4 Questions About Online Church Education

A few weeks ago I made a post on the message board over at Great Church Websites concerning the place of educational materials on church websites. While this is an endeavour not embarked on by many churches today, I believe this is one of the opportunities for spiritual growth that is most often overlooked on church websites. Let's do a little Q&A to see why.

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1) Why should we do this? We already have bible studies and classes.

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In today's society (especially in the United States), many people have such hectic schedules that is difficult to find times for all people who are interested to participate in these activities. However, most people do have a certain amount of "down time" at home where they can do what they'd like. If you have someone who wants to be part of a class or bible study and you coordinate it online, then they will have an opportunity to be involved as they have time. They can then also use e-mail or forums to get involved in discussions and ask questions.

 

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2) Who's in charge of these online courses?

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Just because the venue changes doesn't mean that the structure of the courses needs to change. As always, you'll still have a leader or teacher who is responsible for directing the group.

 

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3) How much will it cost to set up?

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If your web host supports any kind of scripting language, then you can find a free forum or bulletin board package that you can use on your site. Most of these are relatively easy to set up and should provide you with what you need to get started.

If your web host does not support scripting languages, then you should be able to find a website that offers free or cheap forums for you to use. The free forums may be cluttered with advertising which pay for the free service, so be warned. It's probably worth the few extra bucks to avoid that nuisance.

 

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4) What do we do when the course is completed?

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Part of the beauty of this setup is that it provides flexibility. Once you complete a course, you can either keep it, archive it or delete it. In some formats, it may be ideal to keep the information active and allow others to come in and review the materials and comments on their own time. In others, you may want to focus on the discussion and save the ideas for the next time around. It's up to you!

For example, my church offers a series of Christian Life Courses once each year, and the first one is required for membership. With the current setup, if you can't make it at that time, then you're kinda out of luck. However, if the materials were available for review online, this course could be an ongoing thing, with e-mails being used for questions. However, if you were doing a structured book study, you'd probably want to pull down or archive the materials shortly after the completion because the the more structured format.

 

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I hope that I've shown you some of the benefits of using your church website in your church's educational cirriculum. By no means do I believe that it should completely replace the personal interaction of bible studies and classes, but can instead be used as an extension so that more people can become involved in the materials. It's just one more way to reach out to those who are searching for truth!