eQuip archives

Hello regular readers of eQuip blog. We're taking a Spring break this week, first time since launching the eQuip blog last May. Hope to see some of you at the Internet Evangelism for the 21st Century Conference in Lynchburg, Virginia, this weekend!

The interfaith portal Beliefnet.com serves an engaging online multimedia meditation, "Bitter Journey: The Way of the Cross," based on traditions associated with Tenebrae services, the Stations of the Cross, and the Lamentations of Good Friday. May the life, death, and resurrection of Christ offer a new inspiration this Easter weekend!

One of the most helpful tips that greatly increased my appreciate for the arts was realizing that art is the language of emotions. And it could also increase your prayer life as well.

Www.prayerwindows.com presents an Internet gallery that uses paintings to help facilitate prayer in a creative manner. The artist, Bob Gilroy, uses creativity to express feelings and communicate with God. Directions are provided so viewers can learn how to see God reflected in their own lives through the arts.

www.oremus.org is dedicated to being a place of prayer: daily prayer and prayer resources on the Internet. The website includes resources for daily prayer and other worship, including a comprehensive compilation of hymns and liturgical texts. The Oremus Bible Browser includes three different versions of the Psalter used in Anglican worship and the New Revised Standard (US and British English) and the Authorized (King James) Versions of the Bible. A search engine for the entire website is now available as are links to other forms of Anglican daily prayer.

This week is somber and reflective for many Christian worshippers, as it is Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter. eQuip blog will feature online ministries that are helpful for being prayerful in a variety of ways.

The Carmelite Sisters of Indianapolis are engaged in an active life of prayer for the world, and have developed a way to Pray The News, as well as offering transforming lessons in their School of Prayer and a virtual altar where you can light a candle to offer a prayer.

Today marks the beginning of Holy Week, a traditional observation in many Christian churches to remember the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.

THE VOICE is the Internet web site of the Christian Resource Institute and CRI/Voice, a global and ecumenical ministry dedicated to providing biblical and theological resources for growing Christians. And CRI/Voice provides the following description about Holy Week:

Holy Week is the last week of Lent, the week immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It is observed in many Christian churches as a time to commemorate and enact the suffering (Passion) and death of Jesus through various observances and services of worship. While some church traditions focus specifically on the events of the last week of Jesus’ life, many of the liturgies symbolize larger themes that marked Jesus’ entire ministry. Observances during this week range from daily liturgical services in churches to informal meetings in homes to participate in a Christian version of the Passover Seder.

For those of you who are sermon aficionados, and those who prepare sermons as a part of their ministry or work, here's a handful of sermon websites: homiliesbyemail.com has homily subscriptions based on the Revised Common Lectionary, SermonIllustrator.org has over 3,200 free sermon illustrations, ExecutableOutlines.com has over 1,200 free sermons and Bible studies, and SermonCentral.com has over 70,000 free sermons, illustrations, and dramas.

One of the easier things that churches can share via the Web are sermon archives. It's easier in the sense that sermons are original content already produced weekly, and doesn't require additional work of production, just recording and uploading. Some notably larger archives are Piper's Notes, with years of John Piper's sermons, and wacriswell.org, The Criswell Legacy Sermon Library with over 2,000 sermons preached over W. A. Criswell's 55 years of ministry. Also see the Ray C. Stedman Library, and Chuck Smith's teachings in audio and with notes for the whole Bible.

Neil Cox has listed 50 Reasons To Blog, with particular emphasis on blogging as a part of Christian witness. Neil is the founder of IndyChristian.com, the local web portal for Greater Indianapolis Christians, and is passionate about evangelism and cost-effective innovation.

Among the different ways to learn from other websites include learning from bad examples as well as good examples. To learn from good examples (or in business parlance, best practices), here are some award-winning Christian websites listed in the ChristSites awards program:

• MissionaryArts.com
• ProveTheBible.net
• RenownMagazine.com
• christian-mommies.com
• eastpoint.org
• pwarchive.com

The ChristSites awards program numerically rates Christian websites in 5 areas: content, design, technology, originality, and overall impression. Other Christian websites are listed by various categories at christsites.com.

The Internet is connecting hearts in prayer all around the world. Www.prayat7.com is a world campaign for interactive prayer, connecting people around the world for prayer at 7 o'clock twice a day. Www.24-7mission.com has non-stop prayer going for 5 years now, with a special focus for youth, and networks around different parts of the world.

The Episcopal Diocese of Washington is making available spiritual resources for Lent, including an online Stations of the Cross. One set is from Turkana, Kenya, with paintings reflecting the life and environment of the Turkana people. The other set is titled Stations of the Cross: children and their families walk with Jesus. For you to experience the sufferings of Jesus via this ancient meditative tradition, just in time for Holy Week.

Get a sneak preview of the new ForMinistry blog that's almost ready for launch! We're anticipating that it will be a place where thoughtful reflections from our own staff will be voiced about the church, the word, and the mission of God.

