. . . seizing the potential:: a web outreach focus day ::
For immediate release May 2013
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Other opportunities
There are many other ways you can encourage people to get involved in digital outreach.
If you are a ministry already involved in web evangelism, IE Day offers
you a chance to enhance your ministry.
IE Day is supported by a growing range
of Christian leaders and organizations.
Interviews
These IE Day representatives are available for email/telephone/radio interview about the Day
[timezones]
or broader issues relating to online evangelism:
Robby Richardson, Executive Direction, Internet Evangelism Coalition (USA)
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April 29 is Worldwide Web Focus Day for Churches
“The last 15 years have changed our world for ever,” claims Tony Whittaker, co-ordinator of Internet Evangelism Day.
“Digital media are transforming the way we communicate, behave and even think. If Facebook was a country, it would have the fourth largest population in the world.”
Internet Evangelism Day is a strategic resource to help the worldwide church understand these issues and use the Web to share the good news. It is both a year-round online guide and an annual focus day – to be held this year on Sunday 29 April.
Churches are encouraged to use Internet Evangelism Day resources to create a presentation for their members on or near that Sunday (or at any other time they choose). The IE Day site offers free downloads: PowerPoint, video clips, handouts, drama scripts, music and posters. These enable any church (or homegroup, college, or conference) to build a customized program, lasting from five minutes to fifty.
2012’s focus day will be the eight to be used by churches around the world since the initiative’s launch in 2005. Over this period, digital media have developed dramatically, with the advent of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and the growing use of mobile phones to access online services. The outreach opportunities have multiplied too.
IE Day’s website is also a one-stop resource covering many subjects, including how to build a church website that is ‘outsider friendly’, using Twitter in evangelism, and blogging. Perhaps surprisingly, you do not need to be technical to share your faith online. And you can volunteer to be an email mentor to inquirers with several large online outreach ministries.
Internet Evangelism Day is an initiative of the Internet Evangelism Coalition, based at the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton. It is supported by a wide range of leaders and groups. “I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day,” said the late John Stott.
Summary
New online self-assessment tool from the Internet Evangelism Day team enables churches to develop and
improve their websites.
"Does your church's website communicate to outsiders as well as to the members?"
asks a new web resource. A church site is the congregation's 'shop window' to its community.
To fulfill this function well, it must be enticing, people-centered and easily understood by outsiders. Unfortunately,
many churches are unsure how to achieve this vital mix.
So the Internet Evangelism Day team has produced an online self-assessment tool. It leads a
church through a series of questions, to highlight areas of their website which may need development: InternetEvangelismDay.com/design
This questionnaire can also be easily added to other webpages using an insertion code.
A church site which has been prioritized for non-Christian visitors can be remarkably effective in reaching the
community. "Week in, week out, more visitors turn up at our church on a Sunday because of the website,
than anything else," writes one growing church in London.
The Internet Evangelism Day ('IE Day') site also explains other types of online evangelism, such as outreach
websites, video clips, blogging and podcasts. There is even a free 'conversation starter'
screen-saver to download.
Holding a focus day
The IE Day team also encourages churches and other groups to hold their own 'web awareness'
focus day. The IE Day site provides downloadable video clips, drama sketches,
posters, handouts and a PowerPoint presentation, making it easy for any church to create its own IE Day program.
This can as brief as a 2-minute spot within a worship time, or an entire themed church service, seminar, or midweek
meeting.
Churches that have already held their own focus day are enthusiastic. "It was a real eye-opener for many,"
writes one in Muncie, Indiana. "We held a midweek evening presentation of 90 minutes, for other
local churches," says another from Dawlish UK.
A Canadian church leader comments, "I used a 10-minute presentation that focused on how anyone can get
involved in reaching out to the Internet community. I also added a section on using our church website as an evangelism
tool, as some of our members have already had great success with it."
"I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day," says John Stott.
