My credentials: I have been involved in web and email ministry since the mid-nineties.  I have very little technical sense and rely on others for this aspect of the work.  I began writing a daily devotional in 1996 and sending it to several in the church I pastored at the time.  I later started the Daily Encouragement Net website with the devotional updated daily, as well as other writings. We had a separate church site for the church I pastored at the time. The Daily Encouragement Net website now has about 150,000 "hits", 25,000 pageviews and 15,000 visitors per month. The subscriber-based devotional list now has several thousand and is growing daily.  Subscribers and web visitors are from all over the world. We now provide the material as a podcast and RSS feed.

The site is not flashy or even necessarily graphically appealing. (I have no training in graphic design.)  It's not slick by any means. The focus is on fresh, original content that is spiritually uplifting.

• Fresh - the daily encouragement message is changed daily and other resources are regularly added.
• Original – Virtually all the material on the site is original, written by myself or by other "ordinary" Christians. Although there are a few links to outside resources most of the material is right on the site.
• Spiritually uplifting – I believe fundamentally the exposition of Scripture is needed to spiritually uplift.

As you consider internet ministry it's vital that you ask several questions:

What do you want to do?

• A static church or ministry site with few changes (similar to a yellow page ad).
• An active site with regular changes and spiritual content.

Who do you want to target?

• Information for people in my church or potential attenders.
• Spiritual resources for people all over the world. (The internet has no geographic boundaries!)

What do you want to accomplish?

• I primarily want to inform members of my church as well as desire the people in my community and area to see the site and come to my church.
• I want to minister to the world.

I would encourage you to develop an active site with original spiritual content with the goal of ministering to people all over the world!

Specific tips:

• Register a unique domain name. Creative domain names can be "marketed" or "branded" and are much better for search engines and directories.
• If you are a local church consider a mirror site that does not reference the local church and place spiritually uplifting material on this site for the whole world to see. (Leave off specific local church material.)  Local churches that have good content are passed over by many surfers due to the assumption that the material is for that particular local church. Let me illustrate: You have a site with lots of ministry content. You have an address for your local church such as www.first*church.org which includes ministry content as well as info about your local church. You also have a site called www.good*news.net in which you target the entire world leaving off specific local church references, but using the same spiritual resources. (To do this you must view the internet as a mission!)
• Use people in your church or ministry to write fresh materials to place on the site.  They will advertise for you. You may use some links to other sites but the internet is full of directories and sites full of links. Focus on original content.
• Develop an op-in email list which is sent out at least monthly (preferably weekly). The relationship between the website and email list is symbiotic. The list drives traffic to the site and the site provides a means for subscribers to join the list. This list must not be comprised of harvested addresses! In other words don't merely place email addresses of friends, family, ministry associates or church members on the list without their permission lest your material be essentially seen as SPAM
• Use the signature line on all outgoing email to promote the site and list.

I will periodically update this site as I have more ideas for tips.  I hope you will be able to use these tips for effective ministry for Christ over the internet for church or ministry!

Stephen C. Weber

Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."

© Copyright 2005 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved

Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552