Increased Use of Technology Expands Ministry
Bonney advises churches to keep these things in mind when starting a new Web site:
Keep the site up to date. This is where churches often have a problem and also where they can be effective. A staff person or volunteer needs to make a commitment to update the site often, preferably on a weekly basis.
If you plan to add podcasts of sermons, you can either record directly to a computer or have someone convert a sound recording into the Web format and post it. Both options require sufficient computer knowledge and suitable equipment.
Once the site is constructed, updating requires about an hour each week.
Blogs allow information and ideas to be distributed quickly to a wide audience. But blogging can have serious ethical downsides — it may even turn into an online gossip column. Be deliberate about what you say and clear on what is an opinion, and avoid unsubstantiated or rumored information
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With technology advances and an online community quickly gaining popularity after less than 15 years in mainstream existence, churches are catching up. Pastor Timothy Bonney of the First Baptist Church of Des Moines in Johnston, Iowa, uses the Internet to his advantage for ministry.
The Web site, freebaptist.org, includes a blog (online journal), sermon podcasts (sound files to download) and other resources useful to Christians and American Baptists. This is readily available to Bonney’s church members and anyone else who accesses the World Wide Web.
Internet technology provides great opportunities to share the love of Jesus Christ. But Bonney cautions: “Like any change in our society, churches need to discern what changes make for better and effective ministry.”
According to a Pew Internet and American Life Project survey in 2004, 64 percent, or 84 million, online Americans have used the Internet for faith-related reasons. The survey contends that 17 percent of the nation’s 128 million Internet users have looked for information about where they could attend religious services. Bonney remarks that people seem to go the Web before checking in the newspaper or yellow pages these days.
“The Church needs to keep up with technology in order to reach out to an increasingly technologically savvy culture,” Bonney says. “The Internet, computers, cell phones, email and other technologies are all second nature to today's younger adults and youth. ... Churches need an active presence on the Internet.” The Pew Internet and American Life Project survey is a tool that clearly shows how beneficial the Internet presence of churches may be.
Because he uses the Internet so much, Bonney finds that people tend to communicate with him frequently online, in addition to talking over the phone and in person. “I receive a lot of email inquiries about First Baptist Church Des Moines and also questions of theology, Baptist polity and history. Most of the leadership of the church actively uses e-mail. Meeting reminders and minutes are often distributed to the church departments and boards via e-mail,” Bonney explains.
But just how much use does freebaptist.org truly observe? “I have found that church members download the sound files when they are unable to attend Sunday services, or to download a sermon they would like to hear again or share with someone else,” he says.
The site had more than 34,000 hits from August 2005 through July 2006, with an average of more than 500 visitors per month, not including repeats. Bonney says that there are also 117 individuals who subscribe to the main blog news service. Here they can access summaries of articles and links to more resources, including sermon podcasts. Sunday service has been downloaded 270 times in July 2006.
“The pace of change has been amazing,” says Bonney. “We have certainly seen many benefits to the Internet, including greater access to information, being able to communicate more quickly and efficiently, and being able to share information with a worldwide audience.”
Typically, the church Web site also contains the church newsletter and weekly bulletins, but they are presently in a state of transition with their webmaster. The site can be viewed at: http://www.fbcdsm.org/.
National Ministries’ online managing editor, David Chandler, commenting on technology uses for ministry, remarks, “Remember that the technology is not an end in itself but for building a caring Christian community.”
He also comments on Web site design, noting the importance of making a realistic assessment of how much content the available staff or volunteers can refresh on a regular basis. “On National Ministries’ Web site, we have committed to highlight a new story each week on the home page. For our national audience of American Baptists, we hope that our weekly stories about mission and ministry are uplifting and members of other local churches who read these stories might be moved to begin similar ministries in their locales,” says Chandler.
National Ministries’ redesigned Web site, launched early in 2006, has notable improvements that follow best practices, including a straightforward menu system; attractive and simple home page; search tool on every page; and simplified and centralized ordering of NM Publications, with a prominent link to Judson Press for books and curriculum. Let us know how we’re doing by one of the following methods:
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