One of the folks blogs I read is Drew Goodmanson who recently held a webinar to talk about using online strategies to reach non-Christians.  He said:

Thank you for all who participated in today’s webinar, nearly 80 people signed-up for it. For those who missed it, here was the description of the webinar: We have all heard about the importance of a church website, the craze of social networking and the need for pastors to blog. But how effective are these strategies really in being missional and gathering people? Learn from a 2009 study on ‘The State of the Church Online: Websites & Mission’ involving numerous church websites & strategies where we learn what really is happening. Answer questions such as: How effective is your church website? What can you do to improve this? Who is visiting your website? Why are they really visiting? Where are these visitors coming from? What are best practices in design and outreach? Learn how to enhance your web ministry and impact hundreds, if not thousands of people. This valuable session will equip you with practical strategies that your church can implement whether you are an online expert or a beginner.

Some interesting facts from their study:

• 74 churches participating (target = 100) 
• web analytics
• congregational surveys
• phase II : interviews/case studies
• church size range of 5 to 45,000 people
• 27 internal designer & 20+ other designers

Some of the key findings from a sample set of the research (the full research project will last 2-3 months longer).

• 0% of respondents who were Non-Christians said their going to church was influenced by the church website.
• 6% of participating churches had a gospel presentation on their website.
• 27% of the respondents said the church website was how they first learned about the church.

Check out the whole post at Drew’s blog

Hurry on over to Free Things to Do in Chicago and learn how today, Friday, May 15, the Mars candy company will give away 500,000 certificates for free Mars chocolate products. The certificates will become available on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m EST, and they’re available until they’re gone, so you’ll need to act fast. Mars is promoting their Real Chocolate Relief Act campaign and website.

I got this today and it changed my perspective on the day.  Take the 60 seconds it will take to read this and I believe it will change your thinking, too.

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.  His bed was next to the room’s only window.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.  Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. [Read more...]