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 parkside 1peter3 faithfamily pastormail 1tim4_12 famillier pastorsforum 8dedezembro familyward pattonvillebaptist abesermons fax_to_wash_dc penderhomeed addhomeschool fbcocoa perrinministries addhope fbcprayers pittman_prayer adevotionalgroup feedtheflock politics24 adhd-alt fellowship_hall practical africa_prayer_watch firstplace pray4elders ahe_teens fmhfriends pray_7days aheartforhome focus prayargonia alcance folkartscenter prayer_needs_ffm allaboutfamilies forthright prayeralways amizade freedomserge prayercentral anzac freemanfamily prayerwarriors aog frugalhomemaker prayforthailand arabianvoice futurebasic preach_on_islam ark_laurie gentlekeepers promise-keeping_men bbhfarm gerry_breshears prophetic_word bbinspire global_watch prophezine-ldp beachblast god_is_sovereign prophezine-newsletter beit_yshua godtoday_devotions puthuppallybrethren bible1year golden_devotionals pz-newsbites-h bibleclub grace_peace ramona_news bibleiq gracepointe132 rapidresponse bibletalk greg_report rcc bid_7dae hbcprayers refugeplace bid_vir_elizabeth healing revelation2217 bipolarhope heart2heart revfiles bjstoops-news hiskingdom revfilesnews blessing_a_day hit romanfoosfamily boh hnhsg rsafrica brazil homesteadheaven s_t_childrens_home brethrenvoice homewrite sachsn brucep4muslims hop4hebrewroots saintfrancistnt bullard hope4kyiv sarinedcery burningbushdevo hope4marriages sbc_eng_alumni burningbushhtml hopechest scope c_a_s_t hopethrugrace scottnsarahc c_lug hosanna sdw camel_report hsinfohanpa sea_breeze cbdl icd sentinelle ccfprayer igreja sermonindex ccmag interchange sermonseeds cecf jctv sgf cftd jennysjournal shepherds_stone challenge jensheartandhome shfl change88 jessica_update shoulders chc_lead johanandmimi sliceoflife cheso joyful soundofgrace christianaddult jude24 sponge_divers christianbooks jwreminder stevenanddaisy christianguitar khartoum strawberry_lane christianhomes ki_ftlauderdale student_parents churchbass kidsafe supporters cicsen kiftl1 supportmslm4j cicses kiftl2 tbtd cloudburst kigville team_link cog kingdomofgod teamchelsey countryside_c_c kirksvilleahs tearoom crhm kneemail test cristaospb ladies_fellowship texas_honorbound_mm crossinggayle laines_letters the_brethren_news cu lavang thebraswells dailyinspirations lcc thrissur_brethren_news dayspringchurch letterstomysisters tipsbymarv dayspringkidz lf_newsletter titus2hsnewsletter dayspringleaders lifegroupleaders tomunderhill dayspringprayer lightenupbrethren trinitytx_org daystar lightgrams trustinggodalltheway dcq lighthouse_beams uccnews decasaemcasa lnmn uccprayers deepwatersnews lorilynroberts uniquelymade deserthighway love_notes uplift deusconosco ltb24_spanish urbanblackgospel dillardsupdate markmeganthomas vandiebrinkies doorofhope mennoniteplain verdaupdates dragonraid millerfamily verpadu eagles_rising_news mineroadchurch vineyardvoice eagles_rising_nuus mission vntb eca missionaryvoice volleyboll efcatexas mntpfile walkwithjesus elsalvadornewsletter moderator wallbuilders4christ emaildevotionals moderator_chat webmessage end-times moms_group_notes willardmast epistle2equip naprayer wingfold esdras10_4 nelsons wordofmouthdiscussions eternal_ink noonans yffd everyone oasischorale ymef expositoryechoes orphansfirst ymefdallas fah pamers zionnellikkunnu faith_family_freedoms paraguayherald faithandlife paraiba_missionAll 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