Your Web Ways
With all its free offerings, the Net has taken its place among your best tools

You might know the kind of sermon that's going to inspire and motivate your congregation this Sunday. But even so, where are you going to find your inspiration? Research indicates that you'll start with the Internet because free is a very good price.

According to findings by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a "striking number" of clergy turn to the Internet to get material for sermons, worship, education programs and matters of doctrine. According to this report, Wired Churches, Wired Temples, of 471 rabbis and ministers surveyed by the Philadelphia, Penn.-based organization, 81% say they have gone online searching for information for worship services.

This should come as no surprise to the directors of the Indianapolis Center for Congregations, a program of the Alban Institute funded by the Lilly Endowment. ICC leaders have seen firsthand how churches like yours are embracing technology. In fact, they've helped fund it. To date, the ICC has given away almost $1 million in grants to churches that want to integrate computer technology into their operations. According to Associate Director Brent Bill, about 25% of all the recipients so far have used their funds to establish or improve a computer learning lab. Many others have used at least part of the money to buy display software and/or to subscribe to online sermon services. These sites--and many like them--offer plenty of free resources. For example:

The Paperless Hymnal

Log on to the Paperless Hymnal site (www.paperlesshymnal.com) to download 10 sets of PowerPoint-compatible, royalty-paid song lyrics (with music notes), and project freely.

Pastors.com

Saddleback Church and Pastor Rick Warren created Pastors.com (www.pastors.com), a site that features multiple searchable databases. Choose sermons from Top 10 lists, or narrow your queries to PowerPoint sermons, holiday collections and more. Most are available as downloads and in Real Audio.

While you're there, sign up for Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox (a free, weekly e-zine) and visit the Pastors Forum discussion area for even more ideas.

PowerPointSermons.com

is another site offering free, downloadable sermon templates for the popular Microsoft program used by many pastors. Dan Ondra, Chief Technical Officer, says his site fills an obvious void in many pastors' training. He should know because he's been there.

"When I went to college, we had a double major in Bible, and that left little time for anything else," says Ondra, who traveled as an evangelist for 30 years and held the position of pastor at three churches. He has also established a reputation in the art world as a writer (with nine books to his credit), a frequent lecturer, and a designer for both secular and Christian corporations, but says most pastors aren't noted for such artistic gifts. "These men have not had training in seminary on art, and especially not in computers. So, long story short, my burden has been to really help preachers get out of the Stone Age and reach this generation."

According to Ondra, PowerPointSermons.com is "like a free site" because it offers 60 free templates. The site also is hooked directly to PowerPointSolutions.com, a "more generic, industry standard" image site offering 60 free animations designed by Ondra and the site's co-administrator, who is also a long-time pastor.

But don't confuse "free" with "cheap," he warns. Ministry veterans often treat the domains they create as opportunities to aid their peer pastors, a group of professionals understandably devoted to honing their spiritual, not technological, gifts. The idea, says Ondra, is not to offer free sermons (akin to downloading a term paper from the Internet). Instead, he says, these offerings are usually starting points at best.

"I believe this: No true minister, no matter what group he's from, is going to take someone else's sermon totally," Ondra explains. "He's going to build on it, change it. So we give him a sampler that shows him different ways to present different types of sermons." The sampler Ondra refers to is a CD-ROM he developed, PowerPoint Sermons, featuring sermon ideas for praise and worship and children's services, as well as special services--Easter and Father's Day, for example. The CD-ROM sells on the site for less than $20 versus comparable programs that cost $200 or more. "It's like giving it away, but that's because we're not really interested in sales at all," he says. "We're more concerned about ministry and trying to help people get started."

With animated images of thunderstorms, Harley Davidsons, Star Trek scenes and more, PowerPointSermons.com has attracted more than one million hits in the last four months. Although Ondra says he did some "low-key" marketing, the real secret is who you know.

"I studied and prayed about it a lot to see who I should listen to. There aren't any real 'experts' on the Web," he says. "There are just people who've tried things. Some worked, some didn't."

Since Ondra has designed two of the major search engine sites, he says he makes the most of the extra help from men running them.

"They walk me through and show me some of the 'inside secrets' that people know; they just don't know which ones to focus on," Ondra says. "It's confusing, and it changes everyday."

More Sites to See

SermonCentral

More than 35,000 free sermons, illustrations and dramas are available at SermonCentral (www.sermoncentral.com), a site created and produced by Outreach Marketing in Oceanside, Calif. All resources are searchable by category, scripture, keyword or topic. A free e-mail newsletter is also available, delivering five new sermons and illustrations every week.

Sermon of the Month Club

Every month, Dr. Odell S. Belger (a.k.a., "The Expositor") gives away one full-length sermon at www.expositor.com. Belger, a pastor for 34 years, has published and distributed millions of sermons over the past two decades. His e-mail newsletter is currently distributed to almost 4,000 subscribers every month.

The Preacher's Study

The Preacher's Study (www.preacherstudy.com) offers nearly 300 full-text, biblically based, illustration-filled sermons and lessons, all of which are updated weekly. An extensive free area offers a variety of sample sermons, plus helpful articles, essays, studies and lessons on Web evangelism, women in leadership, how to encourage attendance, tips for time management, and much more.

--R.S.