Volume Four    Number One  February/March 2007        

INDEX:

This quarterly electronic newsletter is dedicated to promoting the work and research of over twenty web sites of religion institutes, programs and projects related to the initiatives in religion of the Lilly Endowment, Inc. The newsletter offers informative summaries of research and news contained on these web sites in an effort to make this information more widely known and used. more

Special features in this issue include an exploration of the diverse ways that congregations are using the Internet and a review of the recently revised Wabash Institute web site.
Visit the links to the left to explore the individual features of the newsletter.  A pdf version of this newsletter is available to print and distribute. more   

Each newsletter issue contains two feature articles. The first feature is a  summary of religion research findings often drawn from several of the web sites covered by this newsletter. A second feature article is an in-depth review of the content offered by one of the more than 20 web sites associated with the InSites into American Religion project.

Churches using the Internet to their advantage

That Americans have embraced the Internet is no longer news. Several polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center show that 73 percent of Americans use the Internet, and 60 percent of those have high-speed connections. Members of churches of most traditions parallel the general public in their embrace of technology.  As for pastors, the figure is even higher — 80 to 90 percent use the Internet, according to some surveys.

Congregations eager to woo people with little or no church background will naturally take advantage of the latest communication tools. Indeed, some have gone a step further. One Internet-only church started a few years ago attracts 750 people to its online messages each weekend.

“Any way that technology can help us accomplish the goal of reaching people for Christ and of leading them to complete devotion to Him, we will implement it,” said the Rev. Brandon Donaldson, the Internet Campus pastor for LifeChurch.tv, www.LifeChurch.tv a very large Church that began in Oklahoma City ten years ago and now has 10 campuses in five states and one Internet-only church location.

And while most congregations are unlikely to create cyberchurch spinoffs, the latest technologies offer new avenues for communication among people already dedicated to church but saddled with hectic schedules and multiple demands on their time. At larger churches where people occasionally miss Sunday services or may not have time to connect with others, pastors are increasingly posting sermons online or taking advantage of the blog, or web log —  an online journal.

 “In a church our size, it’s impossible for me to know all our members personally, so blogging helps me stay connected to with them and their friends,” said Matt Fry, pastor of Cleveland Community Church, which draws 2,300 people to weekend services in Clayton, NC, a suburb of Raleigh. “It allows them to know what I’m thinking and what I’m doing. We have hundreds of downloads every month.”

According to the new report “FACTs on Growth” from the 2005 Faith Communities Today (FACT) survey, written by Episcopal researcher Kirk Hadaway, creating a church website is one of the most effective means of spurring church growth.  The FACT report shows that a website alone won’t drive church growth, but an active website supported by an online community will make a huge difference.

Commenting on these findings Scott Thumma, a professor of sociology at Hartford Seminary, suggested that newcomers are particularly drawn to churches that present an outward-looking, nontraditional, future-oriented image.

“At a time when church attendance seems to have an increasingly difficult time fitting into busy people’s schedules, perhaps the road of technologically-enhanced faith will indeed be the salvation of church life,” said Thumma.

The FACT data comes from a survey of 884 randomly sampled U.S. congregations of all faith traditions. The survey examined methods that lead to growth, such as changing the style of worship, inviting non members to special events, and others. Among those methods, the strongest correlation to church growth was establishing a website.

Church websites are also useful in projecting a sophisticated image to the outside world. For starters, it allows visitors to form a first impression before visiting. Pastor Matt Fry said 25 percent of the people who visit his church checked out the church’s website before attending, for example.  

One potential drawback is that 25 to 30 percent of church members don’t use Internet technology and may feel left out. But there’s no denying that e-mails and listservs have greatly enhanced communication among church members that are comfortable with the technology. They allow people to send out prayers for someone who is sick, or notify small group members of changes in meeting times. Newsletters, announcements, committee reports  — even bulletins — can also be posted more cheaply online.

