The Internet has become an invaluable resource for churches. Read this article titled, "Use electronic communication to your advantage" in Church Executive, to see what some churches have done to make the most of this inexpensive, creative marketing, with case studies of Mariners Church and Willow Creek Community Church. This article also rightly observes: "What people misunderstand most when it comes to Web sites and e-mail is the cost savings they provide to large organizations. Sure, it may cost some to set up the systems, and you may even have to pay a monthly fee to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in order to have a host for your Web site, but when you think about what it costs to write, print and mail the monthly newsletter alone, the savings add up."

Internet Evangelism Day is scheduled for Sunday, April 24th, 2005. Be a part of this special day set aside for web evangelism. Lots of ideas, resources, and training provided at that website. Help get the word out.

Why do so few Christians use the Internet for evangelism? The Internet Evangelism Coalition is sponsoring this worldwide focus day to help churches and Christian groups understand the outreach potential that the Web offers them. Get all the details at InternetEvangelismDay.com

A number of Bible tools are available online, recently mentioned at Blogs4God.com:

• Bible Study Tools on crosswalk.com - You'll get the most out of this Bible if you select either the NAS or KJV version "with Strong's Numbers" - numbers that hyperlink you to the original Hebrew or Greek.
• Bible Gateway - BibleGateway.com : Online Bible resources at gospelcom.net including the Bible in multiple languages and versions, audio, commentaries, downloads, and much more.
• American Bible Society - The ABS website communicates the mission of the society and contains many biblical resources, like maps, timelines and articles, that explore the Scriptures.

These are helpful for your personal study, teaching preparations, and some of these can also be integrated into your online ministry websites!

For Kyle Idleman, associate minister of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., sitting down to compose a sermon means logging on to the Internet. The youngest of the three preaching ministers on staff at one of the top five largest churches in American considers technology not only a timesaver, but also a new language in which to impart the gospel.

"Technology has completely changed the way I prepare for a sermon," Idleman wrote in an e-mail interview. (It has also changed the way he does interviews. "I spend at least 10 hours a week on the Internet just doing research," Idleman said. Read the full article.

Mike Atkinson, former web guru for Youth Specialties, talks about church web sites in an interview titled, "WHAT’S ON YOUR WEB SITE? Are churches missing a golden opportunity?" published in Good News, etc., San Diego County's Christian newspaper. Mike is quoted as saying, "It has been proven over-and-over that sites with poor navigation lose money for companies. That principle can hold true for a church as well." [courtesy of Kevin]

www.vurch.com -- here's a new way to do church, a virtual church run by some people in London, England. Their slogan, "Don't go to church, go to vurch.com", suggests a new place to go for exploring spiritual things. Its contemporary design makes it an inviting place to try a prayer or to find some wisdom.

Christian Web Network has launched two websites to serve a Christian audience: Christian.com is an online home (portal) for news, search, devotionals, and even your own @Christian.com email address, and TryJesus.com presents stories to help people discover a meaningful life with a Christian faith. TryJesus.com claims that "168 million Americans are on-line and over 600 million people worldwide- but most churches are not effectively reaching people on-line with the Gospel."

Sincerity and good intentions run long among Christian efforts to do the right things to share their faith about God. But compared to general standards of how things are being done in everyday life by normal people, sometimes our Christian efforts doesn't measure up to the same quality or standard.

Two websites have begun addressing these shortcomings through a rather blunt tone of voice: HealYourChurchWebsite.com and ChurchMarketingSucks.com . If you have a sense of humor, can laugh at ourselves, and read constructive criticism, these websites offer very helpful insights for learning how to communicate more effectively online.

Bible Network News (BNN) is a daily online and email Scripture and worldwide news service, sharing stories from many parts of the world about how people are working with the Bible and getting one to those who have never had a Bible. BNN is distributed over their website, by email subscription, and even via Javascript-include syndicated content. BNN is sponsored by the Canadian Bible Society, which translates, publishes and distributes the Bible in over 111 languages. (courtesy of Peggie Bohanan at IFC)

Best Spiritual Blogs: Beliefnet's picks for the coolest, most interesting faith-based weblogs -- lists a number of their favorites, including these Christian blogs: GetReligion.typepad.com (Reporters Terry Mattingly and Douglas LeBlanc offers smart analysis of major religion stories), www.RelapsedCatholic.com, www.EvangelicalOutpost.com, www.TheRightChristians.org, www.Christdot.org, AmyWelborn.typepad.com, ReverendRef.blogspot.com, ThePopeBlog.blogspot.com (The Pope Blog).

Feeling a bit overwhelmed with email? Instant messaging? News and information 24 hours a day? Blog entries everyday? Kevin Miller shares some great tips to manage "information overload" in his new book, Surviving Information Overload: The Clear, Practical Guide to Help You Stay on Top of What You Need to Know, and his articles: "Leading in an Age of Information Overload: The importance of an information fast," "Clearing the Clutter: tips on Surviving Information Overload," "Selecting Your Key Information Areas, Part One: What must you know and what can you safely ignore?" and "Part Two."

