Churches Plan Web Outreach Focus Day on 7 May
 |
There are some great materials out there for Christians developing Christian websites – and for Christians developing evangelistic websites. One set of materials that I’ve used for 10 years now (yikes!) is the Web Evangelism Guide, that is featured right here at CottrillCompass.com. Tony Whittaker, and other Christians and Christian organizations, are working to help Christians share their faith online from around the world to around the world. So, when Tony asked me to mention the upcoming Internet Evangelism Day, I was happy to do so! Christians have used the available technology to share the Truth for 2000 years. Are we being slow to use the internet?
It’s 1 month away (7 May), and your church can be involved, just by making people aware that the Lord is working on the internet too. Check out these stories of people whose lives were changed: Does digital evangelism work?
For more, read this press release from www.InternetEvangelismDay.com:
“I encourage all evangelical leaders to take advantage of this initiative and explore their options for using the Web to win as many as possible to Christ,” says Pastor Ted Haggard of the US National Association of Evangelicals. Many other Christian leaders also suggest that churches use this new resource to learn more about the potential of the Web to communicate the Gospel. Building on the success of the first web awareness day held last year, a second annual Internet Evangelism Day is set for 7 May 2006.
It was initiated by the Internet Evangelism Coalition, an umbrella group of major organizations involved in web ministry.
The IE Day website contains many resources to help Christians understand and use the Internet to touch the world. It explains how to build a church website that can reach out into the community, or start an evangelistic blog. There is even a free evangelistic screensaver to download.
The site also offers materials for a church or Christian group to easily stage a ‘web awareness’ focus program on 7 May (or at any time they choose). These include a PowerPoint presentation, video clips, music, drama skits, posters, handouts and many other ideas.
Churches who used these materials last year were excited. “People were challenged and inspired! As a result, we will review our church website, add evangelistic signature blocks to emails, and learn how to use Bulletin Boards and Chat Rooms for evangelism,” said a church in Australia.
“I want to thank you for the free resources you have provided through your website. This is a huge help for small churches such as ours,” claimed a church leader in California.
One surprising aspect that the IE Day team emphasize: web evangelism is for anyone, not just the technically gifted. “There are many ways to share your faith online, without any technical background at all,” says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker.
The Internet Evangelism Day website is at www.InternetEvangelismDay.com.
And you can listen to a 3-minute MP3 audio introduction to IE Day at www.InternetEvangelismDay.com/audio.