The name "The Association" sounds like Mafia until one learns that it comes from the idea of Christ coming down to earth to "associate" with the lost and rescue them. This idea is probably the foundational message of Harold Bell Wright's book, "That Printer of Udell's", where a multi-church inter-denominational organization called "The Association" was formed to help people better themselves.
"The Association" and "The Reading Room" were foundational establishments of Harold Bell Wright's story, and served as models, to some degree, for early ministry ideas when the online Association was a Bulletin Board System (BBS) ministry primarily serving modem-using callers from 1991 to 1994. Those ideas (The Reading Room - a massive God-centered reference library, for example) still remain online, though now accessible in World Wide Web (html) format. In December 1995, the BBS completed a transition to 100% Internet operation to reach a larger audience.
Many people struggle to understand how a purely electronic-based ministry
can have an impact on people's lives, and how it compares to the ministry
of a local church, for example. The following list compares some
typical Church ministries with online ministries. Note that online
ministries were not designed to compete with the local church, but rather
to supplement them by providing a distinct witness where none might otherwise
be found.
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| Prayer groups meet several times a week. Attendance varies, but typically < 12. | Email Groups keep prayer groups active 24hrs/day. Participation of dozens is international in scope. |
| Major group gatherings usually on Wednesday and Sunday. Wed. is informal fellowship while Sunday is highly planned. | Groups of varying sizes meet in multi-topic Chat, News groups, Email Groups , and private e-mail throughout the week. Formal (moderated) and informal. |
| Sunday school lessons for all ages, and on various topics. | Bible studies and discussion groups held on every imagineable topic. Focus is on reading-enabled ages. |
| A small church library is usually kept. Typically, the content is books, tapes, and videos. Content not readily searched. | The Internet is quickly growing its own online library of major proportions, consisting primarily of non-copyrighted, limited distribution, or recent works. |
| "Street Ministries" operated to appeal to those who are not committed to God. The approach and title varies. | Online ministries of varying (multimedia) content used to draw the lost to Christ. Interesting computer programs, games, and casual or direct discussion are all openings for planting seeds during evangelism. |
| Local church impact within 50-mile radius, appealing to a wide range of interests and financial statuses. | Global impact appealing to primarily computer-literate people, usually in mid-to-upper income levels, but also with a wide range of interests. |
| Local church has the advantage of touch, sight, hearing, smell. These senses can both provide enhanced ministry opportunity as well as raise unfortunate barriers that inhibit ministry. | People on the Internet are still generally limited to sight and the written word. Although communication is somewhat impaired, people have developed written gestures that help them cope. Shabbyness and body odor never detract from the conversation! <grin> |
| Churches use tithes to support missionaries, but suffer from high operating costs and poor facility utilization. Several full-time people usually staff each church. | Internet ministries often piggy-back off of existing
facilities, and can have minimal operating costs. They serve as resources, communication enablers, and news distribution sites for missions activities. The use of online ministries as collecting-points for ministry support isn't done (yet?). Running an Internet ministry *can* be accomplished by one part-time person entirely within their own finances. |
Specific ministries originating from The Association touch thousands of lives each day, of which probably 50% are not committed to God. The draw for unsaved people is limited by the availability of appealing activites/functions of the system, and the data capacity of the Internet connection.
Using church terminology, The Association houses dozens of simultaneous Sunday School classes with activites carrying on around the clock, worldwide. The "class" topics or interest groups are listed below. Nearly 50,000 (ever-changing) people participate in these classes at any one time.
