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Christian innovation online

RUSS BRAVO trawls the Net for good Christian websites, and finds new ideas surprisingly plentiful

Online creativity among the UK Christian community is alive and well, you’ll be glad to hear.

It seems that the old chestnut of the Church being a good five to 10 years behind everyone else is being disproven on the internet, where a range of different ministries, organisations and companies are not just providing a high quality, excellent web presence, but even leading the way a little.

Take Connected Community Learning, for instance. Through his website www.allbelievers.org, Peterborough-based Peter Nicholls is offering online education for ordinary Christians using carefully written, multimedia material, online forums, tutoring and group work.

Courses already run include Called to be holy, Knowing Jesus and Meeting the challenge of being a Christian at work. This year’s titles, running from this month and from October, include Living images, Mission: tradition confronts the future and Life, death and Christian hope.

While the techology behind Connected Community Learning events builds on the eLearning techologies behind, for example, the Government’s University for Industry, participants need no special software – just a computer and an internet connection.

Peter – a lay minister – has been delighted at the response from those taking part, who give a couple of hours a week for eight weeks, and have included international participants. "We had no technical difficulties and everyone quickly learnt how to use the learning and collaboration tools. We suggest a price for these courses, but allow people to pay what they can afford. My vision is to recycle the income to generate a growing bank of courses so that lay Christians can learn more about how to live their faith 24/7."

Check out www.allbelievers.org and find samples on the eLearning site www.e-quip.org.uk
Some other sites well worth a visit:

www.christiansintouch.com – A period of illness and unemployment in 2001 for creator Andrew Bents from Windlesham in Surrey yielded this Christian equivalent of the massively popular Friends United site. With more than 1,000 members signed up in four months, he hopes the site will eventually become a resource for evangelism.

www.web-evangelism.com/church – Web expert Tony Whittaker has been doing sterling work helping the Church use the web creatively for evangelism, discipleship and much more. This page on his extensive site is a goldmine of ideas for helping your church create a website that can serve your local area. The way ahead for engaging the local online community.

http://acts-on-the-net.org – Sharon Martin’s vision to use a simple website to help individual believers share their faith with their friends has really taken off, and Acts On The Net is now an internet mission society affiliated to Global Connections. Sharon’s strategy is to help you write about your hobbies and interests, weaving in your story of spiritual discovery in a way your friends can relate to. Check it out.

www.christianconnection.co.uk – clearly there are a lot of isolated Christians out there, looking for a husband or wife, given the runaway success of Christian Connection, a matchmaking site for Christians and one of the most popular Christian sites in the UK.

www.ccpas.co.uk – each week the Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service [CCPAS] receive scores of calls through its helpline from churches wanting advice on child protection issues relating to the internet. The site has stacks of useful, downloadable information plus helpful advice on safe use of the internet.

www.24-7prayer.com – the online prayer meeting that now reaches to 48 countries. A phenomenon that harnesses the strength of the web’s connectivity with genuine Christian community

www.reJesus.co.uk – outreach site ReJesus launches a postcard campaign this month aimed at getting non-Christians to visit their excellent site. You can post prayers, read testimonies from celebrities such as Sally Phillips (Smack the Pony), ask questions, join discussions and look at big issues from suffering, and ‘who is Jesus?’ to ‘what sex is God?’ Recommended.

www.shipoffools.com – always in the news, this ‘on the edge’ Christian humour site is currently running The Ark, an innovative online game show with biblical characters and probably the first theological debate featuring computer animated New and Old Testament figures. Consistently mercurial.

For other directories of good sites, check out Christian Herald’s Netwatch at www.christianherald.org.uk – click on ‘Netwatch’.

To get the Christian Herald e-news alert, mail
join-christianherald-enews@christianherald.org.uk

FIVE TIPS FOR YOUR WEBSITE

1 Know who it’s for – and tailor the content accordingly.

2 Keep it fresh. Unless your content changes regularly, visitors will only call once.

3 Keep it simple. Until everyone has broadband, visitors won’t wait for tedious animations and ‘entry’ pages (and even then, we can do without them). Avoid large unnecessary graphics and annoying rotating logos. Figure out what people will want from your site and give it to them. Spelling and readability count for a great deal.

4 Make it easy to navigate. Complex menus and lack of direction suffocate too many sites. Is it easy to find your way around?

5 Avoid jargon. Christians will argue about what it means and everyone else will just be bored and baffled. If you can’t say it in simple English, don’t say it.

