortunately, many churches are unsure how to achieve this vital mix.

So the Internet Evangelism Day team has launched an online self-assessment tool. It leads a church through a series of key questions, to highlight areas of their website which may need development:
InternetEvangelismDay.com/design

“I think it will be very helpful to churches,” comments Gene Anderson of Resurrection Lutheran Church, California.

A church site which has been prioritized for non-Christian visitors can be remarkably effective in reaching the community. “Week in, week out, more visitors turn up at our church on a Sunday because of the website, than anything else,” writes one growing church in London UK that uses these principles.

The Internet Evangelism Day (‘IE Day’) website also explains other types of online evangelism, such as outreach sites, video clips, blogging and podcasts. There is even a free ‘conversation starter’ screen-saver to download.

April Church Focus Day to Increase Awareness
The IE Day team also encourages churches and other groups around the world to hold their own ‘web awareness focus day’ on (or near) 29 April 2007. The IE Day site provides downloadable video clips, drama sketches, posters, handouts and a PowerPoint presentation, making it easy for any church to create its own IE Day program. This can as brief as a 2-minute spot within a worship time, or an entire themed church service, seminar, or midweek meeting.

Churches that have already held their own focus day are enthusiastic. “It was a real eye-opener for many,” writes one in Muncie, Indiana. “We held a midweek evening presentation of 90 minutes, for other local churches,” says another from Dawlish UK.

A Canadian church leader comments, “I used a 10-minute presentation that focused on how anyone can get involved in reaching out to the Internet community. I also added a section on using our church website as an evangelism tool, as some of our members have already had great success with it.”

One surprising aspect that the IE Day team emphasize: web evangelism is for anyone, not just the technically gifted. “There are many ways to share your faith online, without any technical background at all,” says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker.

IE Day is supported by a wide range of Christian leaders. “I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day,” says John Stott.

Internet Evangelism Day is an initiative of the Internet Evangelism Coalition, an umbrella group of major interdenominational Christian groups involved in Web ministry, based at the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton. IE Days purpose is to explain to the worldwide church the potential of the Web for effective proclamation of the Christian Good News by:
- a detailed resource website: InternetEvangelismDay.com
- encouraging churches and other groups to hold an annual web awareness focus day

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Tony Whittaker is co-ordinator of Internet Evangelism Day and editor of the Web Evangelism Bulletin email newsletter. He is available to consult on any issue relating to online evangelism.

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We are beginning to see more churches use video and film production opportunities as a way to connect with the postmodern audience. Some of the churches that have been doing this for sometime are Mosaic, Coast Hills Community Church and Sherwood Baptist Church. Postmoderns like stories and enjoy telling them. Creating an opportunity in a church environment to get them involved with producing video or film is a great way to tie them into the church.

If you are looking to put up a website fast and don’t want to invest a lot of money into it, currently Microsoft is offering a basic web hosting account for at no cost.  It even includes a free domain name.  The one draw back is that you must use their free web design tool to design your website.  You are not able to load your own template.  I haven’t personally signed up for an account yet, but it is a great deal for what they give you.  Find out more on the Microsoft Live website.

I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

If you who have some extra time for fun here are a few winter games to play.
Snow Ball Fight

Snow Flake Designer

Santa Ski Jump

Here is a list of some great resources to reference or use if you work with or want to connect Christ with the emerging generation (Generation Y or Post Moderns):

1. Relevant Magazine
2. The Barna Group
3. Illuminate Resources
4. Relevant Network

This is just a start. If you know of any great resources please share it as a comment.

Two new resources have been added to the resource page.

Questioning Evangelism – Engaging People’s Hearts the Way Jesus Did by Randy Newman
The Case for a Creator- DVD by Lee Strobel

A new report from The Barna Group discusses how the twentysomthings are putting Christianity on the shelf. In fact, the data shows that 61 percent of these young adults were attending church in their teens, but are no longer actively attending church, reading their Bible or praying.

God has been putting a great burden on my heart over the last few months for this generation. In the next few posts, I will show creative ways that churches and individuals are impacting the lives of men and women in their twenty’s.

There are a few movies currently showing in theatres that you may or may not have heard of, but they are worth watching. These movies carry a Biblical worldview in their story lines and are good conversation starters. Check out Facing The Giants and One Night with the King at a theatre near you.

I am amazed at the number of church and Christian conferences that are out there. If you are considering attending one of these, here are a few that I have attended or have heard good things about.

National Outreach Convention- http://www.nationaloutreachconvention.com
Catalyst Conference- http://www.catalystconference.com
The National Conference On Christian Apologetics- http://www.ses.edu/conference
Reach Conference- http://www.reachconference.org

MyChurch.org is a brand new social network website for your church.  It is not just a “My Space” for your church, but also a way for members in your church to connect with each other and those outside your church.  MyChurch is not meant to replace a churches main website, but it is a good compliment to it.  They have no plans to run ads on the website.  Churches can pay a small fee to upgrade the amount of disc space for their church.  MyChurch.org is still in beta, but the team there has done a good job with the initial launch.