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Who’s that knocking at your digital front door?
A UMNS Report By Laura J. Latham and Kathy L. Gilbert
Mary just moved into town and is seeking a new church home. Instead of driving around, she logs on. Tocarra needs to know when her church youth group is leaving for its mission trip to Mexico. She clicks on her church's Web site instead of picking up a phone.
Joel is on a business trip to Korea, but he doesn't want to miss the Sunday morning service at his home church in Montgomery, Ala. He goes online and participates in worship.
The Internet is changing how people communicate, and churches that want to stay connected are finding that they need cyberspace.
Cyber shopping
More than 3 million people a day go to the Internet for religious or spiritual information, according to "CyberFaith," a report by the Pew Internet and American Life project. That number reflects more people looking online for spiritual direction than looking for help with banking, investing or dating.
A recent report by the Barna Research Group predicts that within this decade, more than 50 million people may rely on the Internet for all their faith-based experiences.
The Internet is an open door to the good and the bad, and churches should be as visible as possible, says Clint Bounds, 27-year-old webmaster for Faithbridge United Methodist Church (www.faithbridge.org) in Spring, Texas.
Bounds was a new Christian when, at his mother's urging, he visited Faithbridge. "It was awesome, just what I was looking for," he says. After a few visits, he asked the Rev. Ken Werlein if he could redesign the Web site.
"The church needs to be out there on the Internet so when you are browsing along you can see the church," Bounds says. "If you need information you go to the Web. The Web is the new way to communicate and learn. It is a really powerful tool."
"I find it very easy to say to someone, Ôgo to our Web site.' It is easier than just showing up on Sunday," he says. "Our church is a lot more than just Sunday worship also, so people can see other things we are doing."
One of the church's small-group pastors decided to attend Faithbridge because of the Web site, Bounds recalls. "He had a choice between three churches, and based on our Web site, he thought we were trying to keep up (with today's society)."
"The Internet has become the digital front door for young people to find a church," says Chuck Russell, Internet resource consultant for United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tenn.
Quality counts
Russell warns that people might judge your church community by your Web site. If the site looks stagnant, people might assume the church is too, and that can cost the congregation potential members.
"A subtle danger that is unfortunately typical of many churches is not investing the time and money to have a high quality Web site," says the Rev. Scott J. Jones, McCreless assistant professor of evangelism at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas. "Too many churches are trying to scrimp by with bad domain names, with poorly constructed sites that really make Christianity look like it's not Ôwith it' in the modern culture."
A year ago, Tooele (Utah) United Methodist Church (www.tooeleumc.org) was in crisis. Attendance had dropped to around 30 people on Sunday mornings.
Realizing something had to be done, the Rev. Michael Heart revamped his church's Internet site. With a fresh face and a better domain name, the church saw its attendance double. Heart admits the Web site is not the only reason attendance has increased, but he gives it a lot of credit for drawing in new people.
"We have 40 people on our e-mail list. We are becoming more and more electronically based, and it seems to be helping," he says. Heart updates the site himself and says it only takes about an hour a week. On the Web site, visitors can find out about the history of the United Methodist Church, post and read prayer requests, and read Heart's sermons.
"I think if the Internet is the only way to get through to people, then let's create a ministry on the Net."
The Net generation
The Net generation is 16 to 25 years old. That also happens to be the age group missing from a lot of local churches.
"Establishing a presence is not enough," writes Andrew Careaga in his book, eMinistry. "Use a church Web site as a launching pad to reach the Net generation."
"The Internet is important to my life,"says Pavielle Chriss, a senior at Plano West Senior High School in Dallas and a member of Hamilton Park United Methodist Church. "I can't imagine life without it."
Chriss says she uses the Internet for exchanging e-mail and finding information. Barna research found teen-agers are more interested in reading devotional passages and submitting prayer requests online than adults. In the same report, Barna found 8 percent of adults and 12 percent of teens use the Internet for religious or spiritual experiences.
Asked what she would like to see on a church's Web site, Chriss says that No. 1 would be pictures of the youth and other church members engaged in ministry. Other helpful items would be a calendar of events, contacts at the church, and statements from people who attend the church saying something about its fellowship.
"The Internet is really helpful, especially for young adults who may be moving around and looking for a place to worship," she says.
"Any church that is serious about reaching young people ought to have e-mail communication with their youth. If I were a youth pastor, I would be online with my young people regularly," Jones says.
Using computers and the Internet is second nature to today's youth, agrees Ciona Rouse, communications and project coordinator for the Shared Mission Focus on Young People, a global initiative of the denomination.