Mike Atkinson of uneekNet has posted an excellent series of free articles titled the "Improving Your Church Website":

• An interview with Mike Atkinson: Are churches missing a golden opportunity?
• Should a church have a website?
• Search and ye shall (not) find
• A great church website
• A TON of great church websites!
• Churches without websites
• Reaching young adults on the web

uneekNet is also offering free tips and advice, a blog on Internet strategy & usability & marketing, and also professional services as a full-service Internet agency.

The Coalition of urban youth workers in New York City launched a new blog earlier this week at thecoalitionnyc.blogspot.com. Getting a website presence can be as easy as starting up a blog at a free service like blogger.com, which is how The Coalition did it.

The Coalition is a growing association of evangelical youth workers, youth pastors, and youth leaders that collaborate for city-wide and regional youth engagement efforts in the greater New York City area. Since October 2003, the Coalition has grownto over 60 leaders representing 40 ministries and youth groups. On the leadership team is Enid Almanzar from American Bible Society's Urban Youth Strategy. (ForMinistry.com is an Internet ministry of American Bible Society.)

Something to learn from the number of websites specifically edify and empower women, and how they're presented to this group of people:

As magazines or portals: Women Today Magazine, Christian Women Today, SheLovesGod.com, and TodaysChristianWoman.com.

As organizations: Center for Emerging Female Leadership, EmergingWomenLeaders.org, and Titus 2 Ministries: Mentoring Women for Christ.

As online communities: Christian Women Connected, ChristianMom.com, and JoyPals.com.

What you can see is that different websites use different metaphors. And each metaphor works for certain kinds of people, and for certain needs. Magazines are great for information and content. Communities are great for those who can do conversations online, and build relationships apart from face-to-face contact.

Rob Williams at eministrynotes.com put it this way: a blog is like a seminar; a traditional website is like a conference speaker; a discussion board is like a cafeteria; an online community is like a reunion. Read that note in its entirety.

Crossmap.com, a prominently growing Internet portal for all things Christian, has recently launched a free blogging tool called CrossmapBlogs.com. In their announcement titled, Crossmap Launches Blogging Community, they describe the blog software as follows:

"The software we have chosen to power our blog community is renowned for its simplicity of use. To begin a blog, a user needs only to visit the registration page and submit his account information. From there, the account is immediately active and the user can blog right away. The posting interface contains a WYSIWYG editor, to simplify the process of formatting text. The admin section also simplifies many other functions, including specifying a unique template style for each blog."

If you haven't started blogging yet, this is a great place to start! (It took me less than 5 minutes to get a new blog setup.)

Shel Holtz wrote about a new blog called Imprint, launched recently by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), after attending a seminar on corporate communication. The WELS church leadership has actively begun communicating with the general public, and opens the way to better connect with its congregations. In a time where organized religions are growing detached, blogging is a great way to reconnect!

Reaching cities is an important way for reaching people for God's kingdom. From a United Nations report: "The world’s urban population will grow from 2.86 billion in 2000 to 4.98 billion by 2030 ... The world’s annual urban growth rate is projected at 1.8 per cent in contrast to the rural growth rate of 0.1 per cent and about 60 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities."

Two websites looking to serve cities: www.GodLovesIndy.com is focusing on Indianapolis, Indiana; www.ChristianCruz.com is focusing on Santa Cruz, California. Many other strategies and collaborations at serving cities is coordinated at www.cityreaching.com. Compare and contrast different ways of serving your city via the Web. What are the churches in your city doing?

Christian Computing Magazine (CCMag) has been in publication as a print magazine for over 17 years, keeping its readers informed on many areas of using technology and software for Christian ministry. And Ccmag.com is purportedly the first Christian magazine on the Internet.

Now the magazine has gone completely digital! As of February 2005, the print edition has ceased publication. The free digital edition has been popularly embraced by its readers, increasing from 2,000 to over 12,000. This is a clear example of the shift from print to digital, from proprietary to open source. The Adobe PDF format makes the magazine's content widely available to all, including its back issues going back to 2003.

The magazine also serves as a central point of contact for connecting those using technology for ministry. Its Technology & Ministry Conference is scheduled for April 13-15, 2005, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and a recent letter from the editor has expressed desire to relaunch a National Association of Christian Technology Ministers.

www.kidology.org is an incredible resource, billed as more than a website. And I'd have to say it delivers a lot online. Kidology's mission is to equip and encourage those who minister to children. Kidology does this 24/7 via their website, and through providing practical training, creative teaching resources, and personal consultation. With excellent kid-friendly graphic design, easy-to-use navigation menus, those who are serving in children's ministry now have a high-quality web portal for all things related to fulfilling Jesus' own words: "Let the little children come to me."

Two local websites help people to find chuches, offering reviews of a church's theological and worship practices, as well as a rating for its website design. www.occhurches.org is for Orange County area churches, and www.sandiegochurches.org is for San Diego area churches. With many web-based tools for reviews on all kinds of products and services (movies, restaurants, books, electronics, beverages, etc.), a church comparison guide follows this genre well. Note that the reviewers at these two church review websites have a more conservative and stricter theological bias than those belonging to the broader, ecumenical audience of our sponsoring organization, American Bible Society.