One pastor in Washington DC, who is successfully connecting with a younger generation of seekers and Christians, commented: "... people process information differently than they did a decade ago. Most people will visit a website before visiting a church." (emphasis mine) Read full blog entry by Pastor Mark Batterson of National Community Church, also known as www.theaterchurch.com

InfoServ is the official information service of The United Methodist Church. InfoServ responds to over 200 questions a day by e-mail, phone, and fax. InfoServ not only responds to questions, but also points people in the right direction to locate people and necessary resources. As questions are answered, they're listed with answers in a Frequently Asked Questions section.

Try out their web-based form if you have a question in your faith journey or about the United Methodist Church. What a great web-based service that really meets the needs of people!

FaithStart.com is a great Christian portal to websites and resources, a quick way to surf around the internet to see how other people and organizations are using the internet for online ministry! I especially like the list of magazines at the FaithStart Christian Magazine Index -- I admit, I like reading short articles and seeing glossy pictures. :)

During the month of September, the newly published book titled, "Stumbling Toward Faith: My Longing To Heal From The Evil That God Allowed" by Renee Altson, is making its way around the internet as a virtual book tour! Through blog entries, interviews, chat sessions, discussion forums, and other online tools, this book's author is actively interacting with readers and potential readers alike. We didn't quite get onto the schedule for September's virtual book tour, but perhaps we'll find a way to have Renee make a visit here at the eQuip blog later. [a special Sunday entry]

Join this free online seminar titled "Using the Web to Bring Communities Online", next Wednesday, September 15th, 3:00pm (ET). This free online training is led by online community guru David Mimeles, and this session will focus on strategies and techniques for developing or enhancing your online presence to better attract and motivate your audience. You'll learn things like: Characteristics of an Online Community, How to create and maintain an Online Community, Six points you need to know to be successful, and more! This seminar is hosted by National Resource Center and Compassion Capital Fund. See more details and attend online!

This paper titled "E-vangelism: redefining evangelical identity in on-line global culture" can be viewed in its entirety online. It is a research thesis by Maura McCarthy that explores the relationship between internet evangelism and websites. McCarthy observed that some websites establish authenticating links between the secular community and the Christian community, while others act as transitional gateways between the targeted secular community and the Christian community. Browse or read the entire thesis online.

AP News article, "Those head-turning church marquee witticisms inspire books, Web sites" tells about ministry being done through roadside church signs with quips and quotes and one-liners. That genre has inspired a website called Church Sign Generator (www.churchsigngenerator.com), books with church signs at L. James Harvey's website, www.sentencesermons.com, and for those who still like the traditional church sign, they're offered at J.M. Stewart Corp. www.stewartsigns.com.

This excerpt comes from an Christian Science Monitor article titled, More Americans seek God on their terms, and in their homes: "Reasons for religious pursuits in the living room range from the practical to the theological. In some cases, home-based observances aim to provide a complement to gathering formally on a holy day. Park Street Church in downtown Boston, for instance, encourages suburbanite members to discuss sermon-based questions, posted weekly on the preacher's website, at a church member's house." Pick up other great ideas from the Park Street Church's website at www.parkstreet.org.

An NPR segment recently featured a website www.thefacebook.com that introduces college students to one another, even for freshman to meet each other before reaching campus. What about a church website (or a section of a church website) where people can get to know other members and attenders within a larger church context! Or better, Christians in a local community meet each other and work together to serve people!

According to this article in Church Executive, "Churches have used streaming media since the technology was commercialized almost 10 years ago. Indeed, Christian content was one of the early drivers of streaming media. The need to get messages out in a format that stimulates and energizes the masses makes streaming media a natural technology for adoption by churches and ministries. Still, the vast majority of churches are not yet using streaming media, and very often the reason is that decision makers in the churches are not aware how affordable and easy to use streaming media has become."

ForMinistry's new affiliate MinistryCast makes it easier to integrate streaming audio and video into your existing website, whether running on ForMinistry WebBuilder or any other website.

A. K. M. Adam, Professor of New Testament at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, shares four compelling reasons for church websites in, Why Churches Should Have Websites:

1. “No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.”
2. Because part of the value of a web page is its constituting a public self-definition of a congregation. “This is who we are, and what we stand for.”
3. The attention that an effective web site requires grows from, develops, nourishes, articulates, and extends the very energies that contribute to vital parish life.
4. An easily-constructed, frequently-updated web site expresses, generates, reflects, and encourages a conversational sense of what the congregation is about.

Read the entire article.

For great design ideas, inspiration, and examples of online ministry, let's take a quick tour of Catholic websites around the web: www.ncregister.com (news), www.vocation.com, www.catholic.net, www.religiousministries.com, www.catholicculture.org, www.catholic.org (Catholic Online has over five million pages of content), www.catholicnews.com (news), www.catholic-forum.com (discussions), www.ncronline.org. And no Catholic tour would be complete without a visit to the official Catholic Church website at the Vatican, the Holy See: www.vatican.va.