Lausanne World Pulse – Six Lessons from Leadership University
By Byron Barlowe
Does your ministry have an underperforming website? Or do you have yet to enter into the twenty-first century and Internet outreach? Have you (or your donors) heard war stories and astounding stats from high-flying sites and wondered if you could ever see such results? Take heart.
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For eight years it was my privilege to manage content and organizational alliances for Leadership University, a pioneering website in the Internet outreach movement. My colleagues and I saw many lives influenced for Christ. I certainly do not have all the answers, but the following are six lessons we learned along the way that can help others involved in Internet ministry.
1. Post “Ministry Meat” and Have Meaningful Feedback
A medical student regains her faith in London. A philosophy graduate student, harassed by an atheist professor in New York, finds Christian worldview content for a presentation and is encouraged via email by the Texas professor who wrote it. These are only two examples of the feedback we have received.
One commitment the creators of LeaderU.com made was to have personal, non-automated responses to feedback within a few days. As one colleague said, “Ministry is a contact sport.” We need to shift from a publishing–only paradigm to one featuring thought–provoking resources that are followed up by email and chat.
2. Invest Adequately in Resources
Some basic concepts and values launched LeaderU.com into a strategic role during the formative years of the Internet. In 1998 this unique ministry site saw 8.1 million pages viewed by over 2.8 million visitors. By 2001 thirty-five percent more audience members accessed forty percent more resources. This translated to thirty-five ministry materials being seen by fifteen people every minute.
In November 2005 alone, LeaderU.com welcomed 636,000 visitors who experienced 1.25 million free articles, essays, debates, books and reviews written from a biblical perspective.
Your vision may not include such numbers, nor should it necessarily. Maximizing God’s call for you, whatever that is, remains the mission at hand. That often means creating, borrowing or buying materials and posting them to your site. Even if your site is not necessarily “Christian,” it is still important to do this so that some may be saved, blessed, discipled or brought closer to considering faith. The Internet works like an ocean running through filters (mainly popular search engines). To reach intended audiences, you must stretch your reach through these search engines.
It is also important to get connected with others who are doing web ministry. According to Keith Seabourn, who shepherded the LeaderU.com project through technical and visionary leadership, “The Internet is not only a network of technologies, it’s also a network of people who can work together collaboratively to achieve significant results.”