 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
By Rev. Arne H. Fjeldstad, D. Min.
Almost 1.000 Lutheran churches were found on the Internet during the two weeks of February 1997 when the survey was conducted. Only ca. 600 were possible to contact via e-mail. A total of approx. 280 answered the questionnaire. Here are some of the conclusions:
Firstly, the Lutheran churches are newcomers on the Net. About 85 percent have joined the Internet during 1996 and early 1997. Almost 40 percent reported that the Web site was started as a personal initiative, and many more were set up as a volunteer ministry with some relation to the local church. More than 50 percent of the persons who answered the questionnaire were either pastors or paid members of the church staff. Especially in Europe many pastors were involved with the church's Web site. The pastor's normally used their free time' to do the church Web site and financed it out of their own pocket.
Secondly, the Internet Web site has generally become a new way to advertise the existence of the church and to invite people to visit and join the church for the Lutheran congregations. They answer that the major purposes for the church Web sites are to inform the local community, invite people to join the church, and to serve needs for internal communication. First after these purposes the respondents list their desire to present the gospel to people. Overall, it seems that the Lutheran churches only use the Net as a local newspaper' to promote their activities within a limited geographical area.
Thirdly, the Lutheran churches on the Net have quite small Web sites. As many as 30 percent have less than five pages, and a total of ca. 90 percent have less than 25 pages. Since many sites are new to the Internet, this situation will probably change already during this year.
Fourthly, Lutheran Internet sites are very small also regarding number of visitors to their Web sites. Almost 40 percent of the respondents did not know how many hits' there had been to their church site, and 50 percent answered that there had been less than 1,000 hits since the site was started. Only 11 percent reported a total of more than 1,000 hits since the site was established. Again, this is probably due to the fact that many Lutheran Web sites are new and still under construction.'.
Fifthly, the survey indicates that there are not much interactions between the church Web sites and the visitors. About 50 percent did receive less than five e-mails during the whole last year from people living outside their own area (30 km/20 miles away.) Approximately 57 percent has only received less than five responses via e-mail or in the guest book last month. About 78 percent had not had any prayer requests, and those who received request for prayers had only got a few during the last month.
Sixthly, ca. 70 percent of the church Web sites are only maintained by one person. About 58 percent updates their Web sites once a month or less. This clearly indicates that many churches are not using their Web site in an active way to promote on going ministry activities.
Seventhly, about 57 percent are able to have the church Web site for free, either through their denomination, by the grace of their Internet Service Provider, or as a part of their personal Web site which they pay for themselves.
Eightly, besides e-mail to the pastor and/or the Webmaster the survey reveals very little enthusiasm to use new tools like audio (ca. 33 percent), search engine (ca. 27 percent), video (ca. 9 percent), Internet Relay Chat (IRC -- 6 percent) as a part of the church Web site. This may further suggest a lack of vision and strategy among the churches for future development of their Internet sites.
Ninethly, very few of the respondents had used the church site to promote distribution or sale of Christian literature, tracts, music, sermons, video's, etc. This is partly because many Internet Service Providers would not allow this or charge extra fees.
Lastly, almost 37 percent of the participants answered that the Web site has not had any visible impact on their ministry. Based on the other data's gathered in the survey this may very well be true. However, this may be related to the purpose for their Internet ministry and the way these churches are using (and not using) their Internet site. Yet, about 50 percent of the churches in North America answered that the Web site had made people more aware of the church.
The overall impact after this survey is that the Lutheran churches on
the Internet are small, fairly new and still under
construction.' They have not had a large number of visitors, are only updated
about once a month, and functions mostly
as an advertisement' on the Internet to tell anybody that happens to surf
by (by coincidence) that the church exists. One
enthusiastic person does the work with the Web site with limited time and
financial resources, funding the church site out
of his own pocket.
Besides e-mail few of the other tools for making an interactive Web site (like audio, IRC, video, etc.) have been implemented. Although many people involved with the Internet site are pastors or staff members of the church, the Web ministry does not seem to be really integrated with the other church activities. There seem to be a lack of a joint strategy within the churches, with little understanding of the international and global nature of the Internet and what kind of possibilities this may give for churches open to friendship evangelization, Christian education and pastoral counseling.
Many Lutheran churches are still searching for ideas and strategies on how to use the Internet. There is a great need to develop ideas and educational material to equip the Lutheran churches on the Net to become real, interactive churches' who care for their visitors and not only signposts' or billboards' to advertise their existence. Some of the participants are able to tell stories of how their Internet site is being used as a resource for home bound memberss of their church, to continue to keep in touch with members who are studying away from home, as a tool for outreach, etc. They can also tell stories on how the Internet site becomes a frequent reason for visiting the church, and even how one church gained a new member family through their site.
Rev. Arne H. Fjeldstad, D.Min.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
BACK