Internet Evangelism Day is an initiative of the Internet Evangelism Coalition, an umbrella group of
major interdenominational Christian groups involved in Web ministry: InternetEvangelismDay.com
Interviews available: InternetEvangelismDay.com/publicity
Photos available: InternetEvangelismDay.com/photos
Recommended photo for this item: InternetEvangelismDay.com/churchphoto
Additional articles - ready-made material and MP3s: InternetEvangelismDay.com/articles
Leaders supporting IE Day: InternetEvangelismDay.com/supporting
Online RTF formatted version of this release: InternetEvangelismDay.com/latestnews
This is the Day for Digital Evangelism
There is a new program to help the worldwide Church understand effective strategies for online outreach. Churches and
other groups can create an awareness program using Internet Evangelism Day’s ready-made PowerPoint,
video clips, dramas, music and handouts. Or just learn how to build effective church pages, blogs or
outreach sites from the detailed IE Day resource site: www.InternetEvangelismDay.com
Hold an Internet Evangelism Day in your church
...a resource focusing on internet outreach
The growth of the Internet over the last 15 years has been incredible, and over 2 billion people
now use the Web and 4 billion own mobile phones. There are many thousands of Christian websites,
but the vast majority of these are written only for Christians. Very few are designed to
reach out effectively to non-Christians. Yet the potential is vast.
So the Internet Evangelism Coalition (an umbrella group of outreach ministries)
is offering churches and other groups a focus day program called ‘Internet Evangelism Day’.
The website is at: www.InternetEvangelismDay.com
This is purely a ‘web evangelism awareness day’ and resource site – there is no fund-raising
element. Many churches and other Christian groups have already used this exciting focus
within church services and other meetings. The IE Day site offers downloadable
materials for this purpose: 5-minute video testimonies of people who found God online, drama
scripts, PowerPoint presentations, discussion questions, and many helpful links. “Our
church just started a website and we think that this will give us an opportunity to
take it to another level,” says a church in St Louis, Missouri.
The IE Day team hopes for a range of outcomes. High on their list is the potential
to use Facebook and social networking to share the good news. “It’s an exciting challenge,”
says IE Day Co-ordinator Tony Whittaker. “The potential of the Web is
enormous.”
Other leaders share his enthusiasm. “The Internet is one of the most key tools that
God has given us in the church today,” writes George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization.
“I am excited to see how God will reveal Himself in mighty ways through the uniqueness
of cyberspace,” comments Dr. David Tucker of Trans World Radio.
IE Day is endorsed internationally by a wide range of organizations and denominations.
For more news of Internet Evangelism Day, visit
www.InternetEvangelismDay.com
New Page Helps Church Websites Reach Out Effectively
What happens when a church creates a website with just its members in mind? Only the members
read it! But what is the result when a church has a site specifically designed to reach
outsiders, in user-friendly language which connects with their lives? …
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Internet Evangelism Day was initiated by the Internet Evangelism Coalition, an
umbrella organization of international evangelical Christian ministries involved in online outreach.
The following media representatives for IE Day are available for interview:
Sterling Huston, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association & IEC chair (USA) tel: (612) 924-8910
Robby Richardson, Internet Evangelism Coalition (USA) tel: 616-301-5160
Debra Brown, Brown Governance (Canada) tel: (613) 226-2704
Tony O'Hagan, Campus Crusade Affiliate; Senior Research Fellow, ITEE, University of Queenslan Australia)
tel: +61 (7) 3103-5504 (8:30pm-10:00pm), cell: 0421 230 767 (office hours), Timezone: "Brisbane" GMT+10
Tony Whittaker, Web Evangelism Guide, IE Day coordinator (UK) tel: +44 (0)1283 702334 (day, GMT office hours) +44 (0)1283 702229 (evening) GMT
Web: InternetEvangelismDay.com
Email: officeInternetEvangelismDay.com
Photos to accompany this news item are available at InternetEvangelismDay.com/photos
what is...
Internet Evangelism Day?
an annual worldwide focus day on a Sunday near the end of April each year, as the culmination of April as Digital Evangelism Month.
a year-round resource guide about web, mobile and digital media outreach
Job vacancies
UK-based literature/media outreach to Africa/Asia urgently seeks new team members.
A Thousand Questions
...challenge to “take part in God’s story.”
Mobile Ministry Introduction
...incredible opportunities for mobile phones in Majority World
They say …
“Don’t just throw the seed at the people! Grind it into flour, bake it into bread, and slice it for them. And it wouldn’t hurt to put a little honey on it”
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meaning in 14 languages 
UK-based literature/media outreach to Africa/Asia urgently seeks 
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