Of course, websites may not be the magic bullet for small, rural churches. But FACT data show the larger the church, the more common it is to have a website. Only 40 percent of churches with 150 people or less have a website, compared to 73 percent of churches with more than 150 people in attendance. Likewise, suburban churches are twice as likely to have websites as rural churches, the FACT data show.

That lay people are faster to use latest technology than church administrators came to light last June when Southern Baptists elected an upstart candidate as president of the 16 million-member denomination largely on the strength of a few blogs. These blogs, and the pastors who wrote them, disapproved of the endorsed candidate, the Rev. Ronnie Floyd, and instead threw their support to Rev. Frank Page, who was then elected.

To sociologists of religion, it makes perfect sense that adapting the latest technology will bring growth. A church that’s willing to change and adapt to people’s new lifestyles is poised to grow.  “It’s part and parcel of contemporary American culture,” said Thumma. “Technology in the church offers a flexibility and responsiveness to individual needs and desires.”

There is a chance that you haven’t ever heard of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion unless you are a professor of religion.  The Center’s primary aim is to support “teachers of religion and theology in higher education through meetings and workshops, grants, a journal and other resources to make accessible the scholarship of teaching and learning.” 

This doesn’t mean, however, that the site has little of value for persons outside the religious education profession.  Quite the contrary, any teacher, no matter what the grade level or subject, will benefit from the advice, instruction and links on this site.  The teaching resources on this site can be found at http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/resources/teach_web.aspx

At the same time, if you are interested in religion, there is a great likelihood that you have accidentally visited one of the real treasures of the Wabash Center site - The Internet Guide to Religion. 

This comprehensive and well-organized collection of links on nearly every topic related to religion has been a standard web resource nearly as long as the web has existed. 

Its creator and developer Charles Bellinger has done an excellent job of balancing the encyclopedia nature of this list with an insightful editing that provides many of the best website resources in each category. 

Additionally some categories also include bibliographies of print material on the topic. 

This resource is well worth being one of your favorite bookmarks and can be found at     http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/resources/guide_headings.aspx

The site’s new web design makes the great resources of the Wabash Center that much easier to find and make use of.  If you are a teacher of religion you will definitely want to consider taking advantage of the grants and workshops the Wabash Center offers.  The new site design also makes the application process easier, and allows past worship participants to remain connected with each other. 

Visit the Center’s site and check out all its great resources. 

We guarantee you will pick up some great teaching tips as well as new web resources for the study of religion.   

Why Do Teens Choose Church? An interview on the Resources for American Christianity website with Carol Lytch, Assistant Executive Director at the Association of Theological Schools discusses the results of her study of teens who have been reared in the church.  In the interview she suggests that it is possible to hold teens in the church by nurturing the maturity of their commitment. www.resourcingchristianity.org/downloads/interview_transcripts/Lytch_Interview.pdf

FACTs on Growth - This report, mentioned in the Feature Article above, is available for download at the Faith Communities Today website at http://fact.hartsem.edu/products/. 

Online Religion Glossary - The Religion Newswriters Association (RNA) has an online version of its religion stylebook aimed at the mainstream media. This stylebook is essentially a glossary created for journalists who write about religion. RNA's stylebook includes definitions, usage guidelines, preferred spellings, religious titles, pronunciation guides, terms for current news stories and other entries. Don’t be fooled, however; this is a great quick resource for anyone interested in religion.  Check it out at http://www.religionstylebook.org/.

Resources about Churches and the Internet

Check out the great resources about Religion on the Internet at the Wabash Center site.
http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/resources/result_browse.aspx?topic=551&pid=427 And while you are there also look at their excellent online teaching suggestions and resources. http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/resources/teach_web_result.aspx?pid=950&topic=951
  
Although the “Computers and Ministry Initiative” of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations has ended you can still benefit from the interesting technology tips entitled “Computer News You Can Use” at http://www.centerforcongregations.org/Defaultff86.html?tabid=72  Several interesting surveys of what churches are doing technologically can also be found on the site.

