12th May, 2005

DAVID ADAMS

“We wanted to hold an Internet Evangelism Day to increase awareness of changing technology in our congregation. We launched our website on this day and the whole service focused on global and local evangelism, particularly on adapting the way we do evangelism to reach an appropriate audience.”

So reads a message placed by Australia’s Ingle Farm Community Church on Internet Evangelism Day’s international website.

Located in the north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide in South Australia, the baptist church is one of scores across the globe that took part in last month’s Internet Evangelism Day with organisers receiving reports from countries ranging from the United Kingdom and the United States to Canada, Uganda and Nigeria.

While some churches - such as Hazelwood Christian Church in the US state of Indiana - produced a drama skit to illustrate the power of the web as an evangelistic tool, others - such as Andover Baptist Church in the UK - held a “cafe church” evening to encourage discussion of creative uses of the net. In Canada, the Woodvale Pentecostal Church saw Internet Evangelism Day as an opportunity to celebrate the “graduation” of members who had recently completed a course in on-line evangelism while the youth ministry at Kampala Pentecostal Church in Uganda played a video relating the testimony of a young woman who found God on the net to inspire its members.

Back at Ingle Farm, Terry Williams, the senior pastor, says that while the church had been looking at developing a website for a number of years, Internet Evangelism Day or IE Day as it’s known (officially held on Sunday, 24th April), seemed to present the ideal opportunity to launch such an initiative.

As well as being designed as an “easy first step” for people who want to find out about the church, the website (http://inglefarmbaptist.com/index.html) is also being used in a program of computerclasses church members run in the same recreation centre where the congregation meets on a Sunday as a way of serving and engaging the community.

Since the website’s launch, Pastor Williams and the church’s student pastor - Markus Schmid - have also started keeping a “pastor’s weblog”. They hope this, along with photos of congregation members and other features on the site, will help to give visitors a sense of some of the personalities involved with the church and build on the sense of community at the church.

Speaking from Britain, Tony Whittaker, the co-ordinator of IE Day, says that all the reports received so far have been positive with many churches using a PowerPoint presentation provided on the IE Day website.

“Reaction in churches which put on a presentation...has been good,” he says, adding that "some churches have decided to reposition their websites to be more seeker-friendly as a result.”

The idea for an international day for internet evangelism came out of an email discussion group involving members of the Internet Evangelism Coalition - a group of evangelical Christian organisations which includes the American Tract Society, Billy Graham Centre, Campus Crusade for Christ, Evangelism Explosion and Mission America - as they looked at how they could better convince the church about the value of using the web for evangelism.

KEY TIPS FOR DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE CHURCH WEBSITES: • avoid jargon and ‘churchy’ language • be people-oriented - show images of people as well as the external building • have a informal sense of welcome, even humor, through the site • provide some profiles of church members • incorporate some Bible explanation • keep content age-specific • use the online environment to lead to face-to-face support for visitors wanting help with issues such as bereavement, drug or alcohol abuse and so on • include clear directions (such as an online map) to the church as well as parking directions and, if applicable, public transport links • provide a sense of identification with the local community (possibly including web links) Source: Internet Evangelism Day

Following a suggestion from Norwegian evangelist Anders Torvill Bjorvand, Whittaker developed a proposal for the day which was subsequently approved by the coalition.

Appointed as co-ordinator, he was placed in charge of developing a website which would not only promote the day itself but provide an ongoing source of information and resources for Christians on how the web can be used for evangelism.

Those behind the day believe that much as the Roman road system was “strategic” in God’s plan to enable the spread of the Gospel throughout the then known world, so too the ever expanding network of the internet can be a tool for spreading the Gospel today.

Whittaker describes the web as an “incredible tool for evangelism” and says statistics now show there are now more than 1,000 million web users worldwide.

But he adds that it’s important Christians who do decide to use it for evangelistic purposes understand it’s “essential nature”.

“Evangelistic websites are not the same as tracts or sermons online,” he says. “Every medium needs its own approach (and) we should not try to use strategies which work with other mediums.”

Whittaker says that while Christians have been quick to populate the web with thousands of websites, many are purely aimed at their brothers and sisters in Christ and are missing out on the opportunity the web offers for evangelism.

This is particularly the case when it comes to church websites, he says.

Asked about the key issues when designing a church website as an evangelistic tool, Whittakerr says it simply entails making the site “user-friendly for non-Christians”.

“Understand what they need and what would put them off,” he says. “Avoid all jargon and churchiness. Be people-oriented. Show that the church is full of friendly, normal, welcoming people.”

Whittaker holds up a group of websites produced by TruthMedia.com - part of Canada’s Campus Crusade for Christ - as an effective model.

“They understand how to communicate clearly in neutral language, how to target felt needs and specific affinity groups and how to offer the personal mentoring which inquirers need,” he says.

The sites, which have around 450 volunteers to produce content, attract more than 750,000 visitors a month (783,015 in March). Of those, typically around 1,400 will indicate that they have received Christ into their lives or made a “significant spiritual decision” such as rededicating their life to Christ.

With IE Day now expected to be an annual event, organisers are looking to expand the numbers involved next year.

Whittaker says getting denominations on board is a particular challenge.

“We had hoped that many denominations would see the potential and encourage all their churches to get involved. Very few did. So we do need to find a way to communicate with them for next year.”

~ www.internetevangelismday.com