"Take, for example, my 12-year-old cousin," she says. "As far as he is concerned, the Internet has always been around. It is much easier for me to get him to look at my Web site than it is to get him to call me on the phone."
The Shared Mission Focus on Young People launched its Web site, www.idreamachurch.org, last summer and has had great response from youth, she adds.
"It is so important for churches to appeal to young people because they are (the) ones out there searching on the Net," she says. "So many use it for their faith growth, to find devotionals and to get information about the Bible. An appealing Web site shows a church is youthfriendly."
Virtual communities
An essential component of Christianity is initiation into community, Jones says.
"There is a certain kind of community on the Web, but it is inadequate on its own," he says. "It has to be supplemented with face-to-face contact. Just as I would never recommend somebody should only worship by television, no one should worship only online. In fact, all of these other methods are either ways of inviting people into face-to-face physical worship or they are supplements to enhance that experience."
Russell agrees that real face-to-face community is important, but he says the Internet can enhance community, since many people are driving 30 minutes or more to go to church and only see each other once or twice a week.
When John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was thrown out of conventional churches, he started preaching in the open air near coal mines and along the countryside, Russell says. But Wesley also required people to attend church in order to be part of his small groups. Chat rooms, e-mail, and bulletin boards are today's open-air small groups.
"The Internet is a way to reach out, but you have to say to people, 'You can't stay in this world, you have to be in touch with reality,'" Russell stresses. "Their involvement in online communities is strengthening their offline spiritual lives," Careaga says.
No boundaries
Christians are finding new places to meet beyond the walls of the traditional church. The Internet provides an opportunity to share prayer concerns, discuss scripture and debate theology with people at any time, day or night.
And the Internet has no boundaries. Someone in Norway can discuss beliefs with someone in New York with little trouble. The Internet is pushing the idea of community in many ways.
Whether a local church chooses a minimal online presence by advertising the basic who, what, when and where, or whether it offers a feature-filled site, the reality is that a Web presence is becoming as important as the Sunday bulletin and a printed newsletter. The Internet is cheap and fast, and it has the potential to have an enormous influence on the daily lives of people, Russell says.
"By the end of the decade, we will have in excess of 10 percent of our population who rely upon the Internet for their entire spiritual experience," says George Barna, in an online research report, "More Americans are Seeking Net-Based Faith Experiences."
The report can be found at www.barna.org. As Careaga points out, the Net is a young medium, and its implications for our spiritual lives are yet to be seen.
"What is certain, however, is that the Christian faith will not be left untouched by the Internet," Careaga says.
Gilbert is a news writer and Latham is Web site editor for United Methodist News Service.
For more info
www.CircuitRide.com – Information for church webmasters and free website hosting
www.holston.org/webresearch/report53.html A link to the Pew Research Center article, “CyberFaith: How Americans Pursue Reli- gion Online”
www.holston.org/webresearch/report28.html – A link to another Pew Research Center article, “Wired Churches, Wired Temples: Taking congregations and missions into cyberspace”
www.gospelcom.net/kregel/e-ministry/ econnections.htm – A helpful website called “e-Ministry: Connecting With the Net Generation”
gbgm-umc.org/churches/faq_home/ webpages.cfm – Answers on web-page creation
www.godaddy.com – Lowest price on domain name registrations with free URL forwarding
http://holstonconference.com/webseminar A Holston Conference web seminar created for Maryville District
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| Website Tips and Resources from Holston Interactive Media Specialist Donna Hankins
Website dos and don’ts
What content belongs on your church website – and what doesn’t?
DO: Basic static content ideas
- Information for the unchurched: United Methodist beliefs, plan of salvation, answers to common questions, etc.
- Welcome message from the pastor
- Staff listing and contact info, including e-mail addresses and phone numbers
- Worship times and descriptions
- Map & directions to your church building
- Class descriptions, locations, times, and contact persons
DO: Dynamic content ideas
- E-mail or post prayer requests online
- Live chat with a missionary in the field
- Forums for college-bound youth (to keep them in contact with home church and Christian friends)
- Online church news and calendars (saves on postage and paper)
- Streaming audio or video of sermons (also make text version available for printing)
- Family support and parenting forums
- Schedules for nursery workers, ushers, youth trips, etc. (with online automation)
- Online offerings via credit card (for more info, go to www.gcfa.org and click on “Electronic Funds Transfer Service”)
DON’T: Content to avoid
- Large graphics that create a slow- loading site
- Essential information that requires plug-in downloads
- Hymns that automatically play on home page (If you must have music, then provide an option that allows visitors to turn off sound)
Donna Hankins can assist you with these content features and free website hosting. Call (865) 690-4080 or e-mail.
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Cool sites
Recommended church website examples:
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