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!

Ray’s Technology Helper:
Excerpt…

Your Web Presence is Just Minutes Away!

Developing a Web Presence

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

These are exciting days for ministry.  When I consider the possibilities God has provided for me to serve Him on relation to the Great Commission, I consider these unique to my generation(s):

Websites

Every church needs a website.  They can be done as cheaply or expensively as one can afford.  A website indicates several critical interest points.

• Our church is relevant to your life.
• Our church is service-minded to your family.
• Our church is available for informational needs.
• Our church is interested in resourcing your faith-building needs.

These are just a few ideas and there are plenty more.  Directions, service times, biographical information on pastors, leaders, promotions, upcoming special sermon series, services, etc.  For an example click here.

Your website in this culture is one of the primary outreaches to people ages 18-30.  If you don’t have a website for your ministry, let me help. Send me an email and I’ll have someone get in touch with you to see if you can do this.

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I am always looking for FREE stuff ! The SermonSpice.com website hosts a huge library of video clips, short movies & loops. To encourage us to visit the site on a regular basis, they provide a free video each month. Check it out at http://www.sermonspice.com/ & click on “free video” (in right column under “resources”).

They have recently added a blog. You can read it at http://www.sermonspice.com/blog/. It is pretty limited now but more articles are coming soon.