1corinthians7 faithbibleefc paraguayherald 1peter3 faithfamily paraiba_mission 1tim4_12 famillier parkside 8dedezembro familyward pastormail abesermons fax_to_wash_dc pastorsforum addhomeschool fbcocoa pattonvillebaptist addhope fbcprayers penderhomeed adevotionalgroup feedtheflock perrinministries adhd-alt fellowship_hall politics24 africa_prayer_watch firstplace practical ahe_teens fmhfriends pray4elders aheartforhome focus pray_7days alcance folkartscenter prayargonia allaboutfamilies forthright prayer_needs_ffm amizade freedomserge prayeralways anzac freemanfamily prayercentral aog frugalhomemaker prayerwarriors arabianvoice futurebasic prayforthailand ark_laurie gentlekeepers preach_on_islam bbhfarm global_watch promise-keeping_men bbinspire god_is_sovereign prophetic_word beachblast godtoday_devotions prophezine-ldp beit_yshua golden_devotionals prophezine-newsletter bible1year grace_peace puthuppallybrethren bibleclub gracepointe132 pz-newsbites-h bibleiq greg_report ramona_news bibletalk hbcprayers rapidresponse bid_7dae healing rcc bipolarhope heart2heart refugeplace bjstoops-news hiaamct revelation2217 blessing_a_day hiskingdom revfiles boh hit revfilesnews brazil hnhsg romanfoosfamily brethrenvoice homesteadheaven rsafrica brucep4muslims homewrite s_t_childrens_home bullard hop4hebrewroots sachsn burningbushdevo hope4kyiv saintfrancistnt burningbushhtml hope4marriages sarinedcery c_a_s_t hopechest sbc_eng_alumni c_lug hopethrugrace scope camel_report hosanna scottnsarahc cbdl hsinfohanpa sdw ccfprayer icd sea_breeze ccmag igreja sentinelle cecf interchange sermonseeds challenge jctv sgf change88 jennysjournal shepherds_stone chc_lead jensheartandhome shfl cheso jessica_update shoulders christianaddult johanandmimi sliceoflife christianbooks joyful soundofgrace christianguitar jude24 sponge_divers christianhomes jwreminder stevenanddaisy churchbass khartoum strawberry_lane cicsen ki_ftlauderdale student_parents cicses kidsafe supporters cloudburst kiftl1 supportmslm4j cog kigville tbtd countryside_c_c kirksvilleahs team_link crhm kneemail teamchelsey cristaospb ladies_fellowship tearoom crossinggayle laines_letters test cu lavang texas_honorbound_mm dailyinspirations lcc thebraswells dayspringchurch letterstomysisters thrissur_brethren_news dayspringkidz lf_newsletter tipsbymarv dayspringprayer lifegroupleaders titus2hsnewsletter daystar lightenupbrethren tomunderhill dcq lightgrams trustinggodalltheway decasaemcasa lighthouse_beams uccnews deepwatersnews lnmn uccprayers deserthighway lorilynroberts uniquelymade deusconosco love_notes uplift dillardsupdate ltb24_spanish urbanblackgospel doorofhope markmeganthomas vandiebrinkies dragonraid mennoniteplain verdaupdates eagles_rising_news millerfamily vineyardvoice eagles_rising_nuus mineroadchurch vntb eca mission volleyboll efcatexas missionaryvoice walkwithjesus elsalvadornewsletter mntpfile wallbuilders4christ emaildevotionals moderator webmessage end-times moderator_chat willardmast epistle2equip moms_group_notes wingfold eternal_ink naprayer wordofmouthdiscussions everyone nelsons yffd expositoryechoes noonans ymef fah oasischorale ymefdallas faith_family_freedoms orphansfirst zionnellikkunnu faithandlife pamersAll told, The Association currently has over 30,000 clean secular "library" entries and nearly 6000 entries focusing on God, one way or another. The secular library is typically in very high demand on the Internet.
Some of the other activities used on The Association to draw people to God are:
- A Scottish Stewart-clan home-base, representing all Stewarts and Stuarts
on the Internet, with varying Christ-oriented content.
- A Gantt charting service with pop-up photo testimonies.
- A Unit Conversions web page for most known units of measurement,
plus a Christian testimony thrown into the visit!
- A multimedia Christian role-playing game, DragonRaid, designed to
appeal to secular RPG players with Dungeons and Dragons experience.
The more varied and changing the ministries and events are on The Association, the more appeal it has to folks wandering around on the Internet. Promoting these activites is fairly easy to do, with no cost. If you would like to pioneer, implement, and manage a unique online ministry activity, please contact (by e-mail) glen_stewart@associate.com to discuss how your ideas might be implemented! Church-group ministries are very welcome too.
Finally, remember that as Fishers of Men, the best way to tell people about The Association is NOT to say it's Christian-oriented. We're not here so much to reach the saved, as we are to reach the lost.
The Association is accessed by the following Internet technologies:
World Wide Web - http://freegroups.net
Email Groups - http://freegroups.net/groups.shtml
E-mail -
webmaster@associate.com