Yesterday—or was it this morning? —my ten year old daughter crept up behind me while I was working on a new church website design. Esther, a budding beauty like her mom, asked, “What ARE you doing?”
“I’m trying as hard as I can to help get people into eternity,” I answered, “one website for church at a time.”
“You mean,” asked Esther, “ you’re holding church service inside your computer?”
“Hardly,” I chuckled as I turned from her and went back to work on the church content management system I was creating online.
Suddenly six year old girl, Jasmine, wandered in in.
“Is Daddy building another church online?” giggled Jazz.
I thought about a deeper explanation, but I realized they were, in a way, correct. Each of them saw my new laptop as a parish. I think they saw my typing as a sermon. Here I was, graying at the temples, yet I knew my goal had been understood—church website design as a means to facilitate a wide range of church website hosting.
I gave both five dollars for ice cream and rushed them out of the office. Each, in their own way, had helped me to see the online church web site I was attempting to design, the church 2.0 system, was more than an Internet church. More than a content management system for church with a design to connect people to Jesus.
I understood, finally, this was my very own ministry website, a design engineered to help prepare hearts and souls online for the Kingdom of God.
Thank you Esther and Jasmine!
Before you know it these little ones will be full-fledged teenagers begging me to use Facebook and Twitter for churches as a means to Web 2.0 personal evangelism online.
Can sermon podcasting be far behind?
Maybe I’ll try to write a book: Ministry Website Design For Dummies. Then my children will finally understand who the brains is in this family!