And of course don’t forget about the book by ICC staff members called Forty Days and Forty Bits. http://www.centerforcongregations.org/Defaultfb5b.html?tabid=74  and a great download about using Church Management Software which can be found at http://www.centerforcongregations.org/ResourceGuides/UsingResources_CMS.pdf

News

The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) www.TheARDA.com Website offers new features on American and international religion that provide a wealth of information on American denominations and international religion, as well as a redesigned search engine that allows for more comprehensive searches.

The upgraded National Profiles provides statistics on religious freedom, religious adherents, and religious beliefs and behavior for virtually all nations. These profiles make use of indexes created by The ARDA that measure religious freedom and regulation worldwide.

The National Profiles feature now allows users to compare statistics between regions and nations with the click of a button. Each regional and national profile now includes a pie chart showing the breakdown of religious adherents as well as of atheists and non-religious people.  Using data from the World Values Survey, a new tab called “Public Opinion” shows aggregated data on religious beliefs, practices, and attitudes on a wide range of issues for 80 nations.

The Calvin Institute for Christian Worship has added a comprehensive database of worship service outlines for worship planners to use as an aid for their worship planning. Now it is possible to search the service outlines by season, series, or scripture passage. The Institute urges all planners to adapt the service outlines according to the needs and traditions of their community, and use them to generate ideas, to spark discussions, and to guide worship planning.
www.calvin.edu/worship/services

Religion Newswriters Association announces new primer for religion reporters

RNA's newest resource dedicates nearly 100 pages to all facets of covering religion news—from reporting basics, to best practices, to resources, to overviews of faiths. The primer is the updated and expanded product of previous similar publications written specifically for both occasional and full-time religion reporters in the print and broadcast media.  But it is also full of helpful information for the rest of us too.

Many recurring religion reporting questions are answered in the primer, including:

•  Where can I find resources on covering religion?
•  How do I convince my editor that religion news is important?
•  Do I reveal my personal faith to sources?
• What do I do when visiting places of worship?
• How does religion intersect with other beats?

Written by former award-winning Dallas Morning News Religion Editor Diane Connolly, the primer draws upon the experiences of hundreds of journalists who regularly cover religion.  To request a copy, e-mail Amy Schiska at Schiska@RNA.org

The Tech Tips section will include handy items of interest regarding web resources, techniques for Internet searching and browsing and other facts to facilitate doing ministry in our technological world.

Create your own search engine.

A combined search (beta version) of all the websites that are part of this initiative.  http://rollyo.com/cicw07/lilly_consultation/  thanks to the great folks at the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship and the Rollyo website.
You too can create your own specialized search of a select set of web sites, check it out at the Rollyo.com web site.

It’s wintertime (but not much longer) and the traveling is difficult.

Be prepared by checking out Weather Bonk http://weatherbonk.com/.  Of course it offers live weather conditions and webcams for your choice of locations, but the most interesting feature is that it has a travel mapping service that includes weather information for the trip. With a feature like this your winter traveling can be smooth sailing. 

Need some free photos?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain_image_resources  Wikipedia’s list of public domain image resources is a nice collection of annotated links to photo sources.

BE SAFE, remember to update the virus definitions, programs and operating system on your computer!

About InSites into American Religion:

InSites is a quarterly E-newsletter designed to educate the public about the web resources from religion institutes and projects related to the initiatives in religion of the Lilly Endowment, Inc. This is a joint project of Scott Thumma, Hartford Seminary and Joe Coalter, Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education.  Scott Thumma is the newsletter editor.

An abbreviated version of the e-newsletter is distributed quarterly via email.  If you would like to receive this email please send a subscription email to InSites@hartsem.edu and request either the html or text version. IF you would like to unsubscribe please do the same. An Adobe pdf version of the newsletter is available online for printing and distributing.  To open a pdf document you must have the free Adobe reader installed on your computer.  Download the program at  http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.   Everyone is free to print and distribute the newsletter.  Permission to excerpt and reprint portions of the newsletter content is hereby given.Send an email to InSites@hartsem.edu for more information about the newsletter or to offer suggestions and feedback.An archive of previous issues is available at the Resources for American Christianity web site at www.resourcingchristianity.org

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