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		Christian innovation online RUSS BRAVO trawls the Net for good Christian websites, and finds new ideas surprisingly plentiful Online creativity among the UK Christian community is alive and well, you’ll be glad to hear. It seems that the old chestnut of the Church being a good five to 10 years behind everyone else is being disproven on the internet, where a range of different ministries, organisations and companies are not just providing a high quality, excellent web presence, but even leading the way a little. Take Connected Community Learning, for instance. Through his website www.allbelievers.org, Peterborough-based Peter Nicholls is offering online education for ordinary Christians using carefully written, multimedia material, online forums, tutoring and group work. Courses already run include Called to be holy, Knowing Jesus and Meeting the challenge of being a Christian at work. This year’s titles, running from this month and from October, include Living images, Mission: tradition confronts the future and Life, death and Christian hope. While the techology behind Connected Community Learning events builds on the eLearning techologies behind, for example, the Government’s University for Industry, participants need no special software – just a computer and an internet connection. Peter – a lay minister – has been delighted at the response from those taking part, who give a couple of hours a week for eight weeks, and have included international participants. "We had no technical difficulties and everyone quickly learnt how to use the learning and collaboration tools. We suggest a price for these courses, but allow people to pay what they can afford. My vision is to recycle the income to generate a growing bank of courses so that lay Christians can learn more about how to live their faith 24/7." Check out www.allbelievers.org and find samples on the eLearning site www.e-quip.org.uk Some other sites well worth a visit: www.christiansintouch.com – A period of illness and unemployment in 2001 for creator Andrew Bents from Windlesham in Surrey yielded this Christian equivalent of the massively popular Friends United site. With more than 1,000 members signed up in four months, he hopes the site will eventually become a resource for evangelism. www.web-evangelism.com/church – Web expert Tony Whittaker has been doing sterling work helping the Church use the web creatively for evangelism, discipleship and much more. This page on his extensive site is a goldmine of ideas for helping your church create a website that can serve your local area. The way ahead for engaging the local online community. http://acts-on-the-net.org – Sharon Martin’s vision to use a simple website to help individual believers share their faith with their friends has really taken off, and Acts On The Net is now an internet mission society affiliated to Global Connections. Sharon’s strategy is to help you write about your hobbies and interests, weaving in your story of spiritual discovery in a way your friends can relate to. Check it out. www.christianconnection.co.uk – clearly there are a lot of isolated Christians out there, looking for a husband or wife, given the runaway success of Christian Connection, a matchmaking site for Christians and one of the most popular Christian sites in the UK. www.ccpas.co.uk – each week the Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service [CCPAS] receive scores of calls through its helpline from churches wanting advice on child protection issues relating to the internet. The site has stacks of useful, downloadable information plus helpful advice on safe use of the internet. www.24-7prayer.com – the online prayer meeting that now reaches to 48 countries. A phenomenon that harnesses the strength of the web’s connectivity with genuine Christian community www.reJesus.co.uk – outreach site ReJesus launches a postcard campaign this month aimed at getting non-Christians to visit their excellent site. You can post prayers, read testimonies from celebrities such as Sally Phillips (Smack the Pony), ask questions, join discussions and look at big issues from suffering, and ‘who is Jesus?’ to ‘what sex is God?’ Recommended. www.shipoffools.com – always in the news, this ‘on the edge’ Christian humour site is currently running The Ark, an innovative online game show with biblical characters and probably the first theological debate featuring computer animated New and Old Testament figures. Consistently mercurial. For other directories of good sites, check out Christian Herald’s Netwatch at www.christianherald.org.uk – click on ‘Netwatch’. To get the Christian Herald e-news alert, mail join-christianherald-enews@christianherald.org.uk FIVE TIPS FOR YOUR WEBSITE 1 Know who it’s for – and tailor the content accordingly. 2 Keep it fresh. Unless your content changes regularly, visitors will only call once. 3 Keep it simple. Until everyone has broadband, visitors won’t wait for tedious animations and ‘entry’ pages (and even then, we can do without them). Avoid large unnecessary graphics and annoying rotating logos. Figure out what people will want from your site and give it to them. Spelling and readability count for a great deal. 4 Make it easy to navigate. Complex menus and lack of direction suffocate too many sites. Is it easy to find your way around? 5 Avoid jargon. Christians will argue about what it means and everyone else will just be bored and baffled. If you can’t say it in simple English, don’t say it. © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.