Over the last 20 weekdays, we’ve read and discussed 20 Ways to Share Your Faith Online. That’s 20 different Internet evangelism ideas written by 16 different bloggers.
I want to take this opportunity to thank some people, ask for your feedback, and talk about one final point – the tipping point for Internet evangelism.
Muchos Gracias!
I want to start by thanking all people who contributed posts to this series: Dan King, Tony Whittaker, Steve Fogg, Dana Byers, Wendy Spoon, Mike Ellis, Brett Borders, Chris walker, Rob Ross, Lois Ridley, Dave Hackett, Nick Runyon, Kevin Hendricks, Dave Bourgeois, and Gordon Marcy.
You guys did a fantastic job and brought to light some very innovative ideas.
Major props to those of you who went the extra step of really engaging with people in this series – responding to comments on your post, commenting on other posts, and sharing the ideas through Twitter & Facebook.
The Tipping Point
Some time within the last year or so, I think we reached a tipping point when it comes to evangelism.
Ideas #2 (Facebook prayer), #4 (Facebook), #9 (Twitter), and #18 (life online) all highlight the exponential growth in the use of social networks. We have reached the point in the Western world where many people spend more time engaging people relationally through social networks than they do offline.
Ideas #4 (Cell phones), #15 (non-western ideas), #16 (unprecedented opportunity), and #17 (online missionary) all highlight the exponential growth in global access to the Internet particularly in countries that are hostile to Christianity and missionaries.
Using the Internet to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ is no longer an experimental concept that can be left to technology geeks and early adopters. We have reached the tipping point, the point where it is now more practical, effective, and cost-efficient to try to present the gospel to people online than offline.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that we stop sharing our faith offline with our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
What it means is that individuals, churches, Bible colleges, seminaries, and missions organizations need to give online evangelism it’s proper priority. Practically speaking, that means allocating more staffing, funding, training, promotion, preaching, and accountability to Internet evangelism.
Agree? Disagree? If you agree, what does that mean for you and your organization?
Takeaways
As we wrap up this series, I want to challenge you to answer two important questions.
1) What did you learn?
2) What are you going to do?
For me, the most important thing I learned was about the opportunity to become an online missionary with Global Media Outreach. And I took action. I filled out the application form to become an online missionary.
The other big learning point was concerning Global Media Outreach’s efforts to partner with local churches. I have not had the opportunity to watch the demo which Gordon Marcy referenced in yesterday’s post, but it’s on my to-do list. And if it looks like a good fit, the next step would be to talk with the senior pastor and the other elders at my church about it.
Series Feedback
Last but not least, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this series. What did you like about it? What could have been done better?
I’ll be honest, that it feels like we lost some momentum around the half way point. The numbers show significantly more tweets and comments during the first half of the series compared with the second half. Was it too long? Did you lost interest? Was doing it every week day too much? What’s your opinion?
Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com
Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.
An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.
Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.
9 Comments
Thanks Scott! I'm glad you got so much out of the series, and I appreciate all the ways you've contributed by commenting & tweeting. Thanks for the feedback & let me know what happens with GMO.
Man I loved it! I'm a recovering Youth Minister and internet junkie! So for me I love the ideas it gave about how we not only can but SHOULD share our faith via the web. The thing I see is that we need to be intentional about how we are sharing our faith online. Especially for churches.
I to am challenged to sign up with GMO and am doing so today. These are definitely posts that need to be digested and chewed on a few times. Just once won't give them justice.
I don't think it was too many personally, but I'm overly connected so who knows. Maybe a 10 part would have kept the momentum going. or maybe a 10 part on how to share via Facebook, via Twitter and via other online methods.. just a thought..
Great job.. I love that I found you guys.. Challenging me like crazy!
This series has been excellent. I have found encouragement, ideas, resources and various perspectives on what Internet Evangelism can accomplish. I was surprised to learn how much is happening through the lives of other believers in the area of online missions.
The major thing I discovered was the need to be more focused in what God is calling me to do online. I have also been challenged to consider signing up with GMO. Paul, thank you for the opportunity to be involved in this event.
Rob, thanks for your participation and for your feedback. I'm glad you were encouraged & challenged by the series. Keep in touch. You're welcome to guest post any time about anything you're doing personally or with Oikos Ministries that's related to ministry & the Internet.
Excellent series! Thanks so much for allowing me to participate, and I agree with this post. We cannot afford to ignore the capacity of God's work through believers online as we share The Gospel globally. God bless each of you as you share His love online and offline!
Dana, thanks again for being a part of this series. I love all the innovative things LifeChurch.tv and you personally to connect with people, love them, and share the gospel with them online!
I'll say the same thing to you as I said to Rob… Keep in touch, and if you ever want to guest post about anything ministry/web related that you or LifeChurch are doing, it would be our pleasure.
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Well done Paul. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the carnival. It was an honor.
I liked the whole idea of putting a focus on the many different ways God is working through the Internet. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations," must certainly include the nations & people that can be reached online. You're to be commended for allocating so much time and energy to increasing awareness of the different strategies.
It did seem to run a bit long. Maybe 5-10 posts would be just as effective. I'd be interested to know what you learned from your analytics.
Shortly after the series ended, I signed on with GMO. In the first six weeks, I've had the privilege of seeing 100 new and recommitting decisions for Christ from seekers in 32 countries, 11 of which have been classified as "sensitive countries." It's an amazing tool that I'd recommend to any church serious about investigating Internet ministry strategies.
Hi Gordon, my pleasure. I'm glad you were a part of it.
Glad to hear you signed on with GMO and the Lord has made your efforts there so fruitful. I filled out the application, was accepted, but have yet to do the training. I hope to do that soon.
As far as our analytics go, our traffic during this series was nearly twice what it was the previous month. Did you have any other specific metrics you were interested in hearing more about?