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Churches MUST have a sign to help visitors find them.

Today, that sign is on the Internet. Every church should have a website.

In the past, some church leaders either did not see the need for learning what the Internet is all about or they felt that it was too technically involved for them to learn. Fortunately, many of those folks now use email and browse the websites that they feel are both safe and valuable. But some still do not have a website for their church.

It is a fact that the church cannot retain a 20th century mindset and expect to be effective in the 21st century. People of this generation are more familiar (and comfortable) with Facebook than with a hymn book. It is not enough for a church to just “be there” — in brick and mortar – and expect new people to come and fill it up. Old school outreach techniques like bus ministry and tent meetings have lost favor with the current generation. For most younger people today, if it doesn’t work on their iPhone or Blackberry, then it probably isn’t relevant.

Even though they might desire to reach the younger generation, they may feel unable to do so. Added to the lack of technical ability, some smaller churches feel that the financial cost of maintaining a web presence is too much for their already strained budgets.

It is my desire to help ALL Christian churches to overcome some of these obstacles. I have two projects that are designed to do just that:

• The FREE Online Christian Community, “Beyond The Limits Of  Church” is open for business at http://btloc.com. This community is very similar to Facebook and offers most of the same capabilities. One difference is that rather than seeing unending notices of someone’s Farmville “accomplishments” (or other game reports), the BTLOC will have true notes between Christian friends. Another difference is that most users will qualify for a FREE website hosted on the system.
• The second project is the Church Locator at http://churchloc.com. This site is a place where anyone in the world can search for a church or Christian business. Christians are welcome to submit their website for inclusion (free). Having a site included on the Church Locator will not only increase the number of visitors but also help develop a better ranking on the various search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.).

Give these two projects a look. I trust that they will help you overcome some of the roadblocks to 21st century ministry!

I am running a FREE CONTEST on my “Bishop of Technology” website! You can enter by just visiting the site and leaving a comment: Google Voice Invite Contest

NOTICE: Contest has ended.

Ray’s Technology Helper:
Excerpt…

Your Web Presence is Just Minutes Away!

This article presents a quick outline of the steps to build a web presence that you can be proud of and that will be easy to maintain (NO HTML REQUIRED). You can change the theme (and the total “look and feel”) of the site with just a few mouse clicks and the data/articles are unaffected! You can add “plug-ins” that extend and change the functionality -again- without affecting your data.

Click the TITLE to read the entire article or click here to go to Ray’s Technology Helper Website

If you want to phone me, it is a FREE call.

I have Google Voice and you can just click on the “Call Me” link on any of my web sites. On this site, the link is in the right hand column. Or, just click on the link below..

You just enter your name & phone number then Google will call you AND me and make the contact for a free call.

FYI, Google Voice is in Beta testing and you must be invited to get it. You can sign up at http://google.com/voice

I recently opened a new website at http://raywaldo.com where I will be providing technology help to ministers, lay persons and  to those who are totally unaffiliated with any church. Of particular interest to many of you is my post on how to get free telephone service. For more on this topic visit the post here. And while you are there, check out the other hints, shortcuts, and other technology guides that are posted there.

My favorite site for REASONABLY priced video clips is BluefishTV (http://www.bluefishtv.com/). They have very good quality videos and most are priced at $1.99 each! Compare that to about $20 each at other outlets.

Even better, you can download one clip for free!

How to Get Your Free Download

1. Visit www.bluefishtv.com. Select the tab at the top that says “Downloadable Videos,” and search through hundreds of funny, dramatic, and real-life stories.
2. Add the video clips that you like to your cart, and when you are finished shopping, click “Check Out.”
3. Proceed with your order until it brings you to the “Review Options” page where you have the option to enter a coupon code. Enter the code BFP2 and finalize your payment. (If you order more than one download, it will charge the remaining amount to your credit card. Limit one free video per person.)